Posted on 02/27/2014 5:54:32 AM PST by Tailgunner Joe
HUGH HEWITT, HOST: Are you watching much of the Olympics, Senator Cruz?
SEN. TED CRUZ: You know, I’ll confess I have been on the road so much that I haven’t had a chance to sit down and turn the television on.
HH: Well, I’ve got to ask you, even you can’t go an hour without seeing Putin. When you see Putin, what do you think, Senator Cruz?
TC: Look, I think the direction he is taking Russia is very problematic. It’s problematic for Russia, it’s problematic for America, and for the world. He is systematically oppressing his people, but he is also taking advantage of President Obama’s foreign policy blunders to expand Russia influence, and I think he is bound and determined to do as much as he can to expand Russia’s sphere of influence and attempt to reassemble the old Soviet Union. You see the pressure they’re putting on Georgia, you see the pressure they’re putting on Ukraine. It’s dangerous, and unfortunately, President Obama is doing nothing effectively to counteract it.
HH: Now a young President Kennedy went to negotiate with Khrushchev in Vienna long ago and far away, and the measure that Khrushchev took of the young former Senator was not good, and we had the Cuban Missile Crisis. If you or any other young American leader sat down with Putin, I mean, this is a tough character. Do you think you could actually negotiate with him?
TC: Well, the only negotiations that a Putin or any other bully understands is a negotiation from strength, and that, unfortunately, is not something that the Obama administration has ever tried. In fact, they seem to systematically alienate our friends, abandon our friends and accommodate and appease our enemies.
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...
Senator Cruz: The Free World Stands with the People of Ukraine - February 20, 2014 - "The people of Ukraine need to know that the free world stands with them as they protest the actions of President Viktor Yanukovych designed to destroy their constitutional rights and drive their country into the sphere of influence of Vladimir Putin’s resurgent Russia.""More than two decades ago, Ukraine finally threw off the yoke of Soviet domination and embarked on a path towards greater integration with the West."
"The United States should fulfill its historic tradition of speaking out forcefully on behalf of those who cry out for freedom and against those who would silence them."
Wow. I agree with Cruz on Putin being a thug. However I am in the minority on Free Republic. Most on here think he is a great leader. I NEVER have and never will. Cruz and I are right.
I don’t know...a thug with the worlds largest nuclear arsenal at his fingertips is pretty intimidating in my book...
The US government is responsible for the greatest genocide in world history, of it own babies.
and if you want to talk about oppression... lets talk about the ongoing and excalating US oppression against people of faith (especially Christian faith)
That I respect that is more a statement about how bad our leaders have become than it is a reflection of how I feel about Putin.
Putin is guilty of genocide against innocent Christian civilians in Georgia. Putin is a murderer and oppressor of Christians.
Cruz's statement sounds like Reagan's on Afghanistan.
But you can't call Putin a thug. THAT’s RACIST.
LOL
Women who want them will always be able to get an abortion.
As a Christian, I do not feel oppressed in the USA.
Putin is not looking after his nation’s interests at all. He is only out for himself. He’s become rich stealing form his own people. Putin is a traitor to his nation and the enemy of his own people.
I completely disagree with your premise. Most on here DON'T think he's a 'great leader'. He's a KGB Marxist. A thug.
However, regarding the style, characteristics, strength, etc. of a leader, the head of the Kremlin, juxtaposed with OccupyWH is exceedingly preferable ...
Child, please!
You can be a great leader and a thug. Obama is a horrible leader and a thug.
Putin seems to be a patriot and dedicated to doing everything in his power to make Russia the most powerful and influential country in the world. Obama hates America and is doing everything in his power to make Russia the most powerful and influential country in the world.
Two thugs working for the same team. One a patriot, the other a traitor.
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Cruz is absolutely correct.
Hows our's doing?
I actually think he's both. You can't argue that he has been a very successful leader, when he took over, Russia's economy had fallen to near third world status, the currency was in free-fall and infrastructure which was poor even in the Soviet era was now in a state of near total collapse. He's reduced unemployment and poverty and turned Russia into an economic powerhouse with a large and growing middle class, paid off the national debt, rebuilt and modernized the infrastructure, and after all that they still run budget surpluses most years, he also rebuilt and modernized the military, and restored a sense of national pride among the people.
But then there is the thug side. For one thing, unlike Boris Yeltsin, he made clear from day one that he had no intention of playing ball or becoming an ally of America and the West. He put the formerly free press firmly under the thumb of his government, imprisoned and sometimes even murdered political opponents, and rewrote the constitution to essentially give his party a permanent lock on power. Yet, sort of like Hitler, the Russian people seem more than willing to look the other way because of the good he has done in rebuilding Russia.
Putin is cracking down on abortions, Obama is promoting them.
Clinton murdered innocent Christians and their children at Waco, and Obama is taking his sodomite encouragement worldwide.
If it comes down to Putin or Obama, i’ll take Putin.
Putin’s rabid aggression has marginalized and isolated Russia on the world stage. Russia has no friends. Putin’s stupidity has made enemies out of all of Russia’s neighbors. Just look at the anti-Russian backlash which he has provoked in Ukraine. Putin has disgraced and humiliated Russia.
Then get the hell out of Texas and go to Russia where you belong, comrade.
Russia’s economy depends on the oil trade which Putin has nationalized. Russians don’t benefit from Putin’s control of the gas and oil industries, he and his corrupt gangster cronies do.
...the Obama administration...seem to systematically alienate our friends, abandon our friends and accommodate and appease our enemies.
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Cruz nailed it.
Well, that explains his not being afraid of Obama, don’t it?
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