The Wall Street Journal opened its Friday commentary on President Barack Obama’s handling of Russia vis-à-vis Ukraine thusly:

President Petro Poroshenko said Friday his military destroyed armored vehicles entering Ukraine from Russia, and a Russian invasion could happen any day. So what warning is President Obama delivering to Vladimir Putin? “He could invade,” Mr Obama told the New York Times. “And if he does, that will set us on a course not to a new Cold War, but trying to find our way back to a cooperative functioning relationship with Russia during the remainder of my term will be much more difficult.”

Carefully, not a word–anywhere in the piece’s description of Obama’s Russian policy–about Ukraine’s strait from that invasion: that might “provoke” the Russians. Obama’s foreign policy generally, much less his handling of Ukraine’s crisis, just doesn’t get any more vapid than that. Or inoperative. Or unprolific. Or sterile. Or unfruitful. Or useless.

And we still have two more years of this guy.