memeorandum: Putin's error in Ukraine is the kind that leads to catastrophe (David Ignatius/Washington Post)

12:40 PM ET, March 3, 2014

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President Obama's foreign policy is based on fantasy — FOR FIVE YEARS, President Obama has led a foreign policy based more on how he thinks the world should operate than on reality. It was a world in which “the tide of war is receding” and the United States could, without much risk, radically reduce the size of its armed forces.

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Peter Baker / New York Times:

Pressure Rising as Obama Works to Rein In Russia — WASHINGTON — As Russia dispatched more forces and tightened its grip on the Crimean Peninsula on Sunday, President Obama embarked on a strategy intended to isolate Moscow and prevent it from seizing more Ukrainian territory even as he was pressured at home to respond more forcefully.

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Russell Berman / The Hill:

US moves to isolate Russia from ‘community of civilized nations’ — The Obama administration on Sunday worked to isolate Russia on the world stage even as its president, Vladimir Putin, showed no signs of rolling back his military intervention in Ukraine. — President Obama spoke by phone …

Discussion: Politico, Hot Air, kyivpost.com, The Week, The Dish and The Democratic Daily

David Ignatius / Washington Post:

Putin's error in Ukraine is the kind that leads to catastrophe — Napoleon is said to have cautioned during an 1805 battle: “When the enemy is making a false movement we must take good care not to interrupt him.” The citation is also sometimes rendered as “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”

Discussion: Guardian, Power Line, New York Times, Daily Kos, The Week, VodkaPundit, Business Insider, New Yorker, Washington Free Beacon, Slate and kyivpost.com

Anatol Lieven / Zocalo Public Square:

Why Obama Shouldn't Fall for Putin's Ukrainian Folly — We're now witnessing the consequences of how grossly both Russia and the West have overplayed their hands in Ukraine. It is urgently necessary that both should find ways of withdrawing from some of the positions that they have taken.

Discussion: Guardian and Outside the Beltway

Michael Barone / Washington Examiner:

What to do about Putin's invasion of Ukraine? — BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN UKRAINE — It is obvious that Russia is conducting an invasion of Ukraine. This violates the 1994 Budapest Memorandum between Russia, Ukraine, the United States and Britain …

Discussion: Hot Air

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:

Here's What Is Going To Happen With Ukraine — Following up on the previous post, if you do want to fret about Ukraine, I have just the thing for you. I'm going to tell you how this will all unfold: — Vladimir Putin will do something belligerent. (Already done.)

Discussion: Washington Monthly, BillMoyers.com and Prairie Weather

CNN:
Tensions rise in Crimea amid report of Russian ultimatum

Discussion: Weekly Standard

Kevin Sieff / Washington Post:
Interview: Karzai says 12-year Afghanistan war has left him angry at U.S. government

Discussion: Guardian and Booman Tribune

New York Times:
Russia's Aggression

Discussion: USA Today, Fox News, The Huffington Post and kyivpost.com

Ben Judah / Politico:
Why Russia No Longer Fears the West

Discussion: Financial Times, Bloomberg View, The Fix and New York Times

The Hill:
Kerry: Putin now acting out of ‘weakness’ and ‘desperation’

Discussion: Politico, American Prospect, BizPac Review, National Review, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite and Washington Free Beacon

Jeffrey Goldberg / Bloomberg View:

Obama to Israel — Time Is Running Out — When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the White House tomorrow, President Barack Obama will tell him that his country could face a bleak future — one of international isolation and demographic disaster — if he refuses to endorse …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Commentary Magazine, The Times of Israel, Business Insider, BizPac Review, Taylor Marsh, Israel Matzav, Walter Russell Mead, The PJ Tatler, Hot Air, Israpundit, Power Line and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Aryeh Tepper / Weekly Standard:
Does Abbas Recognize Israel as a Jewish State?

Discussion: Booman Tribune and The Times of Israel

Adiv Sterman / The Times of Israel:
Obama: US won't be able to defend Israel if peace talks fail

Discussion: Right Turn, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Gateway Pundit

Larry Hannan / Florida Times Union:

Marissa Alexander's sentence could triple in ‘warning-shot’ case — A Jacksonville woman whose case generated outrage when she was sentenced to 20 years in prison may end up behind bars for 60 years for the same crime. — The Office of State Attorney Angela Corey will seek to put Marissa Alexander …

Discussion: Gone Viral Blog, PoliticusUSA, Shakesville, ABC News, Black Youth Project and Dispatches from the Underclass

Jackie Calmes / New York Times:

Democrats Try Wooing Ones Who Got Away: White Men — ROYAL OAK, Mich. — Frank Houston knows something about the longtime estrangement of white men from the Democratic Party. His family roots are in nearby Macomb County, the symbolic home of working-class Reagan Democrats who …

Discussion: Democratic Strategist, The Raw Story, No More Mister Nice Blog and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Daily Mail:

EXCLUSIVE: Billionaire Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg ‘is planning to run for Senate seat in 2016’ — Sandberg, one of the business world's biggest champions of correcting gender inequality in the workplace, is eying a rebellion against Democratic Californian Senator Barbara Boxer

Discussion: Business Insider and The Raw Story

Phillip Longman / Washington Monthly:

Oops: The Texas Miracle That Isn't — Conservatives say the Lone Star state's recent record of growth validates their economic agenda. That record crumbles upon inspection. — Is Texas our future? The question got kicked around during the last presidential campaign when Texas Governor Rick Perry was briefly riding high.

Discussion: Booman Tribune and New York Times

Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:

For lawmakers, an O-Care escape option — This year, members of Congress and thousands of their staffers are finally signing up for health insurance provided by an ObamaCare exchange, fulfilling their commitment to live under the same system that millions of other Americans will use.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Hot Air and Jammie Wearing Fools

Laura Bassett / The Huffington Post:

Jerry Brown Opposes Legal Pot Because ‘We Need To Stay Alert’ — California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) said Sunday that he is not convinced legalizing marijuana is a good idea because the population needs to “stay alert.” — “The problem with anything, a certain amount is okay,” Brown said on NBC's Meet the Press.

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
Gov. Brown Not Ready To Legalize Weed, Worried About ‘Potheads’ (VIDEO)

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Emily Stephenson / Reuters:

Hundreds of Keystone protesters arrested at White House … WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Police arrested hundreds of young people protesting the Keystone XL project on Sunday, as demonstrators fastened themselves with plastic ties to the White House fences and called for U.S. President Barack Obama to reject the controversial oil pipeline.