When Nikolai Makarov was born, the ruler of Russia was Josef Stalin.  Makarov spent his entire life in the Soviet and Russian military, rising through the ranks to ultimately be named, by proud KGB spy Vladimir Putin, head of the Russian army and then of Russia's version of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  Last week, he threatened to blow the USA's defensive missile systems in Europe to smithereens in a preemptive strike.

He stated in response to news reports regarding progress in European missile defense: "A decision to use destructive force preemptively will be taken if the situation worsens."

Mind you, these are merely defensive systems, and their avowed purpose is to protect Europe from nuclear terrorism springing from Iran. 

So Makarov is saying to the Europe:  You must remain vulnerable to obliteration by Iran so that Russia, too, can be sure of being able to obliterate you at any need.  Otherwise, Russia will just have to obliterate you right now.

In other words, Russia sees defensive systems in Europe the same way Israel sees offensive systems in Iran, and feels they justify unilateral preemptive action, action which quite likely would lead to World War III.

So much for the Obama "reset" with Russia!  Before Obama, one heard inflammatory, confrontational rhetoric like this out of Russia all the time, but in those days it came from retired generals and KGB operatives who made them from relative obscurity. Under Obama, the statements are coming from folks who, quite literally, have their fingers on the nuclear button.

Perhaps the crowning achievement of Makarov's career has been his service on the Presidential Commission of the Russian Federation to Counter Attempts to Falsify History to the Detriment of Russia's Interests (PCRFCAFHDRI - only the Russians can generate an acronym like that!), an entity whose purpose is to rewrite Russian history to glorify the Soviet past, including the mass-murder perpetrated by Stalin.  In other words, Stalin may have killed more Russians than any other person in world history, but there's no need to let Russian children know about it.

This is a man who loves the USSR passionately, and who therefore despises the USA and all it stands for with equal passion.  Well, most of the USA that is. He's pretty keen on Barack Obama though, actually.

Speaking anonymously to the Wall Street Journal, one of Makarov's henchman stated that if Obama were reelected he was "sure we will reach an agreement that brings no harm to them or to our security.  If it's someone else, surely it will be difficult." 

So Makarov's side is telling Americans:  "You'd better not vote for Romney.  If you do, we might have to launch our first strike."

Florida Senator Marco Rubio recently gave a speech in which he laid out what might be called the Rubio Doctrine on Russia.  The gist of it is this: Russia is ruled by a proud KGB spy who has spent his whole life learning how to hate and destroy the USA  and what it stands for.  He's been handed power by the people voluntarily. That's because Russia is our enemy. It's time we started acting like it.

It's about time we started getting real Republican leadership like this.

Russian interests and Americans interests are diametrically opposed. Russia wants high oil prices, and America wants low oil prices.  Because of this, Russia wants tumult in the Middle East, while America wants stability.  Russia supports dictators, America supports democrats. And Russia's top military leaders hate the USA so much that they are unafraid of openly threatening the US with preemptive strikes.  They know they can make these statements publicly without facing criticism from their fellow citizens, who to the contrary will probably just loudly applaud.

The leadership provided by Barack Obama and his Russia guru Michael McFaul have been abysmal to the point of treachery.  They have lied to Americans about the sham Medvedev presidency instead of challenging Putin's bid for lifetime power. They have betrayed American allies in former Soviet space and Eastern Europe, and in return for their craven appeasement we have only seen more and more aggression from the Russians, so typical of bullies, to the point where we are now being threatened with wanton military action.

So when the Russians tell you that you'd better not vote for Mitt Romney, you know for sure that it's exactly what you must do.