At this point my blogs seem to have exhausted themselves… how much more information do any of us need regarding death, destruction, war crimes, and a very uncertain future for all of us? What a world we live in. So for now, some commentary, and more of the day’s news later.
I have asked myself, what is it that holds the world together? My answer- it is the international, rules-based order that we have tried to create and maintain since World War II. But rule of law, justice, democracy, and liberty are all very fragile, forever balanced on a thin line which, should they cross it, may mean their disappearance for a long time. This is nothing new; mankind has always lived on the edge of a precipice, from our hunter-gatherer days to… today. The critical difference today is in the level of suffering and destruction that one person can exact from the world by crossing that line.
How do we fight against such a threat? Simple- by doing exactly what we are doing- decisive action, continued pressure, and the unprecedented response of a fairly united world. But, the world needs to do more- there needs to be more action, more pressure, with more unprecedented responses with every day that dawns.
Psychology will tell us that the use of terror is the most effective way to control a person, a group of people, a country… and a world (this final item, at least in theory.) Terror is being used against us- against Ukraine, and all the people of the world who choose freedom and democracy over tyranny and authoritarianism. Our world has far too many madmen as “leaders”, foremost among them, at present, is of course Russia’s Putin. The level of terror he is responsible for inflicting has truly not been seen since the 1940’s. Our response- the response of the world, has to be commensurate at least, and in truth much stronger and greater to insure order is maintained and to facilitate Putin’s downfall.
But we- the “west,” need help. As I have said in the past, the people of Russia are being held hostage. It is imperative that they stand up to Putin and his followers, do their part in this fight, and become a part of the free world. This will not be easy, there will be suffering and death. But if they do not, all indications are that they will be subject to Stalin, revisited; to a new reign of terror, which means suffering and death. The choice it theirs- stand and fight, or cower and remain oppressed.
In the meantime, as governments continue to pressure Russia, we as individuals must continue to focus on Ukraine, on sending food aid through such organisations as the World Central Kitchen and medical aid through the Ukrainian Red Cross Society to name just two of many options. We must continue pushing corporations and government representatives around the world to keep the pressure on. We also need to make sure we do not forget about other countries that are in precarious positions, such as Moldova, Bosnia, Kosovo, Serbia, Georgia, and Hungary. These are countries where Russian influence must be checked. These are countries that need our support, countries that are helping Ukrainian refugees and have a desire to become part of the EU and NATO. The rest of Europe, the west, the free and democratic nations of the world must help facilitate these desires if the free world, the precarious world we live in, is to prevail.
UPDATE: 05 March, 2022 at 1725 MTN.- The big news today seems to be that Putin has declared he will not impose martial law in Russia. So now the question becomes, just when will he impose martial law in Russia? This is the next big step in cutting his own throat, and I am personally counting on him to add this to his list of mistakes very soon. The people of Russia are being held hostage, lied to, beaten, and imprisoned. We know that the majority of Russian’s do not support the killing of their neighbors. It is up to them just as much as it is up to the heroes in Ukraine to fight against the totalitarian regime now fully in place in Russia. Martial law will give them one more push to do so. Freedom awaits!
Original Post- 05 March, 2022 at 08:22 MTN.
The more things change, the more they stay the same- certainly this is true of the differences between the west… the differences between freedom, rule of law, justice, liberty, and life in modern Russia, at least as imposed by the rulers of the state. For perspective, we only need look back to purges, gulags, secret police, and the Terror that happened in what was then the Soviet Union. According to The “Beginning of the End for Putin”, and article on the Foreign Affairs website on March 2nd, 2022, a Levada Poll in Russia puts people’s fears of retaliation by the state against them at its highest since 1994. That says volumes about where Russia- and its dictator- now find themselves.
Putin took office on 31 December, 1999 and immediately began a course towards the past. According to Masha Gessen, in The Future is History, within a couple of years Putin had put “military officials in 25% of the top government jobs, had monopolised state media, and reversed judicial reforms.” He also began writing history (and rewriting it)- depending on how one views the limited information released on such events as the Moscow theater bombing, the Beslan school siege, the apartment house bombings, and the wars in Chechnya around that time, to mention a few points. What Putin did was nothing short of rebranding- what were essentially advertising agencies stepped in and created Putin, his party, “opposition parties”, and carefully choreographed responses to the attacks mentioned above, taking full advantage of each one to chip away at the few reforms that had been made in years since the fall of the iron curtain.
And now it is 2022, and Putin’s egotism, his personal greed and that of his cronies, along with his paranoia and dissociation with reality- or so it seems- is putting his tenure at great risk. And good riddance. Nothing good can come of war, but if the world can find a way to find some sort of positive outcome from the current situation, the fall of Vladimir Putin, and a second chance for freedom in Russia, and relative peace in eastern Europe must be part of that outcome.
Pressure from the world must hold steady, and grow daily, become stronger and stronger, and not let up until we see images of Putin’s dead body flashing across all the screens of the world. This is the best chance the world is going to get, and we must take it.
