re: #568 Dr Lizardo

Good point. But how do you tell the Russians - privately, of course - that “Yeah, Crimea……OK; we don’t like it, but meh…..what you can do? Cross the Dnieper? Yeah, Moscow disappears in a blinding flash of light and heat.”

Well, maybe with not such……direct language, of course. Because if someone said that shit, oh man….Russia would burst a collective blood vessel.

I think there’s a not so secret diplomatic code for these kinds of things. Despite the headlines yesterday, Obama’s speech gave a pretty clear signal that military response isn’t being considered for now. I’m sure there are more clear backchannel forms of communication. These things can get a bit dangerous if there’s a miscommunication, misunderstanding or if the Russians get too ambitious. They probably have a decent idea of where our real “red line” is and how much they can get away with.