Sympathy for the Russians? Interesting. Putin has a game plan and is executing it flawlessly. Between cowing the Europeans with an overt lesson in power projection and using the “soft power” persuasiveness of controlling a large chunk of their energy supplies, he has managed to stop the eastern thrust of NATO and simultaneously restore Russian primacy in Eastern Europe.

You have to wonder how the Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians feel about this latest “Soviet” jaunt. Or the Poles, for that matter.

Cold War redux indeed. Cowboys and Cossacks all over again.