By Mark Finkelstein | July 23, 2014 | 9:00 AM EDT

Churchill: Never give in. Never, never, never.  FDR: The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.  Obama: Fore left!  Sometimes public service demands too much of a man.  Take poor Tony Blinken.  Appearing on Morning Joe today, President Obama's  Deputy National Security Adviser actually claimed that the president was exhibiting "extraordinary leadership" in putting pressure on Russia over Ukraine.

Yes, so "extraordinary" that even as Blinken was being introduced, news was breaking that the Putin-backed Ukrainian rebels had resumed their terrorist ways, shooting down two Ukrainian military planes. View the video after the jump.