1 Don't worry. A strongly-worded letter from the Secretary of State should do the trick.

2 A statement that it can do something it not a threat that it will do something. It is a warning. "Don’t mess with us. There will be consequences.”

We are threatening to impose sanctions. We are threatening to admit not one, but two nations which border Russia into our military alliance. We are threatening to retaliate with military action. We are not saying we can do these things, we are saying we will do these things.

Russia is saying "If you do those things we can make you pay a high price. Don’t mess with us.”

3 A strongly worded letter and no invite to Biden's White House Christmas party! That'll show them.

4 Well Bill you are right about that. And this is actually a lesser issue as I posted an article from a few days ago where a British official warns we are pushing to the edge with the Russians.

We should never have tried to put the Ukraine into NATO. That was starting trouble.

But we have to take this threat seriously. Just having the capability to do this is an existential threat to our national security.

We bungled our handling of Russia going back to the end of the Cold War.

5 We have the capability to use nuclear weapons which would turn all of Russia into smoking rubble. That makes us an existential threat to Russia, and we are saying that we fully intend put our troops on their border. And you're condemning Russia for saying that it can defend itself.

6 Bill you are putting words in my mouth. I am NOT condemning Russia for that. I am saying we are in a serious situation that I doubt our schlerotic demented leadership can get us out of.

And I would add you often accuse me of mindless boosterism for America and you say we can turn Russia into a smoking ruin. I would point out they have an arsenal that, while smaller than ours, is probably more capable than  our own. They can turn the U.S. into a smoking cinder too. And nukes do not matter in terms of standard military operations (of which we are likely the Russian inferior except where our technology is concerned.) We rely on that technology for everything.

My point is you don't plan on intentions but on capabilities, and the Russians are letting us know they have the capabilities to take down our eyes and ears.

You are reading into my statement.

I fault Joe Biden in this more than anyone. He and the Democrats created the whole "Russia is evil" meme to win the last election, and they have pushed the Russians backs to the wall. Now, Putin IS a bad guy - no question. And Russia is at it's very best a self-interested actor (and actually a force for ill) but I studied the Russians in college to a large extent and understand their thinking. They get very upset when a power capable of invading them masses at their border.

Which is why they opposed the invasion of Iraq. They didn't like us on their southern border. Afghanistan was o.k.; it would lead to ruin they believed (and rightly, it turns out). But Iraq made them nervous, and Syria made them angry. Also, we had been making inroads in places like Georgia (which is why they invaded Georgia).

Ukraine is another matter. That is on their doorstep and it is a very wide threshoold. They simply will not allow themselves to lose the buffer between Russia and Europe.

They learned that from the Golden Horde.

I think supplying Ukraine with weapons to resist Russia was acceptable but provokative and was problematic. But troops on the border is extremely dangerous.

But Bill, I want us positioned to be able to win if we have to fight with them. The best course of action is no action, meaning both sides stand down. That isn't going to happen by our unilateral withdrawl. Putin will take that as a sign of weakness. We can't afford that.

Putin is making these threats now because he can and because it advances his agenda. Why do this publicly? It's brinksmanship, and it is because Joe Biden has already proven weak. You don't make public threats of this nature if you aren't trying to advance an aggressive agenda. The mere fact of the technology speaks for itself.

I guarantee you we have the same satellite killer technology, btw.

The point here is Russia is publicly showing this stuff off, taking the temperature between our two nations upward.

And Slow Joe is not up to dealing with so sharp and formidable a foe.