Reflection of the Moment

Outside of being busy, I’ve neglected writing and the mind is beginning to get full of opinions to mumble about. So much so, I feel I’m walking around irritated about current events and wishing I was of an age to do something about it. Nothing more is on my mind than the madman in Russia, Vladimir Putin. I keep being reminded of classic bad guys from James Bond movies. Putin’s goal of world domination seems so far from a reality as we watch the ill-equipped Ukrainians holding their own and in many areas causing the Russian army to stall, but still, he moves forward with his insane desire.  There is no doubt that Russia will continue to advance and kill indiscriminately more civilians, both adult and child, and in the end, I feel he will cause great destruction with no infrastructure to maintain his hold and will eventually go back to Ukrainian rule and despite his threats, they will join NATO and bear the expense of the rebuild. To see images of children killed, hospitals bombed, senior homes shelled, and schools destroyed is despicable. He needs to be stopped! Is there not one Russian man with balls enough to shoot this idiot in the head and put the world back to just hating the Chinese communist leadership? Not the Chinese people, just their ruling faction.

I remember a movie called Reds, where Russians attacked United States and the civilians of America united and fought with the war cry “Wolverines!!!!!”. I remember the fear feeling I had in watching this movie, having grown up during the cold war era. The drills, where we hid under our desks on simulated nuclear war being launched. I can remember the empty feeling as a kid hearing my mom and dad talking about the what-ifs of such a war and thinking if my dad is afraid, how am I supposed to feel? Scared is the answer and is the same thing so many have to be feeling in real time and real life in Ukraine. It makes me sick to actually see this evil twisted man emboldened enough to exert his personal will and obsession to have what he has been told he can’t have. Just as bad is the poor Russian people also being subjected to this and by no means wanted. It brings back such fears of the direction this world could go. This Russian child bully and to think we almost had his evil twin win the election in 2020. The guy that tried to actually overthrow the election results as if he was playing from some evil mastermind guide written by Putin. Can you imagine how unstable the whole situation would be if he had been elected knowing his number one goal was to get out of NATO? It would have been disastrous to the entire European NATO solidarity we are seeing now. With the USA assurance to NATO, it has emboldened that Slavic region to stand up and yell that Putin is wrong and we won’t stand for this. Sadly, but also inspiringly so, we watch with third party pride as President Volodymyr Zelensky leads not just his military, but the men and women of Ukraine taking up arms to fight for what they love…their country! I pray he doesn’t become a martyr, but that may be what happens as his legacy and inspiration lives on in folk songs the Ukrainians are so famous for. I have followed for years a folk band from Ukraine called Dakhabrakha, and as of a couple days ago, they were still in Kyiv. The songs they will bring to the world following this will be touching knowing they lived through what they’ll sing, if only they live. I pray for their safety.

Doesn’t it seem preposterous in the 21^st century, that we still have someone thinking they can pull this kind of crap on the world? Have any of his prior world domination madmen inspirers ever been successful? Haven’t they all fallen at the hands of the very people they insist are the chosen race? Have they all not failed making the cast off people servants to their darkest desires? They have all failed because right seems to always find a way to triumph over wrong. I’m sure the end of Putin is in the future, the amount of time we are all subjected to his lunacy is the only open-ended question. Russia has such a history of regime changes through overthrown rulers and governments, I’m sure it will happen again with someone like Alexei Navalny, whos rise in popularity, was stopped short by being poisoned by Putin and exiled briefly to Europe where he recovered. His love for Russia and hope for change sent him back where he was promptly arrested and kangaroo court convicted and now is in prison for speaking out against Putin. Navalny joined a long list of critics poisoned by Putin. Look at the crowds of people in protest in Russia now. They are arrested and sent to prison for having a voice to say what they feel. Think about that! Imagine our country, not having the right to vote or only being able to vote for the candidate that was dictated to you to vote for or the right for freedom of speech. Going to jail for not voting for Trump or his cronies? If you think we are far off from that, take a look at the Republican Primary ballot for Texas, especially the ten proposition questions that were on it but not on the Democrat primary ballot form. I voted on the Republican ballot because I wanted to be able to vote and change the numbers to show there might be dissention in the republican ranks. About seven to fourteen percent of us were doing the same thing it appears. You can still say there was an overwhelming nod to the GOP lunacy, but the reality is there was a vote to say no, that the GOP is wrong. So, this bullshit happening in Ukraine is not something that is just happening on the other side of the planet, nope, this shit is happening in our own backyard. We all need to wake up and understand the uneducated and lazy can’t think for themselves and are the largest republican constituency amassing a following and it isn’t just going to go away because Joe Biden got elected. This mid-term election is crucial and the 2024 presidential election will decidedly be instrumental in how we move forward here and on the world stage. Tyranny and mayhem seem to be their tactic and pacifism will only get us their quicker. We need to revolt against the regime’s mentality. I certainly don’t think that most of these idiots have much more capability than eventually remembering they have a hunting knife to cut their way out of the wet paper bag. My most inspirational thing happening this year is California using the anti-abortion law Texas created and has been upheld by the Supreme Court, now being proposed in use against the gun industry and certain assault style weapons in California. I hope it passes even though I believe in my Second Amendment rights. Many more states will follow with this than states that will follow Texas’ lead against abortion. Even in Texas, the abortion rate hasn’t really changed, clinics have closed, but people are simply crossing the state line to get their abortion and for those that don’t go across state lines, there is a rising number of orphans as these women using there only remaining choice option to say “I still do not want this child!”. The thing to worry about in the Roe vs Wade law is not losing this law per se, but if the proposition that was on the Texas primary ballot happened to become law this Fall and fails to be overturned by the Supreme Court, sadly, is when women will lose the right to choose and people will lose the right to choose what guns they would like to own. It is disheartening that our political landscape some how boils down to those two subjects and we hang our political hat on one or the other.

We need a political overhaul from both major parties. Both have migrated to the wingtips of the right and left and have left most of us flapping in the wind. God’s speed to the Ukrainians and a wish for their resilience be bestowed on the American people to take back our country. A joyous thing would be for Putin to be removed and Volodymyr Zelensky be president over both, Russia and the Ukraine. The other is for Trump to go to prison. Now that would be justice served!