Where You WON'T See Biden!

 Hooray for BoJo! It's nice to see some unadulterated courage from a Western leader. Boris Johnson walking down a street in Kyiv with Ukraine's Zelensky. Never mind that Joe can barely walk on a White House sidewalk.

Hopefully, some other western nations will take a page from Johnson's book and start supplying the Ukranians with what they really need to stave off the Russians.

I think Biden and the rest of them are whistling past the graveyard in their entire approach. I don't see Putin as one to withdraw and pout. I see him as one who will become more and more inhumane the more he is backed into a corner and it will overflow into nearby countries like Poland sooner rather than later.

Why is it the west is so worried about the very appearance of escalation while that's all Putin's actions have been?  The escalation of war against a sovereign nation.

Easter Sunday is rapidly approaching. The day the son of the Christian God rose from the dead. Wouldn't it be wonderful if it signified the day Ukraine began to rise again? Unfortunately, that great power has yet to smile upon them. A sign would help.  Any sign.  Maybe the weapons they need in a timely manner? At the very least, weapons without missing parts?

The one thing they can be sure won't be there for them is the United States. I never thought I could see a darker hour than the Afghanistan withdrawal in our current day and age, but I have.  We can't be accused of abandoning them in their darkest hour when we haven't even acknowledged it exists. 

This administration should be ashamed, but alas, it is not. And we, the citizens, are all paying dearly for it. Not as dearly as the Ukranians, to be sure, but dearly, never-the-less.

The Measure of a People

President Zelenskyy was not the most popular of Presidents when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. That turned instantaneously when asked if he needed a ride to safety and his reply was he didn't need a ride, he needed ammunition.

That, my friends, is the measure of a leader. He has done nothing but enhance his image ever since.

Now, what about the Ukrainian people? Right or wrong, I often judge people by how they treat animals in general and pets in particular. If they don't like animals I doubt I'm going to like them.

The news clips I can't escape have shown hundreds and hundreds of Ukrainians fleeing their country with little more than a backpack and, yes, their pets. Everyone from the tiniest of children to the elderly. 

Pair that with both the men and women who have stayed to fight and you have a people worthy of the admiration, and yes, the staunchest of support, from the world. Why are they not getting it?

Well, take a look around at the hand wringing of the world's leadership.  Heaven forbid we should irritate Putin. It might escalate the war. I don't think the Ukranians want to hear it.  They're losing the country they love chunk by bloody chunk with every day that passes. 

Do our leaders really believe Putin will stop with Ukraine? One thing he is known for is telegraphing his intentions. We knew this is coming.  We also know the Baltics are next. And NATO. 

If I were a young man and able, I think I would probably join the Ukrainian cause. Even if in reality it would be tilting at windmills. Putin's wars have to stop. If our leaders don't have the moral courage to do so, may the people have the strength. 

If someone doesn't come forward, and soon, we too shall be hit one way or another.  All because we're afraid of one man.  What's wrong with us?

Think About It

 I've been thinking a lot lately.  Mostly about questions for which I have no answers.  It is very frustrating.

One subject that is at the forefront of the current dialog.  If we create a  no-fly zone over Ukraine we will start World War III. This seems to mean that Putin will unleash his arsenal of nuclear bombs on the western world.

Would he really do that?  Would it not mean instant retaliation?  And, if we lose wouldn't he? Therefore, why would he do it? Or is it weak rational the west for doing nothing?

Two. If we open up drilling again it would delay our march toward ending fossil fuels. Well, let's look at this.  First of all, clean energy just isn't ready for prime time and until it is - well,  government dictates are what's hurting the American people. Plus, just because there are a lot of oil leases out there, they may well have been explored and found to be non-productive.

Three. If we lived in a fossil-free world, would it really prevent bad actors from attacking whomever they please? I'm thinking not. First, all those battery-powered vehicles will need to be charged. What do you charge them with? Electricity.  How do you get electricity? Even if it's generated with green energy, sophisticated hackers are more than capable of shutting down the grids - not to mention old Mother Nature.

I don't know.  I've got an appointment so I'm putting my thoughts on hold for a while. Something else to think about while I'm gone, however. What can we do to stop this madness NOW? There are things but world leaders just don't want to take any chances. "Tsk. Tsk. We can't do that. It may anger Putin."

Tough. I'm already paying the price I'm told is coming.  I can't afford groceries or gas to get out and get them. 

Think about it.

An Elephant in the Room

There is an elephant in the room and it's not a Republican. It's a nation. Ukraine.

I would have thought, at one time, the United States would have been the last country in the world to not stand by the Ukrainian people. That hasn't been true for longer than I care to remember.

We seem to always be the last ones to arrive at the party if we show up at all. I won't bother going all the way back in history. Let's just go back to Chechnya when the Russians were making short order of them.

We did nothing. Or maybe more in recent memory, Syria, when Russia was dropping chemicals on civilians. We did nothing.  Or most recently in Afghanistan where hundreds if not thousands of Americans and our allies were deserted behind enemy lines. We did nothing. 

 So here we are watching the slaughter of Ukrainian civilians.  What are we doing? Little more than nothing.  Well, we are wringing our hands, fearing we might offend Putin and that might lead to an even bigger and bloodier war.  How much more bloody can it get?

Yes.  I am an angry, disgusted, old lady who has been listening to those cursed sound bites again. But there is truth to a great many of them.

About that elephant. It's said elephants never forget. I don't know if that's true or not, but let's assume for the sake of argument that it is. Our government is not the elephant, or if it is, it's the poorest excuse for one there could be. No. The ones who will never forget the U.S. wasn't there for them this time are the Ukrainians. Maybe, too, the reason why the lion of peace in Europe, NATO, hasn't been instilled with courage from the Wizard is that they have no faith we would be there for them, either, should the need arise.

They're good at hand ringing, we're good at hand wringing and we're all in the same room.  Right there with that elephant. 

Somehow I don't see our stellar Vice President going to Poland bolstering their confidence in the United States at all. I'd consider it an insult that the U.S. would send someone so feckless.

Elephants are a herd animal. They have family units that warm your heart, they're exploited by the stronger and more sinister among us - they're very much like we, the people. An awful lot of us are in that room with the Ukranians and we will not forget. At least I hope we won't. I know I won't.