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How Putin Bullies Obama
National Journal ^ | 26 Mar 2014 | Ron Fournier

Posted on 03/26/2014 7:24:44 AM PDT by mandaladon

On a playground or in a bar, the most important thing to know about a bully is his motivation. What ticks him off? Who's his next victim? If it's you, how do you avoid a butt-kicking?

On the world stage, Vladimir Putin is a bully – and President Obama not only seems clueless about the Russian leader's inner drive, he embraces his ambivalence. "I'm less interested in motivation," Obama said Monday in The Hague, "and more interested in the facts and the principles that not only the United States but the entire international community are looking to uphold."

Taken at face value, it's a disturbing response from a world leader who should lie awake at night concerned about the motivation of U.S. adversaries, whose first meeting of every day involves an intelligence briefing on the motivations of global actors.

It could be that Obama is playing mind games with Putin, looking into the soul that transfixed President Bush 13 years ago and seeing a man whose greatest weakness is parochial hubris. Want to hurt Putin? Say you don't care about him. In a verbal equivalent of a groin punch, Obama might dismiss Russia as a "regional power" that antagonizes its neighbors "out of weakness."

But it's hard to credit Obama with such savvy calculation. I take him at his word: He doesn't care.

First, his handling of leaders in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, China and most recently Russia exposes a lack of empathy and sophistication. As Julie Pace of The Associated Press put it in her question to Obama at The Hague, "You've been criticized during this dispute with Russia as not understanding President Putin's motivations. As recently as last month, you and others in your administration said you thought Putin was reflecting or pausing his incursion into Crimea.

(Excerpt) Read more at nationaljournal.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: momjeans; obama; putin; thecatcher
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To: GregoTX

Love those pictures!


21 posted on 03/26/2014 8:00:21 AM PDT by diamond6 (Behold this Heart which has so loved men!" Jesus to St. Margaret Mary)
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To: mandaladon
If you must be accurate, in an article that mentions only Putin and Obama, the bully is not Putin.

A bully is one who attacks only those weaker than himself, and Obama has force at his disposal at least equal to or greater than the force Putin has at his disposal. Yet Putin still aggressively confronts Obama while Obama cowers and selects Americans to punish who have little if any means to fight back.

Who is the bully? and Who has courage?

22 posted on 03/26/2014 8:00:53 AM PDT by Navy Patriot (Join the Democrats, it's not Fascism when WE do it, and the Constitution and law mean what WE say.)
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To: mandaladon

He can either go to Colorado or come to Washington State, reunite with his ‘choom’ gang and get high and everything will be right, again.


23 posted on 03/26/2014 8:02:22 AM PDT by Parmy
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To: mandaladon

It doesn’t take much to bully a candy-ass. Just ask Jimmah Carter.


24 posted on 03/26/2014 8:02:24 AM PDT by NRA1995 (I'd rather be a living "gun culture" member than a dead anti-gun candy-ass.)
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To: Navy Patriot

He’s on a International Community Organizing Blitz......sounds like he’s on the streets of Chicago “organizing”.......

Obama says ......”we need to make sure everyone is chipping in” to Europe’s collective security...not just US or UK”


25 posted on 03/26/2014 8:06:08 AM PDT by caww
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To: mandaladon
How Putin Bullies Obama

well sissies make good targets.

26 posted on 03/26/2014 8:09:44 AM PDT by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
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To: caww
Obama says ......”we need to make sure everyone is chipping in” to Europe’s collective security...not just US or UK”

Translation: "You take point, we've got your back" that so may double crossed US allies have heard before the Obama DemoRat knife in the back.

27 posted on 03/26/2014 8:15:31 AM PDT by Navy Patriot (Join the Democrats, it's not Fascism when WE do it, and the Constitution and law mean what WE say.)
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To: Navy Patriot

Looks like they’re willing to forgive and forget in light of Ukraine situation.....do they have another choice really? It’s not about Obama to them...it’s about after he’s gone.


28 posted on 03/26/2014 8:23:30 AM PDT by caww
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To: Iron Munro

29 posted on 03/26/2014 8:27:40 AM PDT by Bobalu (Happiness is a fast ISR)
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To: caww
It’s not about Obama to them...it’s about after he’s gone.

Understood but a gamble, if it's another Rat, there will be no change in policy. Only a Ronald Reagan Conservative could START to undo the damage.

30 posted on 03/26/2014 8:31:32 AM PDT by Navy Patriot (Join the Democrats, it's not Fascism when WE do it, and the Constitution and law mean what WE say.)
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To: Bobalu

Hahahahahaha


31 posted on 03/26/2014 8:38:56 AM PDT by spetznaz (Nuclear-tipped Ballistic Missiles: The Ultimate Phallic Symbol)
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To: Iron Munro

Now I must wash out my eyes. Please!


32 posted on 03/26/2014 8:43:16 AM PDT by lulu16 (May the Good Lord take a liking to you!)
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To: mandaladon

Zero is known to live in a make believe world of his own. Nothing happens that that somehwo will not impact the motivations of others. Weakness invites bullies.


33 posted on 03/26/2014 8:57:10 AM PDT by lavaroise (A well regulated gun being necessary to the state, the rights of the militia shall not be infringed)
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To: Bobalu

Girl is scared of. putin... world of liberal cynicism meets thug cynicism.

Chicken come home to roost?


34 posted on 03/26/2014 8:59:59 AM PDT by lavaroise (A well regulated gun being necessary to the state, the rights of the militia shall not be infringed)
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To: GregoTX

i am waiting for. obama to sing Putin “War, what is it good for!”


35 posted on 03/26/2014 9:03:38 AM PDT by lavaroise (A well regulated gun being necessary to the state, the rights of the militia shall not be infringed)
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To: mandaladon

Hasn’t Putin ever heard of affirmative action?

Leave Bambi alone!

(crying)


36 posted on 03/26/2014 9:20:53 AM PDT by NaturalBornC1t1zen (White Guilt + Negrophilia is the manifestation of the liberal death wish killing America.)
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To: GregoTX

Oh ho. That is the best.


37 posted on 03/26/2014 9:27:38 AM PDT by Luke21
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To: mandaladon

0bama and the feds are the biggest threat to the American people’s freedom and prosperity. So the enemy of my enemy is my friend.


38 posted on 03/26/2014 9:34:14 AM PDT by grumpygresh (Democrats delenda est. New US economy: Fascism on top, Socialism on the bottom.)
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To: GregoTX

Thanks for the pics. So true.


39 posted on 03/26/2014 9:46:54 AM PDT by charlie72
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To: mandaladon

“and more interested in the facts and the principles that not only the United States but the entire international community are looking to uphold.”

bozo just HAS to grab a skirt to hide behind.


40 posted on 03/26/2014 9:49:17 AM PDT by TalBlack (Evil doesn't have a day job.)
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