Forget US domestic consumption — what about Russian domestic consumption?

The Russian people have seen Little Kim give Obama the finger. They have seen Iranian despots piss on his shoes. They have even seen a tinpot would-be dictator-without-a-country from Honduras get commitments of support from Obama. Medvedev & Putin need to show something really tangible to the Russian people — for domestic consumption.

Russia’s strategic interests are quite clear. Russia wants a demilitarized, tribute-paying EU; a chaotic Iran which reduces competition for Russian oil & gas sales to vassal Europe; and freedom to focus on the growing Chinese threat to resource-rich Siberia.

Obama’s interests are — well — Obama’s.

Here’s a possible Russian negotiation aim: US forces out of Europe, totally. War’s been over for 60 years. Russia is our friend. Time to go.

And if Obama turns out to be even more of a push-over than Medvedev & Putin expect, maybe even a US commitment to withdraw from NATO — that Cold War relic which has no place in a world in which the US is disarming & Russia is Obama’s friend.