Third Grade Diplomacy

In a stunning explanation of foreign policy this week, the President again demonstrated why he won the Nobel Peace Prize before he had a chance to take office and actually carry out any official duties. The successful invasion of Crimea by Russia, it seems, was not an indication of Russia's strength, but rather Russia's weakness. Considering that, in the past, most countries tend to resist invasion and takeover by "weak" countries, I have my doubts that Crimea considers Russia all that weak, but it could have been an elaborate bluff. The troops and tanks and helicopters could have been cardboard cutouts, or props borrowed from a defunct movie studio. In that case, the entire invasion amounts to little more than a cry for attention from a wanna-be emperor trying to recapture lost glory days of the past. He is to be pitied, not feared.

And this is what it has finally come to: International law on the third grade level. For invading a sovereign nation, Russia is barred from the G8 (pardon me, G7) conference. Putin is given a time out. He is classified as a bully. To the liberal mind, that is a terrible thing. (Most liberals are bullies, but they bully people for "good" reasons, so to their way of thinking, that doesn't count.) It is so terrible that on some level they believe Putin will resent the label so much that he will reverse course. They will not allow themselves to admit the truth consciously.

Some people like being bullies. They like what being bullies does for them. They like the deference and privilege that is granted to them based on their antisocial behavior because it would never be granted on their importance or accomplishments. If you doubt this, just ask North Korea, Iraq, or any militant Islamist organization.

But people liking to act like bullies is only half of the problem. The other half is the enablers. It's the people that refuse to act like adults. They've made up a critical mass in Europe for a long time, at least enough so that they were content to let America do the bulk of the military operations while they spent their cash on bureaucrats. Now America has finally caught up, or close to it. Too many people don't want to act like adults. People have refused to grow up on their own, to the point of not even wanting to take responsibility for their own food, shelter, college, or even birth control.

You know, maybe Putin isn't so bad to have around. Maybe people need to be reminded of what it's like when you don't have to worry about taking care of yourself at all.