The Bear in the Woods Returns

   Lost in the swirl of events over the past few days was a story out of Central Asia, where a coup d'etat has driven the recognized leaders of Kyrgyzstan from office. The new leaders of the former Soviet republic are decidedly pro-Russia.

While the leader of the Free World was staging his Kumbaya photo op in the U.S. this week, Russia continued its recent practice of re-establishing its former cordon sanitaire around the motherland.


   The revolutionary blitzkrieg and flawless execution of the coup could not have been engineered by the rabble that had been protesting the former government. Stratfor calls it a "pre-arranged revolution." Clearly the Kyrgyz rebels had a helping hand. And that hand was Moscow. According to Stratfor:

• Revolutionary leaders visited Moscow in the days prior to the coup and had a sit down with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin
• Spooks from the Russian spy service were seen snooping around Kyrgyzstan in the weeks prior to the revolution
• Russia had 150 elite paratroopers staged and ready to go to give assistance to its new ally

Russia is unique among world powers in that it lacks natural borders such as mountains, rivers or oceans to protect it from countries that would do it harm. Historically it has relied on its dense forests or its devastating winters to repel invaders. Look in the encyclopedia under Hitler or Napoleon. So a succession of Russian leaders, such as the czars, the Communists or now Vlad "the Impaler" Putin have made human fences out of neighboring countries.

   But this invasion-by-proxy is different. Moscow is nearly 2,000 miles from the Kyrgyz capital. Simply put, Russia is moving the goalposts to its advantage.

   Readers of this blog know that it often advocates connecting the dots to see the whole picture in any issue. So connect the dots on Russian expansion:

• In January Russia finalized an EU-type reintegration of the economies of former Soviet republics Kazakhstan and Belarus into Mother Russia
• A pro-Russian government was installed in Ukraine
• Russia, through its incursion into Georgia, has already proclaimed its own "Monroe Doctrine," establishing its own sphere of influence in Central Asia
• Russia engineers a regime change in the sovereign country of Kyrgyzstan

  In 1984, President Ronald Reagan was pilloried by the left for challenging the Democrat Party's realpolitik approach to dealing with the Soviet Union. Pres. Reagan believed that appeasing dictators like the Soviet bosses wasn't a real defense at all, but lunacy. History has proven his "peace through strength" stance towards the Soviet bear to have been correct. That stance was summed up in his "Bear in the Woods" TV commercial during the 1984 presidential race.

   Today we have a president who is serving out the second term of Jimmy Carter. His answers to Georgia and now Kyrgyzstan has been to stage a charade of a nuclear summit, the single accomplishment of which was an agreement by world powers Ukraine and Chile to get rid of their enriched uranium. A president who keeps drawing lines in the sand which the Iranian nuclear wannabes keep crossing.

   Meanwhile the Russian Bear in loose in the woods again.

   Just thought you might like to know.

  

Riders of the Purple Sage

   It began as the brainchild of common carrier Russell, Majors & Waddell. The plan was simple: Launch an express mail service that would connect east to west. A 19th century FedEx, it would cut the delivery time for a letter to California from months to days.

   It owns a place in American lore, an archetype of American ingenuity, drive and hard work. It typifies the taming of the West. But it was plagued with problems from the start:

• The cost of sending a letter via courrier was about five bucks--a week's wages for a workingman in the day
• Although it is linked inextricably with the history of the West, it lasted little more than one year
• It drowned its owners in a sea of red ink

   By all measures it was an abominable failure. Perhaps its biggest failure is one that continues to plague American industry: underestimating new technology. Within 15 months of its launch it was obsolete: replaced unceremoniously by the transcontinental telegraph in 1861.

   But unlike other technologies like the steam engine it refused to ride quietly away. A 19th century huckster named Buffalo Bill Cody made a living for four decades playing off of it as a symbol of the old West.

   Millions of school children studied it, with myth replacing facts over the years

   The American movie director John Ford included it in his great Western epic, Fort Apache, even though the movie events take place a full 15 years after it shut down.

   As those generations of American school children have, we remember it today for what it says about our national character, and ability to climb tall mountains-literally-to solve problems.

   150 years ago today, April 3, 1860, riders were up for the first time on the Central Overland California and Pike's Peak Express Company--to be known forever as The Pony Express.

   Just thought you might like to know.