Lexington and Concrord April 19th, 1775

From History we get the story of the shot heard round the world. American Revolution begins at Battle of Lexington

April 19, 1775: At about 5 a.m., 700 British troops, on a mission to capture Patriot leaders and seize a Patriot arsenal, march into Lexington to find 77 armed minutemen under Captain John Parker waiting for them on the town’s common green. British Major John Pitcairn ordered the outnumbered Patriots to disperse, and after a moment’s hesitation, the Americans began to drift off the green. Suddenly, a shot was fired from an undetermined gun, and a cloud of musket smoke soon covered the green.

Things didn't go well for the Americans. When the British got to Concord, there was a different outcome.

When the British troops reached Concord at about 7 a.m., they found themselves encircled by hundreds of armed Patriots. They managed to destroy the military supplies the Americans had collected but were soon advanced against by a gang of minutemen, who inflicted numerous casualties. Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, the overall commander of the British force, ordered his men to return to Boston without directly engaging the Americans.

On the 16 mile march back to Boston, the British were beset by marksmen shooting at them from behind cover.

By the time the British finally reached the safety of Boston, nearly 300 British soldiers had been killed, wounded or were missing in action. The Patriots suffered fewer than 100 casualties.

These were the opening shots of the American Revolution.

Blinken to Moscow: Or Else!

Vague threats is all this administration will muster. Blinken warns Moscow of consequences amid troop buildup near Ukraine

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday he was concerned about the number of Russian troops amassing on the Ukrainian border and warned Moscow that “there will be consequences” for aggresive [sic] behavior.

Apparently they don't have the budget for spellcheckers at CNBC. Or maybe they are showing that they agree with the "spelling and grammar are instruments of white privilege" nonsense.

The geniuses who ran the Obama State Department did nothing while Russia invaded and annexed Crimea. Now they will make vague threats as Russia amasses troops on the border with Ukraine.

And they also don't seem to have an appreciation for what happened as recently as when Obama was in office.

In recent weeks, Moscow has increased its military presence along the Ukrainian border, sparking concerns in the West of a budding military conflict between the two neighboring countries.

For those of you who were asleep when Obama was in office, Russia invaded an annexed Crimea. There is an article linked at the bottom of this post for some historical information.

NATO, in the meantime is again taking credit for something done by the US. Two US Destroyers Enter Black Sea; Russia Responds. Two guided missile destroyers, that is, though I doubt any missile will be fired on the Crimean peninsula.

NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu praised the decision to send three ships to the waterway, welcomed the deployment, saying “in response to Russia’s illegal and illegitimate annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and its ongoing military build-up in the Black Sea, the Alliance has increased its defensive presence in the region and remains strongly committed to Black Sea security.”

As for the "warning" that our esteemed Secretary of State gave the Russians... Things like that always put me in mind of the following scene from Demolition Man.

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Here is a review of the invasion and annexation of Crimea by Putin in March of 2014. That position has since been consolidated. From March of last year... Crimea: Six years after illegal annexation.

Ukraine’s Maidan Revolution ended in late February 2014, when President Victor Yanukovych fled Kyiv — later to turn up in Russia — and the Rada (Ukraine’s parliament) appointed an acting president and acting prime minister to take charge. They made clear their intention to draw Ukraine closer to Europe by signing an association agreement with the European Union.

Almost immediately thereafter, armed men began occupying key facilities and checkpoints on the Crimean peninsula. Clearly professional soldiers by the way they handled themselves and their weapons, they wore Russian combat fatigues but with no identifying insignia. Ukrainians called them “little green men.” President Vladimir Putin at first flatly denied these were Russian soldiers, only to later admit that they were and award commendations to their commanders.

The West (Obama and company) urged Ukraine to do nothing. Let Russia fire the first shot.

By early March of 2014 Russia had control of the entire Crimean penninsula, and on March 18th the annexation was made official. Today, Ukraine couldn't retake Crimea. And with Obama 2.0 in the White House, my guess is that Putin will take another bite of the apple.

The Obama adminstration was confused by the events in Crimea. Someone (Biden?) was surprised by the action taking place in the 21st Century. Surely human nature had changed fundamentally in the past 50 years! Or something. They will be equally shocked and dismayed and confused by the next crisis, wherever it occurs. (Russia isn't the only one making faces at old enemies.)