I would say that Washington politicians are shameless, except that this is beyond shameless. You have to be totally divorced from reality to do this.

The thing with sanctions is that the threat is supposed to be enough to make others comply. If you have to use sanctions, you should never have to use them against your allies. The worst case scenario is for your allies to simply ignore your sanctions threat, effectively calling your bluff.
That's what is happening today.

The news media has finally caught up with what I've been pointing out for weeks (here and here) - that our economic sanctions aren't working. In fact, the sanctions are completely backfiring.
Headlines from this morning spells this out in no uncertain terms.

Trump is a godsend for all of our foreign rivals who want to see an end to American hegemony.
When even our lapdog Japan speaks up, you know things are getting out of hand.

While Republicans are pushing for Donald Trump to get a Nobel Peace Prize for doing little or nothing in Korea, it turns out that Trump is succeeding in doing the impossible and uniting almost the entire world - against the United States.

If you thought Europe was onboard with Washington's efforts to isolate Russia, think again.

Democrats are in a full-throated cry for Russian blood, but when the G7 meets today new Russian sanctions will not be on the agenda.

Wendy Davis's current essay spurred me into writing this essay which I have been contemplating. The fact that my essay hasn't been written, until now, was allowing an internal pressure building. Some of you may be feeling this same pressure, releasing it better than I.