Ukraine and R-S-P-E-C-T Tell You What it Means to Me

There was a time, albeit a short time, when Ukraine was the world's third largest nuclear power. They agreed to give up thousands of their Russian-supplied nukes if the U.S. and Russia agreed to Ukraine's sovereignty. In 1994, all three countries, along with the U.K., signed the agreement known as the Budapest Memorandum.

Now, 20 years later, Vladimir Putin has shown as much respect to that piece of paper as Obama has shown to that piece of paper known as the U.S. Constitution, or at the very least, the GOP.

Putin claimed the commitment Russia signed no longer applies due to the "coup" in Kiev that has resulted in "a new state with which we have signed no binding agreements." However, the U.S., U.K., and Ukraine collectively stated they treat the Budapest Memorandum's agreement quite seriously and expect Putin to do the same.

Putin smiled, reeled in a 25 pound salmon, put a broad-head arrow through the heart of a fourteen point buck, and rode off into the sunset. Shirtless. Obama whipped out his Schwinn and rode off in his Brook's Brothers shorts. Lucky for Obama there is nothing in the Budapest Memorandum that says we must come to Ukraine's defense. Our only obligation of ours and the U.K.'s response is to bring territorial infractions to the attention of the UN Security Council (at which point they may investigate as to whether or not Ukraine is Sharia compliant).

So how did we all get here?

Well, in 1991 we were quite ambiguous in how we viewed Ukraine when they were seeking their independence from the Soviet Union. In fact, we didn't seem to be able to separate Ukraine from Russia as noted in George H.W. Bush's "Chicken Kiev" speech on August 1, 1991, when he said that Ukraine should give up their quest for "national ambitions."

Between 1992 to 1994, we became focused on assuring Ukraine's ratification with START 1 and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Again, we were more concerned about our security against Russia than we were about Ukraine's future as a nation. I hate to say it, but we cannot blame Obama for this--he was too busy getting stoned at that time.

In 1993, several Ukrainian politicians denounced the U.S. media (imagine that) for describing Ukraine as a "barrier to nuclear peace," and calling them a pariah state. Ultimately, however, they signed START 1 and NPT, which led to the Budapest Memorandum.

President Clinton recognized the critical role Ukraine could play in European security, and pushed for economic and military aid to the tune of $700 million.

At this time we find that Angela Merkel of Germany rebuked Vladimir Putin stating that his planned "Moscow-backed referendum on whether Crimea should join Russia was illegal and violated Ukraine's constitution," the CBC News reported.

Chinese president Xi Jinping called for administrations to come up with political solutions during a phone conversation with Merkel and fresh-from-vacation Obama. 

There has been street violence in Sevastopol where a group of Ukrainians were attacked by pro-Russian demonstrators and Cossacks. But so far, everything has been relatively bloodless.

Obama, in a statement to Vladimir Putin, said, "All I'm askin' for is a little R-S-P-E-C-T," at which point Valerie Jarrett chimed in, "Just a little bit . . . just a little bit."

Tweet