Free Republic

Only a madman would gamble with our lives…our children’s lives…and the entire American economy. Why would President Obama play “Russian Roulette” with the future of our country? It’s a gamble no sane leader would take. The life and death issue is Ebola. The President is more concerned with political correctness (and golf) than taking common sense precautions to prevent a deadly pandemic. Why does this President not see his responsibility is to keep the odds as low as possible? There are three simple, common sense actions any President who cared about American citizens would take:

The United States announced a $1.2 million aid package Friday to help support Ukrainian news outlets ahead of presidential elections later this month. "Members of the media in Ukraine have faced serious challenges and dangers over the past several months," State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said. SNIP--------------- Announced on the eve of World Press Freedom Day, the funding from the US Agency for International Development "will help to protect vulnerable journalists while also advancing press freedoms and domestic governance in Ukraine," Harf said.

Moscow's ambassador to the EU has welcomed what he called the "reunification" of Crimea with Russia but denied that the move was planned. Vladimir Chizhov told the BBC the move was the end of an "abnormality" which had lasted for 60 years. Russia formally annexed the Ukrainian region on Friday after a referendum. On Saturday Russian troops and pro-Russian protesters stormed two Ukrainian military airbases in Crimea, bringing them under Russian control.

US Secretary of State John Kerry warned Russia on Tuesday against any military incursion into eastern Ukraine and likened the "nationalistic fervor" fueled by the Crimea crisis to the build-up before World War II. Any moves by Russia to march into eastern Ukraine "would be as egregious as any step that I can think of that would be taken by a country in today's world, particularly by a country like Russia, where so much is at stake," Kerry said. (SNIP) Kerry said comments from Putin about what was happening in Crimea "just didn't jive with reality or with what's happening...

Since then, Putin increasingly has referred to Russia as distinct from the West. He promotes an “orthodox morality” that rejects Western notions of tolerance and inclusive societies — seen domestically in the imprisonment of Pussy Riot, new “anti-propaganda” laws targeting gays and a crackdown on any media deviating from the Kremlin line. The West discounted much of this exceptionalist narrative until it was used in Crimea. Putin’s soldiers-of-no-nation are branded “local self-defense forces” to underscore native pro-Russian support. The relentless information war propagates perceptions of ethnic-religious divisions and Western “hypocrisy.” Financial weapons underscore Putin’s reliance on oligarch-princes to revitalize orthodoxy...

London (CNN) -- Whatever U.S. and European leaders may say, it seems clear a majority of the residents of Crimea were only too happy to abandon Ukraine and join the Russian Federation. The referendum held there on Sunday was illegal according to Ukrainian constitutional law and took place under duress, following the large-scale incursion of "pro-Russian forces" -- and voters did not have the choice to say "no" to severing ties with Kiev. But these failings aside, it appears plain that most of Crimea's population, with the exception of the Tatar minority and some ethnic Ukrainians, was content to return...

Sen. Ted Cruz is calling for the Obama administration to place missile installations in Eastern Europe in the wake of Russia’s moves in Ukraine. The Washington Post reports the Texas Republican made the comments during an interview Monday. "Beyond sanctions and aid to Ukraine, the most important thing we could be doing right now, with respect to Russia, is installing anti-ballistic missiles in Eastern Europe," Cruz said. "Appeasement has not worked. After more than five years of being unwilling to stand up to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and Russian aggression, it is time for the United States to honor our...

KIEV, Ukraine— Obama on Monday imposed sanctions on 11 Russian and Ukrainian officials blamed for Russia's military incursion into Crimea, including two top aides to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The sanctions were the most visible sign of U.S. anger at Russia's attempt to absorb the Crimea region of southern Ukraine, reflecting the deepest plunge in U.S.-Russian relations since the Cold War. The sanctions came in an executive order signed by Obama a day after a Crimea referendum on Sunday aimed at allowing Russia to annex the autonomous region, a vote that the United States says was illegal and would never...