Momentary Observation- Criminal Acts Demand Prosecution, In The Name of Justice and Democracy
8 January 2021
Justice? As I have said again and again, it is an illusion. Our “democracy” has become an abortion. For four long years, and more slowly, more insidiously for many more years and decades before that, it has been steadily destroyed, trampled on, chipped away, thrown in the trash bit by bit. But more damage has been done in these last four years than throughout the history of our country, overt destruction of what my country stands for. But this is the nature of political systems including democracy; all democracies eventually degrade into tyranny. Just the way it is. Now back to the present day.
Do we live in the United States, or am I confusing my country with the so many countries in the middle east, the Caucuses, the Balkans, or maybe Ukraine, Belarus, or some other eastern European Russian satellite playground? Trump clearly emulates Putin, the dictator of Russia for those who don’t recognise the name. Both suffer from serious mental incapacities, megalomania, delusions of grandeur, etc. and so on, and pass that suffering on to us, the citizens who they purportedly work for.
Make America great again… ha! Destroy America and make us the laughing stock of the world. This is the sad reality of the state of the greatest nation in the world, the leader of the free world, the scion of democracy. America as we knew it is gone. We will never recover from Trump.
And speaking of Donald Trump (inserting opinion here), he should be taken away in a straight jacket at the very least, at best in handcuffs for a few life sentences for treason, sedition, fraud, deceit, and countless criminal actions he has committed. Not to mention incompetence and stupidity… if only Americans valued intelligence, logic, foresight, leadership, and strength the way they do television, Mc Donald’s, and beer. But we are far beyond that. At least with justice served, Trump in handcuffs being led out of the white house, filmed and broadcast live around the world, we will feel like there is still some semblance of democracy left. It won’t happen though, because our “leaders” are spineless, and thereby complicit, afraid to upset their own positions in the illusion. Nothing more can be said about that. Get ready for the next four years… we haven’t seen anything yet.
Abraham Lincoln and Prophesy; Democracy and Tyranny
18 November 2018
“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”
-Abraham Lincoln,1862
Give that very appropriate quote some thought, not just in the context of the United States, but globally. Or pick just about any country in Europe and apply it. No matter where you look, Lincoln’s quote might be considered now more than ever, a prophesy.
Food for thought, or supporting evidence (take your pick) can be found in two recently published works: The Empty Throne: America’s Abdication of Global Leadership, by Ivo Daalder and James Lindsay. Also see Hunger and Fury: The Crisis of Democracy in the Balkans, by Jasmin Mujanovic.
History Repeating- Clintons and Friends
23 October 2016
In the 1990’s there was a man named Ross Perot who “ran for president”. He was Bill Clinton’s best friend. In the year 2016 there is a man named Donald Trump who is “running for president”. Is he Hillary Clinton’s best friend? I don’t believe in coincidence, I believe in what my eyes see.
Oaths Taken by Soldiers and Presidents
24 September 2016
U.S. Army Oath of Enlistment:
“I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.” (Title 10, US Code; Act of 5 May 1960 replacing the wording first adopted in 1789, with amendment effective 5 October 1962).
The Presidential Oath of Office:
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
The Oath for members of Congress:
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”
Note the similarities, and the fact that by taking the oath a person is professing their allegiance to protecting our country and to preserving the founding ideals this country was built on; that would be the Constitution, against all enemies. When a person takes this oath they are entering into a contract, very much like any legally binding contract, but at the same time unlike any other. The protection of freedom, peace, security, the constitutional rights of the PEOPLE, and “the blessings of liberty” to borrow the phrase, fall upon those who take it. It is not to be taken lightly.
One has often heard a soldier justifying his actions based on the oath, “I was doing my duty as I swore to do when I took the oath,” be it for better or for worse. Soldiers understand the oath, what it means to dedicate one’s life, to be faithful to an ideal that is without equal; they are a noble breed of men and women.
When will presidents, our representatives, and the rest of our politicians who take the oath start being faithful to it, and to us?
Momentary Observation- My Favorite Greek Myth
30 June 2016
The subject of Greek myths came up recently between my son and his pen pal. The question was, “which is your favorite Greek myth?” While I am partial to the myth of Heracles and his labors, and maybe Sisyphus and the rolling of the stone because it seems so familiar in a personal sense, I don’t think either are my real favorite.
My favorite Greek myth would have to be the myth of democracy.
Food For Thought: Divided…
23 March 2016
Damned liberals. Stinking conservatives. Republicans versus democrats. Leftists and rightists, revolutionaries and reactionaries.
So many words to describe people who have one common purpose: to survive and thrive, live free and in peace.
But the words do the work they were intended to do, having one end, to divide and conquer.
The phrase is attributed to Phillip of Macedonia around 350BC. Read more about the phrase’s political implications, those who have cited it, and those who used the concept on the Divide and Conquer Wikipedia page. Then, apply what you have read the next time the media feeds you it’s propaganda.
Momentary Observation: When I Get My Bernie Check….
12 March 2016
When I get my Bernie Check…
I’m takin’ the family to Disneyworld.
No… I’m buying a new TV the size of my wall.
No, no, wait, I live in Colorado- I’m spending it all on weed!
Maybe I’ll send it to Donald Trump.
I could go to Las Vegas and gamble.
Final decision-when I get my Bernie check I’ll send it right back. I cannot be bought.
At Five AM 