The E.U. is losing The Ukraine & Other Tidbit Views

So the paper this morning confirms that a heat seeking missile downed the Malaysian Air plane over the Ukraine.  The separatists say it couldn't be them because they don't have that technology.  The Ukraine didn't have the technology in the area because the separatists don't have any airplanes.  That only leaves the possibility open that Russia could have had the technology in the area.  But we already knew that.

Then Putin doubles down as The Ukraine is defeating the terrorist thuggish separatists by sending in more "irregular" militias, supported by the Russian Army in key ways, to open up another front along the Black Sea and bringing The Ukraine to the negotiating table.

We will see what kind of independence The Ukraine can negotiate from this position, but what outrages me is that the EU is not even discussing ways in which to reduce their energy imports from Russia, which is the only way to really punish Russian and Putin for this outrageous intrusion on Ukrainian sovereignty and the criminal downing of the Malaysian Air flight.

The only thing the U.S. can do is start to export oil and gas, but the me-firsters in Congress won't allow that, but I urge anyone who reads this to support that concept.   The Bush II Administration tried to fight the War on Terror without asking for any sacrifice from the American people who did not have relatives in harms way and the least we can do is pay more for our energy to help reduce the flow of funds to our enemies in Russia and the Middle East.

Meanwhile, it is notable that the rumored coalition of the willing to fight ISIS does not include Qatar. That is the center of the flow of funds to jihadist groups, along with the two faced Saudi regime.  Something has to be done about this flow of funds.

Finally, Frank Bruni correctly pointed out that reelecting incumbents is not going to change the way the Congress, with a 14% approval rating, operates.  I think the country is going to have to go down the tubes in some manner before the Tea Party will lose enough support for the GOP to compromise.  Meanwhile, centrist Democrats are having mixed success fighting back ultra-liberal advocates, but at least in NY State yesterday, we centrists were able to declare victory on most fronts.  One obvious exception was the victory by an indicted Brooklyn State Senator who had the audacity to run for reelection, but that is not my district.  So be prepared for more D.C. gridlock and no progress on anything for the next 30 months.