Are your heads spinning now, wondering who the heck is Alexander and where is his place in the world? What has happened to him and how have we topped him? Well, Alexander is he of the worst, terrible, most awful day of literary fame. He is the child whose misadventures of a most awful day reassure kids that other kids have had 'horrocious' days, just like them, and they made it through - as will they. Well, folks, have we got Alex beat ten ways to Sunday.
Every morning when I check the news of overnight events, I think of our national anthem wherein we sing of that "star spangled banner" yet waving, signaling that we have not yet been defeated, that we remain to carry on and will do so, no matter the barrage of rockets thrown at us and the resultant destruction. Now substitute the Ukrainian flag, the Ukrainian spirit and the unspeakable conditions they are living through. So now whose flag should we celebrate? Whose actions should we examine?
'Decapitation' was the plan of the madman, one which called for a blitzkrieg wherein the invasion of Ukraine would be successful in a lightning strike, a long desired outcome easily within grasping distance. Well, that did not happen. Instead, we have a war mired in senseless destruction, an outcome of tragedy, and a greatly changed world, no matter the 'final' results.
Over 13,000 Russian protesters arrested in Russia. How long can that be hidden? So many dead soldiers and how long can that be hidden from the parents, wives, children of these dead, wounded, and captured soldiers? For that matter, how long can the Russian invaders tolerate a situation where their government simply throws them in as cannon fodder, not even bothering to make a fuss as to food and weather protection?
More important, how long can and will the world stand by and allow the Ukrainians to stand and fall and die on the front lines of battle. For that matter, why the hell are we tolerating the gross war crimes perpetrated on the Ukrainian people. Not military objectives, but civilian horror is the war plan of these revised invasion plans and timetable. Beat the hell out of Ukraine for daring to resist. Destroy it all. Call the bluff on the weak NATO nations who apparently are afraid of their own shadows and have engaged in a useless replay of history and appeasement. Hitler lives again.
'She always had answers to all our questions, even the most stupid ones..." said about a civilian killed, along with her two children, by an indiscriminately shot Russian rocket. Into a civilian evacuation zone. It remains for her soldier husband to return and bury his family, a task made impossible by the huge volumes of already murdered civilians awaiting burial. Man - made destruction and horror. Man- made in a world gone mad, where Mother Nature reflects this horror, this tragedy, those giving birth, the whole and the wounded in the overflowing hospitals and shelters of the country. As for the world, again, it falls short as we stand by and do nothing of real aid to a desperate, beleaguered people.
“Unfortunately, right now I see no future for my children in this country,”
A statement, of a Russian Jew who sees the cracks within the country where he resides, the hopelessness of a future there. The corollary question is whether there is indeed a future for any of our children? Anywhere.
Why have we allowed the world to deteriorate to such a point? Why have we allowed a madman to believe he could do this, set the world afire, defy the nations of the world and get away with it? Why are we doing nothing about it and no, giving candy to a starving child is not the answer. It requires a full - fledged campaign of meaningful dimensions and we are falling way short. Tragically so.
Whether we stand by or send planes, Putin is liable to do anything he wants. We must take a chance. The man is mad enough to send mankind to perdition unless we call his bluff. Unless we meet him with force, the only language he understands and respects. Unless we show him our mailed fist, our determination to defeat him and his ilk who are trying to negatively reshape the world. Cast out democracy, a trend to be found tragically within our own country, supported by Trump and his ilk, and the worst of the worst, the extreme right wingers, the white supremacists, those who have already engaged in rebellion, who have infected the body politic with gangrenous pus and rot.
There are major cracks within the Russian invasion plans and rumblings among Russian people. Why not take the inspiration of the heroism of a nation led by a hero, and stand up to tyranny, to crimes against humanity? Why not? To do otherwise, or to do nothing, simply postpones the inevitable - further incursions into former SSRs, the further deterioration of a challenged humanity and earth. So what the hell! Alexander, you got nothin' on us! We got you beat!! Unfortunately, most unfortunately.
That blue and yellow flag still waves over a battered Kyiv. It is incumbent upon us to see that their flag and ours continue to wave over our countries. That will demand courage and resolve.
Do we have it within us to do so? Spin the coin and make your choice. Wonder what Alexander would advise?
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