america – Page 4 – Oscar Valdes

God Talks to Putin

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He’s sitting in his bunker, facing a row of telephones and a wall covered with TV monitors showing scenes of his troops’ movements and the devastation of the war.
But he is restless. The war is not going the way he wanted.
Now all lights go off and the windowless room turns pitch black.
He is startled. This has never happened before.
He presses the emergency button to call for help but there’s no response.
Is he under attack?
He gets up, cautiously, and finds his way to the door.
It’s locked.
Furious, he calls out for assistance as he turns the knob, repeatedly, but nothing gives.
‘I have to be calm,’ he says to himself. ‘Where’s my gun?’
In the darkness, he moves slowly back in the direction of his desk and after a moment reaches it.
He opens a drawer to his right and finds the gun.
He takes it out and lays it on the desk.
‘The power should come back any moment,’ he tells himself.
Now the faint glimmer of a light appears behind him. He quickly turns around and points the gun at it.
The light emanates from a small golden colored orb that dims and brightens as it grows in size.
Putin holds the gun with both his hands, aiming it directly at the orb.
‘Stop!’ he cries out.
But the orb keeps enlarging slowly, while dimming and brightening.
Putin fires a shot directly into it. The orb is not altered.
‘Vladimir…’ says the orb with a soft, gentle voice.
Putin is frightened.
‘Why are you killing?’
Putin fires again, to no avail.
‘Men, women and children who have done nothing to you…’
Putin fires another round.
Now the luminous orb starts to rise slowly, suspended in the air.
Putin quickly gets out of his chair and goes under his desk, the gun pointed at the orb.
The orb advances slightly and Putin fires another round.
But nothing stops the orb.
Panicking, he fires off the rest of his bullets, and when there are no more rounds he tries to get out from under the desk but finds that he cannot. Something is blocking him. Something he cannot see.
The orb advances as it enlarges its size, the golden light dimming and brightening.
Then the orb stops.
‘Why, Vladimir?’ asks the orb.
‘They were threatening me, they were threatening Russia!’
‘No, they were not… you made that up… made that up to build yourself up… build yourself up because your country has been failing.’
‘We are not failing!’ cries out Putin in desperation as he tries to free himself from something invisible that is keeping him pinned under the desk.
‘Yes, you are. Sadly, what you’re best at is making guns, weapons, rockets… to kill people… don’t you think Russians are much better than that?’
‘Yes, we are! This is all part of a plan to rebuild the great Russian empire. This is the first step to then conquer the world!’
‘You mean to destroy the world…’ answers the orb, ‘because all you leave in your path is death and destruction, Vladimir, nothing else.’
‘Who are you?’ asks Putin, crouched under his desk.
‘Who do you think I am?’ replies the orb.
‘My conscience?’
‘I am God, Vladimir.’
Putin laughs, derisively. ‘God, you say, what hogwash.’
‘I get that all the time…’ returns the orb.
‘Prove it to me!’ cries an emboldened Putin.
‘I don’t play those games but suffice it to say you’re not going anywhere until I say so.’
Putin tries again to free himself from the invisible binds holding him under the desk but cannot.
‘Fuck you!’ shouts Putin.
The orb says nothing for a moment, then, ‘there’s nothing musical about that word… try something else…’
‘If you were really God, then why did you let the war happen? Why did you let all those people get killed?’
‘Good point,’ says the orb. ‘I’m not all powerful as some believe… I can’t stop human beings from killing each other… but what I can do, is remind everyone that hope and kindness are the only way forward… for that is the fountain of our creativity… of human beings’ capacity to improve the world.’
‘Hogwash!’ says, Putin. ‘You’re an impostor. I don’t know what tricks you’re using but I’ll figure it out and deal with you.’
‘Vladimir…’ starts the orb patiently…
‘President Putin to you! Blasphemer! Idiot!’
‘Vladimir…’ trying again… ‘I have come to help you. You’ve already made yourself an outcast… your cruelty has already branded you…’
‘You can’t send me to hell?’ responds Putin, mockingly.
‘You are in hell, already… because that’s what Ukraine is now, a living hell that you created.’
‘Get out! I don’t want to talk to you! Charlatan!’
‘I come…’ resumes the orb, patiently, ‘because you are losing the war and may want to use nuclear weapons. That’s why I’m here. Please listen to me… the world will not let you use nuclear or chemical weapons on Ukrainians without responding. And between America and Europe, they have enough to wipe you out.’
‘Ha! I have my rockets pointed at Washington and London and Los Angeles and Houston and Dallas and New York. I’ll obliterate them! I may not destroy everything but I’ll get most of it. And that’ll be enough for me.’
‘You think you’ll survive?’
‘I don’t care.’
‘That’s a lot of cities, you mentioned… but they’ll fire back and aim directly at Moscow and St Petersburg… so there’ll be nothing left. And if you survive, what will you tell your followers, as they stand in rags before you, burnt from radioactivity? You’ll tell them that’s the first step to building the new Russian empire? Vladimir, they’ll grab you and cut you into little pieces.’
‘At least I’ll have the satisfaction that I destroyed the West. And I will have opened the path for China to be number one in the world.’
‘Small consolation for a man who wanted to build the Russian empire. I hear a desperate man, envious of the West and afraid…’ says the orb, patiently.
Putin again tries to free himself but cannot. ‘Let me out!’
‘Settle down, you little prick!’ snaps the orb impatiently.
Putin laughs. ‘You’re not God.’
‘I lose my temper, too. Now listen to me, there’s still a way out for you. And you can save your skin. Your wounded pride you’ll have to lick for the rest of your life but you can at least, live.’
‘Which way out?’ says Putin, showing interest.
‘Walk away.’
Putin is silent.
‘Admit your mistake and walk away.’
‘And give up Ukraine?’
‘It was never yours. They don’t want you there.’
‘What about Crimea, the new republics in Donbas?’
‘Let them decide their fate democratically, with the vote.’
‘I’ll never do that,’ says Putin as he looks away, shaking his head, glumly.

