I might be crediting the allies a bit much, here, but I think the heavy use of media to throw light on Russia acting out "false flag" operations and keeping up the hue and cry is a tactic to avoid military confrontation. Sending Americans to the local NATO member states shows we're serious without the kind of bluster the Russians and FOX are employing.

I suspect that Putin is not as sane as he appears, although I think he is trying to capture a land bridge to Crimea, which might seem to be a practical goal in a context more suitable to Germany and the Sudetenland in 1938.

Our local NPR plays BBC World Service through the night. Right now "Hard Talk" is on with a Russian MP Vitaly Millonov spouting utter rubbish. I might have to turn this off for sleep and sanity.