re: Will Russia leave our astronauts in space if we pizz them off enough???

No. That's petty.

what they can and should do is to renoucne the Federal Reserve Note as the world reserve currency. They could do that buy dumping their existing holdings of UST's and by fomenting new trade agreements with other countries, wherein the USD is not the primary means of settlement.

China is aligned with the Russians on this issue, and like Russia, possesses significant US debt holdings. Right now, Russia is the world's leading oil producer. And they are not a debtor nation. China, likewise, is not in debt, and is the world's largest manufacturer. Sure they have long-term issues but we're talking about the next 6 months or so.

If Obama/Kerry/McCain/Graham push this too far, the Ruskies have the power to pretty much kick our asses without firing a shot.

You ask "what would it mean to Joe6Pack or me if China and Russia renounce the FRN as the world reserve currency?" It would mean an instant 2x-4x price increase on everything we buy that is imported. Everything. I'll leave you all to figure out how that would affect you individually.

This non-sense propaganda campaign by our government is really wearing thin. Did you all see Kerry recently say that "you just don't go invading other countries on false pretexts"?

Did he actually say that? Yes he did. Iraq called and they want the yellow-cake and WMDs back:

It's obvious to me that there is something deeply dysfunctional amongst the US leadership. Either they're controlled by external forces (my guess) who stand to benefit from the economic destruction of this country (ACA, TPP, NAFTA, CAFTA et al), or they're just that stupid/arrogant/narcissistic/out of touch with reality.

Either way, if they go ahead, it won't be them that suffers the consequences. It'll be you, me, and any of our kin serving in the USMIL.

If we try to go toe to toe with Russia in their backyard, the last thing we'll care about is a couple of astronauts, I promise you. The USA is financially ruined at this point and in no way can it continue on its current path indefinitely. The math just doesn't work. We cannot afford to fight a country with a real military capability. This ain't a bunch of Iraqi surrender-monkeys. Anybody doubts Russia is a tough nut to crack, should crack a history book instead of watching the garbage on the US media or playing with their iPhones.

It's an enlightening experience, coming to the truth and realizing that your government is a bunch of lying narcissistic psychopaths who care not for you or your interests.

Even based on your OP, it seems to me that you're coming around to the fact that this country operates from a position of weakness and that in this case, the Russians operate from a position of strength. Our leaders are playing checkers, and the other side plays chess.

At this point, Russia and China have a tremendous advantage: they have the cash (not tied to Fedreserve funny money Ponzi schemes), they got most of the natural resources, the manufacturing, the population numbers, and the will to say frick You to the Obama admin. I suspect that other countries with a will to say FU will come out of the woodwork once Russia and China step forward.

Meanwhile, on this side of the 'pond', we have: a monstrous debt, a worn down military stretched to the limit, and only survive as a nation because of imports and our ability to conjure FRNs, backed by nothing, to pay for it all. Such is the advantage of our current status as world reserve currency. (more about reserve currency and what it means: LINK

The minute that changes, things get a whole lot worse for most Americans whether shots are fired, or not.

We are so fricked if we don't back down on this.

This isn't 1940. This country is a mess internally and IMO our attention should be focused on that rather that what happens in Ukraine.

There's too much at stake here to play around, yet once again our media is beating the war drum and our pols are making irrational statements or outright lying to stir up anti-russian feelings among the population of TV addled proles.