Hard as it is to conceive on the Hill, Vladimir Putin represents a greater threat to global stability than either Dick Fuld or Chris Cox. ~Amity Shlaes

Well, I suppose that must mean that Fuld and Cox represent no threat at all and Putin represents a very, very, very small one, but it is actually pretty hard to conceive of this anywhere.  This should restore market confidence–our economic problems are so minor that even Putin is more dangerous to global stability.  It’s one thing to argue that the Russians are being foolish by sending naval vessels to Latin America to show that they can, but this is just silly.  If I follow Shlaes’ argument, financial insecurity will mean the Russo-Venezuelan domination of Latin America:

This time, of course, the political story isn’t about losing Europe. It is about losing Latin America — to Moscow-backed Chavez, the host of the naval exercise. With Russia behind him, Chavez is likely to fill the vacuum left when Fidel Castro passes. 

Oh, no, not that!  If he fills the vacuum left by Castro, he, too, can be equally impotent and without much regional influence.  The Brazilians, Colombians and Argentinians, among others, will probably have something to say about a Russian-backed Venezuelan takeover, but they won’t have to bother because there is nothing to this.  While Lula is laughing at the bankers who have been pushing neoliberalism on his continent, Brazil is emerging as the continent’s real political and economic power.  The so-called Bolivarian revolution of Chavez has shown itself to have no teeth beyond its borders and not much success within them.  Why do people fear this red-shirted buffoon?

Either the Colombian trade deal is in the economic interests of the U.S., or it isn’t.  If it is, let’s debate that, but can we please be spared the ludicrous claim that free trade with Colombia is necessary to halt the advance of what is little more than a ramshackle despotism?   Venezuela is dependent on Colombia for its food supply, and as the incident earlier this year between Colombia and Ecuador made clear Venezuela is in no positon to do anything directly to its neighbor.  Hosting some Russian sailors who are being sent on a propaganda cruise is not going to change that.  Political panic about the financial crisis is foolish, but panicking about Russo-Venezuelan domination of South America is simply absurd.