Silence follows.

Putin again, ‘You think Russians will forgive me?’
‘Yes… if you stop making mistakes. Sanctions will be lifted and you’ll have another try at building a nation.’
‘I think I’ve gone too far, already.’
‘The mothers of those soldiers who return alive will be forever grateful.’
‘I’ll still get a chance to go to Heaven?’ asks Putin.
The orb thinks about it for a moment. ‘Vladimir… I’ve been God for a while now, and I still can’t find where Heaven is. I think it’s right here on earth. It’s here every day of our lives… you see it in human beings’ kindness, generosity, eternal hope… and undying quest for excellence.’
‘And hell?’
‘Right here, too. In illness, violence, poverty… in innocent people serving sentences in prison… and what you’re doing in Ukraine.’
Putin, dejected, shaking his head slowly. ‘You think I fucked up?’
‘You did. But really big men recognize their flaws.’

The orb and Putin look at each other for a moment.

‘I’ve said my piece… you’re free to go now,’ says the orb.

Putin finds he’s no longer bound and is able to get out from under the desk. He stands facing the orb.

‘Do I get to see you again?’ asks Putin.
‘You never know,’ replies the orb.
And then it disappears.
The lights in the room come up and all the equipment is back working.

Oscar Valdes oscarvaldes.net, medium.com, anchor.fm, buzzsprout, apple and google podcasts.

The Funeral

I got there when people were already gathered at the burial site, a bright green hill filled with rows of tombs and their identifying plaques.
The deceased would be getting one soon too.
Prior to arriving, I had in mind that there would be a viewing of the corpse preceding the interment but there was not.
Instead, the viewing was limited to seeing the coffin, properly set up to being lowered into the pit below at a later time. Two funeral home workers stood nearby.
I met a friend whom I knew would be there, once again expressed my sympathy to the daughter of the deceased who, courteously, had come to greet us, chatted with another person who joined us and whom I hadn’t seen in years, and before long we were instructed to leave the cemetery and head out to attend the repast. That was the schedule.
Before parting, I stepped up to the coffin, stood next to it and thought about the deceased. I patted the coffin. It was metal. Shiny reddish brown.
Had the deceased heard my pat?
I had known him for many years but weren’t close friends. Still, I had enjoyed his camaraderie and was very sad to hear of his death. I had sent in a floral arrangement in his honor and there it stood.
While next to the coffin I said something to the deceased, thinking perhaps that he might take notice, that his senses were not completely gone. I imagined his face, his demeanor and thanked him for the moments we had shared.
He had been ill for a while before dying and I had tried to see him but it was not possible.
I asked my friend to take a photo of me next to the coffin.
The attendees had mostly left by now, as instructed.
I felt a bit rushed, as if wishing I be allowed to see the body being lowered into its final resting place. But that was what the family wanted.
So my friend and I headed out in our separate vehicles to join the repast.

