[goldstategop]

Every one knows Crimea’s “independence” is a legal fiction created to facilitate its rapid admission into Russia. But you can say this about the Russians: they’re sticklers for legal norms.

[Verginius Rufus]

In the fall of 1945 there were elections in Yugoslavia and the Communists won 80% of the vote. A Yugoslav politician told the people at the US embassy that he thought the real support for the Communists was about 40%. The situation with yesterday's vote may be similar.

The Tartars seem to have boycotted the vote. They have a longer history in Crimea than the Russians. The Crimean Goths were there from at least the third century (if not earlier) and were still around speaking their Germanic language in the late 16th century but seem to have disappeared.

Yesterday's vote has about as much legitimacy as one of Napoleon's plebiscites.