John Kerry has admonished Russia for sending troops into the Ukraine. He says that’s not a 20^th or 21^st Century thing for countries to be doing. Is that not a bit of the pot calling the kettle black? Remember Vietnam? Iraq? Might not some back room observation instead work well in this situation?

The US might do well to play the strong silent type. Do we have a real strategic stake in this affair? We little need to have emotional ideology guide our actions. Angela Merkel, seen by Russia as an economic and philosophical ally, can be our proxy spokesperson for a while. Putin trusts and heeds her words.

All the energy we would save playing low key cards sure would come in handy inside the US. We have problems of our own to solve. We are not used to quiet introspective consideration of touchy situations before mouthing our opinions. Now might be a good time to try our hand at it.