The event was held at a community center a short distance away. It was well attended. At the front of the room, a collection of photos of the deceased and his family showed in a video, to the soulful sounds of a saxophone.
The organizer stepped up next to the screen, said a few words in the deceased’s honor and then told us of the manner in which the repast would be served. Start at the end of this row of tables, up this way, down the other and so forth, until all are served.
After the meal, a time for the sharing of remembrances would follow.
My friend and the acquaintance we had met at the burial site had got a table to ourselves.
We ate and chatted a little, not just about the deceased.
I spotted a man who looked much like the deceased, approached him and found out he was one of his several brothers. I shared some memories with him.
Right after the meal, my friend said she wanted to leave and I decided to go too. I went up to the daughter of the deceased to say goodbye, thanked her and offered my assistance, should she need it in the future.
As I made my way out I thought I was probably missing something but left anyway.
Then on the drive back I started to feel grumpy. Uncomfortable. Sad. Impotent. My deceased friend had done what he had done and now it was all over.
But there was something else that I couldn’t pin down.
Was it about me? After all, time was running out. I was getting older. Life didn’t go on and on.
The sight of the coffin, the chatting and the repast, the mournful air that hung over the whole affair had all been steps leading up to it.
I got home but I was still feeling uncomfortable, so I went out for a walk. The unease lingered.
Then I sat down to write.

At the funeral home’s entrance, I was handed a map showing me where to go. At the burial site there had been sad sentiments expressed. Memories exchanged. All nicely arranged and moving like clockwork.
On the way home I had told myself that I would not be attending any more funerals, that I had had it. Maybe I would just donate my body to science and do away with the whole ceremony.
Then I thought of the war in Ukraine.
It was now 7 weeks long and there still was no clear sense of when it would end. People were dying every day. People of all ages, men, women and children.
But had I grieved for them?
Those war victims were physically far away but my friend’s funeral had brought them much closer.
And as I wrote these words the emotions flowed and I wanted to cry for them, too, just as I had wanted to cry for my deceased friend.
My friend had died at his home, surrounded by people who loved him. He had not died violently.
And yet he reminded me of the plight of Ukraine and its countless victims.
I could not separate the emotions. They just came.
I have written many blogs about the war in Ukraine and, at times, I have been teary eyed as I wrote.
But this time, as I cried for my friend, I cried for Ukraine, too.

Oscar Valdes oscarvaldes.net, medium.com, anchor.fm, buzzsprout, apple and google podcasts.

Zelensky and Putin Talk

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They sit across a long table, each at one end. They both have their arms resting on the table.

Z – We will not surrender.
P – How many more people you think will be killed?
Z – That’s up to you, isn’t it?
P – If you put down your arms, there will be no more deaths.
Z – But there will be no freedom.
P – Explain to me what that means.
Z – Letting people be who they wish to be.

Putin smiles dismissively.

Z – By your reaction I can tell you’ve never known it yourself.
P – I can have what I want when I want.
Z – At the expense of others. Others who have been too intimidated to revolt against you.
P – They don’t revolt because they like what I give them.
Z – Thousands of Ukrainians and Russians dead? Cities destroyed? Millions of people displaced? Is that your gift to your people? It will take us years to rebuild. I don’t think Russians are stupid.
P – I see you spend much time reading American propaganda.
Z – The Americans and you fought a long war against Nazi Germany. Now you say America is supporting a Nazi government in Ukraine and that I am a Nazi. Who do you really think believes that?
Those who choose to believe such lies have no minds. So you, sir, have managed to make them dumb politically. It happens to people when they are not free to express themselves. When they’re not free to think.
But all is not lost. I am sure one day there will be freedom in Russia. Just not under you.

