That Vladimir Putin is one slick dude

Here's the dizzying turn of events in the last few hours:

1.) Secretary Global-Test shoots off his mouth, issuing yet another ultimatum without a clear consequence, this one demanding that Assad turn his entire chemical-weapons stash over to "the international community," whatever that is.

2.) State Dept. forced to walk the statement back, calling it a "rhetorical argument."

3.) In Moscow, Syrian foreign minister Walid al-Moallem meets with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, to convey a Putin-hatched proposal that Syria hand over its stash - Kerry's off-the-cuff "rhetorical argument," basically.

4.) Syria responds at least fairly positively, since the proposal comes from an ally.

5.) US State Dept. says it will take a "hard look" at the Russian proposal.

6.) The world gets to see who the serious world-stage players are and who the assclowns and wannabes are.