Ukraine

George Santayana wrote, “…those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it …” In 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain flew to Munich, gave the newly formed republic of Czechoslovakia to Adolph Hitler to prevent a potential European war. Hitler smiled, Chamberlain flew home and proclaimed, he had secured “peace in our time”.  A year later, in 1939, Hitler invaded Poland and World War II began. Chamberlain would be driven from office forever vilified as a coward and an appeaser and World War II would rage on until 1945. It is estimated 75 million people died, 20 million of them military, 34 million civilians and 6 million Jews who were murdered by the Nazis. In 2022, Vladimir Putin, who comes straight out of the mindset of Hitler and Stalin, invaded Ukraine, an independent nation, a member of the United Nations and an old thorn in Russia’s side. Ukraine, known as the breadbasket of Russia, gained their independence following the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. It was one of Russia’s largest trading partners and had deep cultural ties to Russia, but also a checkered history between the two. Ukraine suffered heavily under Stalin’s period of terror and collectivization. With the outbreak of World War II and with hatred of Russia still running deep, many Ukrainians fought with the German Army against Russia. Historically, that area of eastern Europe has always been a tough neighborhood. You only need to dig a few feet, or a generation down into that soil to find bloodstains. The only thing they’ve ever agreed on is murdering the Jews. That area has been fought over and across since the beginning of recorded history. When Putin invaded the Ukraine, he expected a walk over, but things got complicated the first night. The Ukrainians, schooled by British and American trainers and advisors, using modern western weaponry, mauled the Russians. Russian technology didn’t work up to expectations, their leadership sucked, and their troops lacked initiative. The only problem the Ukrainians are having is supply, they’re running out of ammo. It shouldn’t be any problem, we’ve got plenty of ammo to spare, but we’ve also got Donald Trump, MAGA and The House Freedom Caucus and they’re blocking it because of the southern border. They said we shouldn’t be sending anything to a foreign country until we take care of Americans. How these two relate is past me, the border is a policy and law enforcement problem, ours to solve here at home and nothing related to Ukraine. I guess you must be an isolationist on steroids to make the connection between the two. Trump has no geo-political view, he could care less about Europe, hell, he doesn’t care that much about the U.S. west of the Mississippi River. He’s said that if he was president, he’d stop that war in one hour. That means one of two things, he’s either just said more stupid shit he hasn’t thought through first, or he’s going to call his chum, Putin, do a Chamberlain, sell Ukraine down the drain and give Putin anything he wants. It’s your guess…Ukraine is a small nation willing to fight for their survival and doing a hell of a job of it. These are brave people, they’re supplying the blood, the least we can do is give them ammo. Trump and his minions in congress need to remember we are a signatory to a NATO charter that says, an attack on one is an attack on all. If Putin prevails in Ukraine and then feels froggy and starts something in the Baltic countries, they’re NATO members and we’re in a shooting war. They won’t be asking for ammo; they’ll be asking for your sons and daughters…