MORE DISGRACE – UKRAINE – AT 9:58 A.M. ET:  The cease-fire in Ukraine, which was supposed to go into effect more than a week ago, never got off the ground.  Not too many people seem to care.  We are back in the late 1930s, with some of the same actors.   From The Hill:

Sen. John McCain on Sunday said he is “ashamed” of the U.S., President Obama and himself for not arming Ukraine’s military in its fight against Russian-backed separatists.

“I believe that the German chancellor and the president of France legitimized for the first time in 70 years the dismemberment of a country in Europe. It's shameful,” McCain said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “Vladimir Putin has not paid any price. Even the ceasefire was violated.”

McCain said that “Ukrainians aren't asking for American boots on the ground.”

“That's not the question here. They're asking for weapons to defend themselves. And they are being slaughtered. And their own military's being shattered,” he said.

“This is a shameful chapter. I'm ashamed of my country, I'm ashamed of my president, and I'm ashamed of myself that I haven't done more to help these people,” he added. “It is really, really heartbreaking.”

McCain said the U.S. should give the Ukrainian military “weapons with which to defend themselves.”

“There are Russian tanks in eastern Ukraine that they have no weapon to fight against. Some of the best Russian special forces are there. And they will continue this aggression for as long as they can get away with it. And it's not just the military side,” he said, adding that Ukraine is on the verge of collapse economically as well.

“Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine not to be part of Europe. And he is succeeding in doing so. He's put enormous pressure on the Baltics, not to mention Moldova and continued occupation of Georgia as well. This is really a dark chapter in the history of our alliance.”

COMMENT:  I love the way McCain takes personal responsibility.  It's McCain at his best.

I know there are some conservatives who don't care for John McCain, and he did run a poor campaign in 2008.  But on national defense he is a treasure, and I fear the day when he retires. 

February 23, 2015