Putin laughs.

P – But maybe under Alexei Navalny?
Z – Yes. And you don’t have the guts to let him out of prison and run against you in free elections because he will beat you soundly.
P (amused) – I have a very high approval rating…
Z – From non thinking people, but Navalny is another matter. You’re so afraid of him that you tried to kill him.
P – More American propaganda…
Z – German doctors established you used a nerve agent against Navalny, nearly killing him.
P – I did nothing of the kind. Navalny is in prison because of fraud he committed. And he will stay in prison. But let us not waste time on that. How is it that you think you can win a war against our superior army?
Z – We will beat you because we are fighting for our lives.
P – All of you?
Z – The great majority of us.
P – It is very sad… and very grandiose of you, to think you can stand up against me.
Z – Is it sad and grandiose to fight for what you believe?
P – There is still time… I can guarantee your safety and your family’s… but you must leave now. If not, I cannot promise anything.
Z – We will not surrender.
P – You say you are a comedian… but where is your sense of humor? Makes me wonder if you were any good.
Z – Excuse me. I am the president of a nation at war. A nation that will beat your army and boot you out of our territory.

Putin shakes his head slowly, growing irritation barely disguised.

P – You are sadly mistaken to think I will let you win. Listen carefully. I do not like wasting my time. I cannot lose this war. My whole existence depends on it. And I have the guns for it. I have the planes. I have the bombs. I have my people willing to sacrifice for a greater Russia.
Z – A greater Russia?
P – Do not interrupt me.

They stare at each other for an instant.

P – So far, out of a sense of compassion for your people…
Z – Compassion?
P – Yes…
Z – Compassion in Bucha? In Mariupol? In the bombing of a theater sheltering children, with clear markings saying so?
P (angrily) – What is the matter with you? Can you not listen? Do you not understand how much more brutal I can be?
Z – Oh, yes, I can. There is no end to how brutal you can be.
P (Pausing briefly as he restrains himself) – Mr Zelensky, I am a patient man, but you are pushing me.
Z – And you do not understand me. We will not surrender.
P (more calmly) – I will do whatever it takes to win this war.
Z – Whatever?
P – Yes.
Z – You will use nuclear weapons?
P – If you force me to.
Z – Force you to?
P (frustrated) – Do you want me to flatten Kyiv… leave it uninhabitable from radioactivity? Do you want the same for Lviv… Kharkiv…? Do you want to have that on your conscience for the rest of your life?
Z – My conscience but not yours?
P – Not mine… for I have a great union to rebuild, a union of republics destroyed by careless leaders… and the task to build a greater Russia is worth every sacrifice. I have been planning for this a long time. And now is the moment, now that the Americans are in decline and that China is on the rise. And we will rise like them, too.

They stare silently at each other for an instant.

Z – I grant that Russia has a distinguished history in all fields of endeavors… except one…
P – Which one?
Z – Politics. In that area it’s been all about terror, misery, control and enslavement. You gave us the Czars… serfdom… then followed with communism, a form of systematized dehumanization and poverty. So, what is it you’re trying to rebuild?
P (impatiently) – A union of republics to be feared by all in the world…
Z – Feared… but not respected?
P (sharply) – Stop being insolent!
Z – You’re speaking to the president of a free nation. I am not one of your many puppets.

Tense pause.

Z – One thing is to have rockets, another to have economic development. You mention China. Just when do you plan to catch up?
You have almost three times the population of South Korea but about the same GDP. Even though you are the 2nd largest oil producer in the world. What has gone wrong?
P – We are distributing the wealth from our oil and gas and our wheat and aluminum and nickel…
Z – Amongst your favorites… whom you have made ultrarich, but there’s not enough initiative in your people… not because they’re not talented, but because you have squashed it with your political and economic repression.

Putin frowns, a little lost.

