Putin wags the nuclear dog...

Obama is weak. Putin knows it. 

Russia has threatened to use “nuclear force” to defend its annexation of Crimea and warned that the “same conditions” that prompted it to take military action in Ukraine exist in the three Baltic states, all members of Nato.

According to notes made by an American at a meeting between Russian generals and US officials – and seen by The Times newspaper - Moscow threatened a “spectrum of responses from nuclear to non-military” if Nato moved more forces into Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

The Russians told the meeting, which took place in Germany last month, that an attempt to return Crimea to Ukraine would be met “forcefully including through the use of nuclear force”.

Oops! Russia accidentally releases real Crimean election results

Guess what. 97% didn't really want to be annexed by Russia. The actual percentage who voted for annexation is 15% of eligible voters. 

As you may recall, the official Crimean election results, as reported widely in the Western press, showed a 97 percent vote in favor of annexation with a turnout of 83 percent. No international observers were allowed. The pro-Russia election pressure would have raised the already weak vote in favor of annexation, of course.

Yesterday, however, according to a major Ukrainian news site, TSN.ua, the website of the President of Russia’s Council on Civil Society and Human Rights (shortened to President’s Human Rights Council) posted a report that was quickly taken down as if it were toxic radioactive waste. According to this purported report about the March referendum to annex Crimea, the turnout of Crimean voters was only 30 percent. And of these, only half voted for the referendum–meaning only 15 percent of Crimean citizens voted for annexation. Keep on reading...

Putin threatens countries if they vote in UN against his Crimea annexation...

 A Russian spokesman claims,

"We never threaten anyone. We just explain the situation."

Is that a distinction with a difference? 

(Reuters) - Russia threatened several Eastern European and Central Asian states with retaliation if they voted in favor of a United Nations General Assembly resolution this week declaring invalid Crimea's referendum on seceding from Ukraine, U.N. diplomats said.
The disclosures about Russian threats came after Moscow accused Western countries of using "shameless pressure, up to the point of political blackmail and economic threats," in an attempt to coerce the United Nations' 193 member states to join it in supporting the non-binding resolution on the Ukraine crisis.
According to interviews with U.N. diplomats, most of whom preferred to speak on condition of anonymity for fear of angering Moscow, the targets of Russian threats included Moldova, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan as well as a number of African countries. A spokesman for Russia's Mission to the U.N. denied that Moscow threatened any country with retaliation if it supported the resolution, saying: "We never threaten anyone. We just explain the situation."

Crimean Prime Minister mocks Obama; asks if he now has Russian rank of colonel

Putin should make Obama a Brigadier General at least...

Via HuffPo:

Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov mocked President Barack Obama on Twitter Monday by tweeting a photoshopped picture of him in a Russian military outfit. “Interestingly, after the success of the company in returning Crimea, Barack is getting the rank of colonel?” wrote Aksyonov.

Интересно, после проведения успешной компании по возвращению Крыма, Барак получит полковника? pic.twitter.com/GYhW2jF4zA
— Сергей Аксенов (@sergyaksenov) March 17, 2014

Is Obama trying to kill Putin by causing him to laugh himself to death?

There just doesn't seem to be another rational explanation...

MOSCOW – Russia’s deputy prime minister laughed off President Obama’s sanction against him today  asking “Comrade @BarackObama” if “some prankster” came up with the list.
The Obama administration hit 11 Russian and Ukrainian officials with sanctions today as punishment for Russia’s support of Crimea’s referendum. Among them: aides to President Vladimir Putin, a top government official, senior lawmakers, Crimean officials, the ousted president of Ukraine, and a Ukrainian politician and businessman allegedly tied to violence against protesters in Kiev.
It remains to be seen whether the sanctions will dissuade Russia from annexing Crimea, but one an early clue that they will not be effective came just hours later when President Putin signed a decree recognizing Crimea as an independent state, perhaps an early step towards annexation.
U.S. official have warned of additional sanctions for Russian action, hoping it will deter Russia from any further aggression towards Ukraine, but it didn’t appear to upset the often outspoke Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin.[...]
Another Russian on the sanctions list, Vladislav Surkov, also seemed unconcerned.
Surkov,  a top Putin ideologue often called the Kremlin’s grey cardinal, reportedly told a Russian newspaper, “It’s a big honor for me. I don’t have accounts abroad. The only things that interest me in the U.S. are Tupac Shakur, Allen Ginsberg, and Jackson Pollock. I don’t need a visa to access their work. I lose nothing.”

Crimea referendum doesn't contain option to stay part of Ukraine...

Democracy, Soviet style...

#Russia's "referendum" to annex #Crimea includes NO option for voters to remain with #Ukraine http://t.co/QhAJuNflFB pic.twitter.com/4BkDDHYzOA
— East of Brussels (@EastOfBrussels) March 8, 2014