Bret Stephens: Anatomy of a Feckless Presidency

Vladimir Putin seized Ukraine's Crimean peninsula on Thursday, and Barack Obama delivered a short statement about it on Friday. The former tells us nothing we didn't know already about Russia's strongman. The latter tells us everything we need to know about a weak president's feckless foreign policy.

Let's take a look at what Mr. Obama had to say:

"I also spoke several days ago with President Putin, and my administration has been in daily contact with Russian officials."

OK, but why? What's the point of talking if you won't even make use of what's said?