Z – There’s no freedom in your land… and the lack of it has atrophied something in the Russian spirit. You set out to tame your people and you have won.
P – Russians like having one leader… like the Chinese…
Z – No, they don’t like it, they’re being forced to like it. But unlike you, the Chinese have had enough economic freedom to make their markets appealing to the west, although that is now changing.
In your zeal to control others, you have damaged the development of Russian minds and hearts. With all your natural riches, your people have been underperforming in the world stage… and you like it that way.
Now you want to do it to us.

Putin eyes Zelensky with disdain.

P – Do you think that the Americans will come to your aid if I drop nuclear bombs on you?
Z – I do not know.
P – They won’t.
Z – You don’t know that.
P – I have made it clear to them that I’m ready for a nuclear confrontation.
Z – Yes, and president Biden made it clear to you that you cannot use chemical weapons on our people. Who knows what he’ll do if you do.
P – His generals won’t let him. The business sector won’t let him. Congress won’t let him.
Z – You don’t know that. With Taiwan they have a policy of ‘strategic ambiguity,’ to keep the Chinese guessing. So maybe with you they’re being deliberately ambiguous also.
P – They wouldn’t dare.
Z – I wouldn’t challenge them.
P – Do you not see that they’re using you?
Z – Using us?
P – Of course. Using you to try and overcome their differences. And America wants Europe to buy oil from them instead of us. It’s all about the dollar. About expanding their markets and reducing ours. They don’t give a damn about you. It’s all a show. That’s what they’re good at. Deception. Show business. When the time comes, they’ll stab you in the back and hand you over to me. But I’m giving you a chance right now to surrender and come to our side and spare the lives of thousands of your people.
Z (a faint smile) – If our defense of freedom has helped the west be more unified, I am proud of that. I am not naïve. The west has its problems, its contradictions, its injustices, but I can do battle with those so long as I have freedom. With you, I will be a slave.
P – Idiot! How dare you! You are nothing! Ukraine is nothing! You mean nothing to the world and I will destroy you.
Z (looking Putin in the eye, calmly) – Why are you so bent on our destruction if we mean so little? Why are you sacrificing so many Russian lives, if we are nothing?

Putin drops his face in his hand and rubs it slowly. He’s reached his limit. He looks up at Zelensky.

P – I’m giving you one last chance. You’ve been brainwashed by the west. I’m trying to help you. The future is ours… here in the east. And you can be part of it. America is dying and I can smell the stench. And so can China.
We are extending our reach all over the world, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East… they like us in those countries. America’s corruption is massive. They talk about freedom but it’s all bogus. They just care about themselves…
Z – And you care about Ukrainians?
P (angrily) – Do not interrupt me! This is my last offer. Surrender now or you’ll pay with your life!
Z – I do not believe a word you say. Sir, you are not a free man… you have never been one… for if you had, you wouldn’t have ordered your troops to come and slaughter us, you wouldn’t have asked young Russians to die because you felt threatened by having a democratic nation so close to you.
And I do believe the west has welcomed us to their side. I know it in my heart.
P – How naïve you are.
I am sad to say that there will be no more peace negotiations.
Ours is a fight to the death.
Z – It’s been that way from the start.
P- This is the last time we meet, Mr Zelensky, for you will pay with your life.
Z – You may pay with yours.
P (shaking his head, frustrated) – Still believing in those fairy tales about what the Americans and Europeans will do for you. Brainwashed you is what they’ve done.
Z – Perhaps, but remember, just as we’re having to bury our brothers and sisters fallen in combat, so will your soldiers be returning to Russia in body bags.
(and leaning forward on the desk)
History, sir, will be kinder to me than to you.
Good night.

They both rise and exit the room by separate entrances.

Oscar Valdes oscarvaldes.net, medium.com, anchor.fm, buzzsprout, apple and google podcasts

Wake Up Russia!

Your leader is massacring Ukrainians.
By choosing to invade their country he has given license to kill innocent people.
Men, women and children.

