A counry must stay aware, awake, committed and vigilant. No watching TV, playin or weakness in leadership.
I know a person with an enormous plantar wart on the bottom of at least one of her feet. She’s had it so long, fot so many years, that it is by now a very obstinate and entrenched and painful condition to treat. Had it been treated years ago, it would have been relatively straightforward to treat.
That can be the case with many spreading conditions that are unpleasant to address when small and at the early stages.
I admire the Ukraine people and Preident Zelensky. I am not optimitic about them being victorious over a trained professional army with air and technological tools superior to theirs. NATO would not be able to successfully defend Ukraine because of it vast area. And it is now surrounded by Russian and pro-Russian countries and forces. Much more should have been done earlier, much earlier. I am heartsick as are many many others. But it takes confident leadership, unswayed by TV ratings W******s and uneducated, naive populace that would rather give their attention elsewhere than the responsibility of paying informed attention to their country’s and global affairs. And, historically, many of us have been misled and lied to (example re Vietnam).
Putin does not want to see an ernest democratic country on his doorstep, with a preident overwhwlmingly elected. He wants to ruthlessly and corruptly rule for the rest of his life. He is a good manipulator and excellent with propaganda. It helps that bhe has an iron fist, murderous control of media, the machinery of government, the cooperation of his ”tithing” oligarchs (he gets ~ 50% of what these kleptocrats steal, and nearby elf serving autocrats.
Look at how many Russian citizens, at enormous physical and legal peril, are protestin o the sterrets against Putin. Kazakstan and China ptetend not to hear their phones ringing. But V. Putin is obsessed, ruthless and murderously determined to singlemindedly stay the course of detroying an emerging large democratic country at his doorstep. And he very much needs the distraction from his failed kleptocracy and bleak outlook for Russia’s projected economic growth.
The US and its allies have been through a long test of breach and near betrayal. All counties have their own needs and pressues. The cost of the Covid pandemic and its disruptions has been huge. Their are populists moves afoot with their attendent and appealing propaganda, some from outside their country.
I never thought that President Zelensky would do anything but remain in his country. He is asking all others to stay and fight, even against enormous odds. He will stay. One can only imagine what Putin’s men will do to him if captured. Think of others before him. Putin has no scuples. He is singleminded and undeterred and indifferent to outcries and shaming. There is a huge amount of psycopathy within him.
Q