Tackling the Russian invasion of Ukraine is an onerous endeavor, and I don't think I could do better than Evan Hurst's post on Wonkette. Put succinctly, Putin wants to return to the glory days of Russian hegemony, with himself as an autocratic ruler, a sort of neo-tsar. I would add that Ukraine is the cradle of the Russian state, which had its founding in Kyivan Rus, a polity founded by Viking colonists. Putin went so far as to claim that Ukraine was invented by Lenin, and like most imperialists, insisted that his invasion of eastern Ukraine was a humanitarian crusade to protect ethnic Russians from a hostile power.
For his part, Biden's response was measured, with the President announcing that he would, in concert with allies, begin to impose sanctions on Russian financial institutions, and on Russian oligarchs:
I hope that the US is not pulled into a war with Russia, and I doubt that it will happen. That being said, my heart goes out to the Ukrainian people, who form a significant part of the population of New York City. It might sound cliche, but I fell in love with Ukrainian culture at Lys Mykyta Bar in the East Village, where I came to appreciate these valiant and hospitable people.
I don't think Putin is as clever as his fans believe. While the Russian army is formidable, so is the Ukrainian military, and the Ukrainians should be fairly successful in infiltrating and sabotaging invading Russian forces. This could be a repeat of Afghanistan for the Russians. I sincerely hope that Western powers confiscate property belonging to Russian oligarchs so they decide to counter the chief kleptocrat.
The most grotesque aspect of this nascent conflict is the Putin worship on the right, as Fox News devotes its opinion shows to defending Russian aggression and Trump praised Putin's genius. 2021's 'Let's go Brandon' was bad enough, but it's not nearly as obnoxious as 2022's 'Let's go Putin!'
I was just about to hit 'publish' when I saw the news: DAMNIT DAMNIT DAMNIT!
4 comments:
That Putin fool sure has a bad way of dealing with his own mortality. He can use poison, he can war on Ukraine, he can wear nice clothes. How old is he?
In a few years he will be just another skeleton. A bad memory, and an example of how not to be human.
He wants to be seen as the savior of Mother Russia, Tsar Vlad the Great.
Well, we saw what happened. It does not inspire confidence.
"I don't think Putin is as clever as his fans believe." I agree with you completely; unfortunately, tyrants so often make up for their lack of cleverness with an excess of viciousness.
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