Your country was not being threatened but your leader, who does as he pleases because few object, came up with the idea that he was being threatened and so he thought he must give the order to kill Ukrainians.
He could do so because most Russians have been silenced.
Silenced by fear.
All of us pay a price when we allow others to intimidate us.
That is why it is so important to respect free speech. To hold free elections.

But year after year of your leader being in power – since 1999 – the Russian majority has chosen to be quiet.
And now all of us pay the price. Not just you but Ukrainians and the rest of the world.
You are not alone in your passivity.
In China, a section of the country has cheered on the invaders, celebrating the killing of Ukrainians by your leader.
They too, like you, have yielded to fear for they have neither free speech nor free elections, but they cheer on invading Russian troops in the belief that by doing so they get to turn fear into courage.

Ukrainians know better. They know their freedom has a price. And in refusing to be governed by Moscow – refusing to have to answer to your boss – have put up an heroic resistance against a superior army and vowed not to yield.
Their president, Volodymyr Zelensky has been leading the effort. If he were ever to doubt that he had the strength to do so, he need only look to his grandfather who was a soldier in the Russian Army in World War II.
Ukrainians’ valor has marked this moment in history and the nation has become the pride of our world.

Because the murderous invasion of Ukraine has not gone according to plan and their people are fighting back, now your leader speaks of setting your nuclear forces in high alert.
But the West will not be intimidated. We will not stop sending arms to the Ukrainian resistance and one day they will be proud NATO members.
The pain inflicted by your leader will not be forgotten.

I know there is a core of dissenters in your country. That men and women with enormous courage have chosen to defy your leader and have suffered or have been killed or exiled because of it.
But the number of dissenters must grow. The protests have to increase.
The abuses of a man who does not listen to his people must be challenged.

For a nation to thrive there must be an open dialogue with its leaders.
You need to fight to have that dialogue.
Look at Germany. Until a day ago it was unwilling to send arms to Ukraine. But protests mounted and they have now changed course. They have committed to aid brave Ukraine.
That dialogue has died in Russia and so your leader is free to do as he wishes.

Dear Russians, you could have that dialogue, too, but you must demand it.
So why don’t you stand up and joins us?
We welcome your contributions to humanity’s grand project – men and women’s eternal struggle to have a voice of their own and live with dignity.

Oscar Valdes. Oscarvaldes.net anchor.fm, buzzsprout, medium.com, apple and google podcasts.

Getting Closer

Putin keeps circling Ukraine, amassing troops around it and tightening his grip. Ukrainians are running out of air. They have started to have trouble breathing.

Putin is loving the world’s attention. This is what he’s always dreamed of. Americans rushing frantically, here and there, trying to convince allies that the time is now and some allies saying, ‘Well… I’m not sure.’

Putin laughs. And he thinks, you have to be doing like the ostrich does, to not see what’s in front of you.

But of course he will invade.

The West is divided. Beautiful. Just Beautiful.

Trucker protests in Canada are now spreading to America and France and affecting commerce, rattling nerves. ‘We need freedom!’ they chant as they blare their horns for hours on end stressing everybody else. ‘Pay attention to me!’ ‘I count too!’ ‘No vaccine mandates!’ they say.

And in their minds, they must be convinced that if they keep it up, they will be able to bend the arm of government and boost the chances of a nationalist party rising to the top and finally putting an end to that nasty immigration problem they have and can’t solve, plus the worrying about other countries far, far away. Too far.

Long live Trump!

And when Putin runs over Ukraine and crushes them, shamelessly making the country a province of the greater Russia, the protesters in the West will simply say, ‘Putin needs his space. So long as he respects ours, we’ll be okay. He’s one of us, a devoted nationalist.’

Meanwhile, to aid their case, business interests in Germany are saying that the talk of economic sanctions on Russia when they invade, would affect them as much as the Russians and that prices would go up for all. So no sanctions, please. We cannot afford it. How about a slap on the wrist, instead? If Putin wants a little bit more of Ukraine to feel less anxious about his hold on power, why not give it to him? It’s just Ukraine, so relax. Anyway, the man won’t live forever. And we need to keep an eye on our bottom line, that’s number one.’

And Putin will be smiling. He could kiss the truckers and their rants and the businessmen fretting over the bottom line being above everything else.

