Independent Crimea lasted less than 24 hours:

◼ RUSSIA’S HIGH-SPEED ANNEXATION OF CRIMEA - John Hayward/Human Events @Doc_o

Russia’s annexation of Crimea happened fast. The dodgy Crimean independence referendum, denounced as illegal by the “international community, took place over the weekend. On Monday, Russian president Vladimir Putin thumbed his nose at the aforementioned “international community,” said it was too a legal referendum, laughed at the notion of sanctions, and signed a decree recognizing Crimean independence… which lasted less than 24 hours, as Tuesday morning saw Crimean leaders signing a treaty to make it part of Russia.

And to think there were international observers speculating that annexation might take weeks or months! Try hours, ladies and gentlemen. And then take two of those hours back, because the Crimeans announced they would be resetting their clocks to Moscow time on March 30, which will put them two hours ahead of Ukraine time.

European and American sanctions – leveled against just 21 and 7 individual Russian officials, respectively – did nothing to slow Putin down....

Putin referred to the new Ukrainian government as “neo-Nazis, Russophobes, and anti-Semites” in his speech on Tuesday, to thunderous applause. That doesn’t bode well for harmonious co-existence.