Interesting list from Walter Russell Meade. The top 5 winners include (in order), Putin and Russia, Iran, Assad and Syria, Japan, and al-Qaeda and violent Sunni jihad. Notice anything peculiar about this list? That's right - 4 of the top 5 are either our biggest competitor or our greatest enemies. Way to go, Barry. This is quite an accomplishment. Here's what Meade has to say about Putin and Russia: The champagne corks were popping in the Kremlin after a banner 2013. With Edward Snowden ensconced in Moscow, Putin can celebrate Russia's biggest embarrassment of the United States since the fall of the Soviet Union. But that's only the beginning. Russia's client Assad defied bloodcurdling White House threats of bombing raids and demands that "Assad must go" in Russia's biggest geopolitical victory over the United States since Brezhnev was in power. As icing on the cake, a desperate, fumbling White House had to accept a Russian proposal to escape from the trap President...(Read Full Post)