‘You are lovely, thank you’ Putin will say. ‘I agree with you, some people need to be sacrificed sometimes. We all know that. The Germans knew it. They just went about it the wrong way. You won’t see me making that same mistake again. I promise. So long as I live.’

If divisions in America are not enough, then there’s inflation.

Supply chains have not got back to normal, demand is driving up prices and traders and investors are panicking. Stocks are dropping like lead in water – straight down – investors worrying that the new interest rates the Federal Reserve will set in March will be either too high or too low. The Federal Reserve won’t be able to do enough to calm the nerves. If the new rate increase is 0.5 bps investors will sell because the central bank is too aggressive. If the new rate increase is 0.25 bps then the Feds don’t know what they’re doing and are avoiding reality. Either way, value will drain out of the markets.

Putin will be salivating.

‘Oh, I never imagined it would look this good. In congress, Republicans and Democrats can barely agree on anything. Republicans have Biden checked. The poor guy, a lifetime waiting to govern and then he gets blocked. And Republicans will squash him in November. No, not squash but stomp on him. And Kamala Harris can forget about it. The two houses will be Republican and my good friend Donald Trump will win in November 2024. It will be great to see him again. He and I can talk. We can divide Europe according to our wishes. He can keep Britain – I’ve never been fond of those rascals. But Poland, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, the Baltic nations, they will come my way. A new era dawns. Thank you, Donald, for planting the seeds. Thank you for inspiring the Capitol assault on 1/6/2020and the way that has influenced the imagination of Americans. Thank you, you are the greatest. I wouldn’t be on the brink of invading Ukraine and making it a province of Mother Russia if it weren’t for the way you set things up. The way you showed Americans that there is indeed a place for totalitarian government, for the rule of the majority. I’ll be forever grateful. And maybe, you can change the constitution so you can get elected a 3^rd time. I promise you all the help I can possibly give. I’ll keep you out of it, of course, so as not to compromise you. What are good friends for.’

And Putin has one final thought.

It has occurred to him to contact some groups and urge them to stage another assault on the Capitol… and even the White House itself. But it might be too obvious. But there are people willing. Still, he will tread carefully. He knows the field. He was once a trusted KGB man. So he knows that world. In and out. And how some spies will work for both sides.

Feeling like he’s on top of the world, he smiles confidently and says, ‘I’ve got them.’

Oscar Valdes. Oscarvaldes.net. anchor.fm, buzzsprout, apple and google podcasts

Russians Should Not Wait for History

What keeps them from resisting Putin’s rule?

The largest nation in the world, with vast mineral resources and a capable people,

is not on a par with the leading nations of the West. Is not on a par with China.

People don’t travel to Russia as they do to other leading nations.

But they have nuclear weapons in abundance, so they are prone to scare the rest of the world with firing them. Never mind that the rest of the world will fire back too and the result will be catastrophic.

Why are Russians so afraid of the rest of us?

Why do they let a man like Putin be their leader?

Russia is not a free country.

Dissident organizations that Putin sees as critical of him are labelled terrorists and banned. Critics of his regime are imprisoned or killed.

Putin is a defender and supporter of Assad in Syria, of the ruthless military in Burma, of Maduro in Venezuela, of Ortega in Nicaragua. Name a repressive government in the world and the likelihood is that Russia is having a hand in propping them up and defending them.

Still, most Russians seem able to turn off the lights at night and sleep till morning, their conscience undisturbed.

Today, Russia is a threat in Ukraine, a country with whom they have a shared history. Mind you, neighbors disagree all the time and should be allowed to do so. But Putin says no, Ukraine cannot disagree with this wonderful system I lead, this majestic empire of ours, and if they stray from our path we will crush them.

And so Russians are afraid because they have been intimidated by Putin and his close supporters.

It can happen anywhere. Trump in America wanted to do it. His supporters still try.

But the price we pay in allowing it is great.

The price of yielding to fear is that we are diminished as people, as human beings.

The price is that we get smaller inside.

The price is that we give up on opportunities that may not come back.

Putin wants to govern until he dies. But the longer that Russians put up with him, the more lasting the damage he inflicts on them.

