Oswald in the doorway: the blog of the Oswald Innocence Campaign, by Ralph Cinque

The hypocrisy of the United States over the Ukraine crisis is certainly disgusting. What's so terrible about the Crimeans voting about whether they want to remain a part of Ukraine? We were all for the Kosovos voting about whether they wanted to remain a part of Serbia. What the hell is the difference? 

And what makes the present government of Ukraine legitimate? Aren't they just a bunch of thugs who took over the government by force? Wasn't the sitting President of Ukraine, who is now in exile in Russia, legally elected? And weren't there legal means by which those who opposed him could have sought to unseat him without resorting to violence? 

We've been through this before and under the same circumstances. For some reason, our astute leaders in Washington think that the Olympic Games are a good time to try to get the upper hand on Russia. Remember the Beijing Olympics? Remember how we put the Harvard-educated leader of Georgia up to attacking South Ossetia right during the games? I guess we figured that Putin would be too busy enjoying the Olympics to be bothered with it. Well, we figured wrong. Putin swifted home, and he sent in the Russian army, and they made mincemeat out of the Georgians. They summarily drove them out of South Ossetia- for good. It embarrassed the hell out of not only that Harvard-eduated idiot in Tbilisi, Mikheil Saakashvilli, but that Yale-educated idiot in Washington, George W. Bush. 

Now, you'd think that the American government would have learned from that. But no, what failed in Georgia, they repeated in Ukraine, provoking Putin to respond in the same manner.  Look: the Russians let us overrun and devastate Iraq, Afghanistan, and then Libya. But, do you really think they were going to let us hijack Ukraine? Don't you think it was a little bit too close for comfort? The uprising and takeover of Ukraine's government which we bankrolled and orchestrated had a very predictable outcome.  

I have some personal history with Ukraine. I have been to Ukraine. I have been to Kiev, Odessa, and other places. You see, although I have a wonderful relationship with my girlfriend Linda, with whom I live and whom I love like a wife, in the past, I have had relationships with two women from Ukraine. Actually, one was from western Russia near Smolenesk, but it's close to Ukraine, and she also had roots in Ukraine, having lived in Ukraine for a significant portion of her life. 

And here's what I can tell you about Ukraine from having been there. For one, they speak Russian. At least, everywhere I went, they spoke Russian. That right; even in Kiev, the capital, they speak primarily Russian. It is the dominate language. Granted, I didn't go to the western side of Ukraine, and I understand they speak Ukrainian over there. But, everywhere I went in Ukraine, Russian was the language, as much so as English is the language here, and more so considering how many people here primarily speak Spanish. For two, they highly admire Russia. They admire Russian culture. They listen to Russian radio. They listen to Russian music. They watch Russian movies and television. And many of them have close ties to Russia, where they have worked or studied and have family in Russia, and have reasons to go back and forth. The affinity between the Russian side of Ukraine and Russia itself may be the closest bond there is between any two countries on this planet. 

That referendum in Crimea is going to take place tomorrow, Sunday, but I can tell you the outcome tonight: the Crimeans are going to vote to leave Ukraine. It's what they want. No one is forcing it on them.

I realize it's not going to be unanimous. There are some, like the Tatars, who won't like it. But, it's about democracy, right? Isn't that where the majority decides and everyone accepts the outcome?    

It's beautiful in Crimea. I rode the train from Odessa to Sevastopol. It's spelled the same as the Northern California city except that instead accenting "vas" as they do here, the accent is on "tope". 

They're not going to turn Crimea into a bloody battlefield, are they? Tell me that our leaders are not that insane.