Obama: Crimea referendum would be illegal

[Laelth]

6. Dumb move, Mr. President.

The truth is that we're not going to do squat about Russia's occupation of the Crimea. We can't because our European allies won't let us. They depend on Russian natural gas. If we tick off Putin, and he decides to spike the price, every sitting government in Western Europe will be thrown out of power. And they know it.

So, given that we can't realistically do anything about this situation, it's silly to call a referendum "illegal." Who cares if it's legal? It will still express the will of Crimea's citizens, and, given that the vast majority of them are ethnic Russians, I suspect they will express a strong preference for independence from the Ukraine (which is now dominated by a right-wing government that we helped install in an unconstitutional coup). In fact, now that I think about it, it's awfully hypocritical to suggest that a referendum is "illegal" when we've been caught red-handed supporting an unconstitutional coup.

The President needs better advisers.

-Laelth