I suspect that same thought may have crossed Putin's mind. I'm sure he has political rivals who are taking very careful note at what can only be seen as a failure of his foreign policy. Ukraine was already closely allied and connected to Russia in many ways. Putin's insistence on having it all his way now threatens him with losing the whole thing, and his only recourse, sending in the tanks, will be a propaganda disaster for him, even in the unlikely event it succeeds militarily. Ukraine is a big country, populated, advanced and rich--and armed to the teeth. It will be no pushover like Georgia or Chechnya.

And don't forget, we did invade Cuba, and waged a nasty little covert war against Nicaragua. Isn't that just a little bit "out-of-control"?

Of course, that was during the Cold War, but there's a lot of nostalgia for that conflict, both here and in the old USSR.

Foreign enemies, both real and imagined, are a time-tested way of diverting attention away from foreign policy failures, or just plain bad luck.