Russia does not face any SERIOUS consequences Wretchard. None at all.

There’s always a snapping point for everything. Even Neville Chamberlain found there was a point beyond which he could no longer retreat. Chamberlain declared war on Hitler, eventually. But we the public can’t say where the snapping point should be. But it’s the duty of statesmen to draw that line clearly to prevent any misunderstandings. And when they draw the line, they should mean it, not because the particular piece of ground has any value, but because the line is there.

In January 1950, Dean Acheson’s gave a speech before the National Press Club that seemed to say that South Korea was beyond the line and that American support for the new Syngman Rhee government in South Korea would be limited. The invasion followed. And historians debate whether Acheson’s speech contributed to the Korean war to this day.

I don’t know whether the line will be in Tbilisi, in Georgia, at the Turkish border or on the White House lawn. But there’s a line somewhere. And it’s good policy to decide where it is and tell Putin its location.