Ham Handed

This morning on TV's  “Morning Joe” someone (I think it was David Ignatius) labeled Vladimir Putin’s current tactics in the Ukraine as “ham-handed.” Clearly, if it is shown that it was a Russian-supplied missile that shot down Malaysian flight MH17 over the rebel-held area of the Ukraine, then Russia will find itself even more isolated from Europe and the benefits that Western financiers can offer it.

Also clearly Putin and Russia have been overplaying their hands recently with their annexation of the Crimea and their trying to parlay Russia’s large natural gas reserves into greater political and territorial leverage. I think Putin may have believed that he had more sway with the United States than has turned out to be the case. Perhaps if President Obama had not whispered to Russia’s then-President Medvedev back in 2012 that he should tell Putin that he would “have more flexability” with Russia once he got reelected? (See: The Blaze Story).

Now, two years later, one may associate the loss of 298 innocent lives on a Malaysian airliner with that then ham-handed Obama indiscretion.

Afterward: Cartoon from reddit: