Of Pre- and Postmodern Poseurs [Zero and Putin]

PJ Media ^ | March 24, 2014 | Victor David Hanson

[QT3.14]

[SNIP]...Putin, as the entire administration keeps reminding us, is premodern. He should be, but is not, shamed when John Kerry, Joe Biden, Susan Rice, and Barack Obama variously proclaim that he is a 19th century dinosaur, or has lost the good will of the enlightened West. Again, we are told Putin worries about this; but I think he is about as concerned as were Norsemen like Eric Bloodaxe, who lost all the respect of the monks along the English coast that he so freely raided.

While Putin was making a premodern fool out of himself, blustering and bullying, and lying on the global stage, Barack Obama confirmed most of the Russian stereotypes that he was a postmodern metrosexual. Putin gets up every morning to annoy Barack Obama, piqued not just that he is weak, but that he is sanctimonious and weak. Obama tries to ignore Putin, who grates on him like some Russian version of the folks who tailgate with their Winnebagos at a NASCAR race.

[KevinB]

Putin gets up every morning to annoy Barack Obama, piqued not just that he is weak, but that he is sanctimonious and weak.

Vlad and I have this in common.

[blueunicorn6]

“Actions speak louder than words.”

Does Obama act like a socialist, or just talk like one?

I don’t know that Stalin, Mao and Castro played one round of golf between them.

[chajin]

Complaining that Putin should “get with the plan” is a little like the 9th century English monks complaining that the Vikings should “get with the plan,” that civilized people don’t rape and loot and pillage any more.

If you want to overcome evil in the long run, you use good: it took almost two centuries, but the Vikings were eventually subsumed into Christian European civilization, and as the Normans etc. they did quite well. In the meantime, of course, tens of thousands of Europeans suffered rape, looting, pillage, torture and death. If you want to overcome evil in the short term, the only effective method is superior force, effectively and perpetually applied.