It’s been more than fifty days since the Russist1 (or is it rushists, or rushits?) embarked on a full-flagged operation in getting their asses kicked in Ukraine. President Zelenskyy — the unexpected hero that is leading the asskicking — has been also asking for help.
Hell, even the pilots themselves said screw NATO, we’ll do it ourselves (like this but more badass). And while I can say that this smells very much like another war campaign, in the past I’ve heard that, “This isn’t WW2,” and we need to just support Ukraine until this problem gets lost in our news feed, and then we move on to the latest Kanye rant.
The sanctions from the West have created two groups of people in Russia:
Those who could leave the country and did.
Those who couldn’t, doubled down and started singing Me Against the World.
In an interesting article from a long time Kremlin reporter with deep insider contacts, it was said, “Paradoxically, society and the elites — previously quite distant from each other — are now, if not united, at least feeling like they’re in the same boat.”
So, for people who support husbands abusing Ukrainian women, whose army is raping women in a “friendly” Belarus, and whose talk show hosts talk openly about bombing Poland and the Baltics, you have to ask, “What is their endgame?” Why is the rest of the world dismissing this as just a Ukrainian issue?
Putin, like a cornered angry dog is recognizing that he has little to lose, that his cronies support him, and that he can save forces he doesn’t consider lower-level people (more on that another time) from total annihilation. Add all of that together and he will use it to wipe Ukraine off the map. If he wins, he will try to renegotiate, rebuild, and in the future move further forward into Europe. Ukraine is in a unique position, because if they don’t win, it means no existence. They will continue to fight regardless of what it means because to them freedom for their land and children is paramount. So, in this matrix, the only outcome is for Putin to lose, which leaves us with two unanswered questions:
When?
At what cost?
The world should make sure he bleeds or he will do this again.
As Eastern Orthodox Easter is coming up, I leave you with this: I don’t believe in prayer anymore, but I believe in Javelins and MiGs. So I appreciate the prayers, but I’d more appreciate you reaching out to your local congressperson to send Ukraine planes and weapons before this happens for real.
Editor’s note: It’s linked here, but “Russist” is a clever portmanteau of “Russian” and “Fascist.”