And he will invent all kinds of threats from the West or anywhere, to tell Russians ‘look at what they are doing to us! But I’m here to defend you!’

It’s all a show, ‘The Putin Show.’

History will see it clearly, but Russians should not wait for history. Their lives are now. They need to step up and dare to develop their vast potential and in so doing rise to be among the leading nations of today’s world.

It will take courage. But anything we earn takes courage.

Fellow Russians – brothers and sisters – you have the power.

Oscar Valdes. Oscarvaldes.net. anchor.fm, buzzsprout, apple and goggle podcasts.

More Absurdities

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On Sunday, president Macron of France was quoted by a French newspaper as stating that he did not believe Russia’s goal was to seize Ukraine, but instead to ‘clarify the rules of cohabitation’ with NATO and the EU. He added that Russia had a right to seek security guarantees from the West.

But who is doing the threatening in Ukraine?

Who has encircled it with 130,000 troops?

Who annexed Crimea in 2014, biting off a huge chunk from Ukriane?

Who has fueled a war in the Donbas area in eastern Ukraine with cumulative deaths estimated to be 14,000 and counting?

The West is racing to help arm Ukraine with defensive weapons only, not the kind they could use to attack Russia. And the West is doing it so Ukrainians can put up a good fight when the Russian tanks start rolling and their airplanes start strafing their people.

Mr Macron’s need to seek attention seems to have outrun his common sense.

Maybe it’s the prospect of national elections later this year that is the key motivator.

Mr Macron went further. He stated that one of the models on the table was to make Ukraine like Finland during the Cold War with the Soviet Union, when the Finnish were allowed to remain ‘independent’ but they could not join NATO, and Russia was permitted to have ‘considerable influence over their political options.’

So the West allows Ukraine to be ‘considerably’ influenced by Russia?

Doesn’t that sound like betrayal?

To please Putin’s paranoia?

In another article, mention is made of a spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, a woman declaring that the West was demonizing Russia, so as to take public attention away from their domestic crises, invest huge sums to arm ‘fragile democracies’ (as in Ukraine), and bolster an image of invincibility that has been weakened by the Afghanistan collapse.

But do we have political prisoners like you do?

What about releasing Alexei Navalny, whom you poisoned and nearly killed?

What about your branding every dissident organization you find upsetting, a terrorist one?

In democracies we sometimes elect people to govern us who are not fit, but we can throw them out at the end of their terms. You can’t do that. You’ve been stuck with Putin since 1999.

Yes, we parade every day our million flaws so that the whole world wonders how it is we still function.

But we do.

And we prosper.

Unlike Russia, where, with no free press, the citizenry is daily growing convinced that it is America who wants to invade them.

Quoted statements for this piece come from articles appearing in the New York Times on 2/7/2022. The reflections and judgments are my own.

Oscar Valdes. Oscarvaldes.net. anchor.fm, buzzsprout, apple and google podcasts

Germany: You Got Help to Pull Out from Under the Russian Boot

Now it’s time you return the favor. Help Ukraine. They need weapons.

The use of weapons in defense of freedom is a responsible act

Why is Germany so reluctant to stand up against Putin?

After overcoming a history of atrocities against Jews and starting World War II – Germany has made a courageous effort to confront its past. And that gives the nation gravitas.

They know what it is to struggle with guilt. They know what it is to struggle with fear, misery and pain.

But their choice to not send weapons to Ukraine is worrisome. Furthermore, they do not wish to join in sanctioning Russia with exclusion from Swift, the infrastructure that allows interbank transactions, should they invade.

Germany is fully aware of the consequences. They are saying, ‘we understand the threat to Europe that a Russian invasion represents but we believe we will be spared.’

And they probably will.

But they are wrong.

Germany, by virtue of its standing and accomplishments, is a leader in Europe. Will they allow their position to be tarnished?

Ukraine wants to keep moving towards Western Europe and Russia is saying no. No and we will invade you, says Putin. No and we will arm your brothers and sisters in the Donbas area and fuel a fight that will keep you killing each other rather than letting you go to the West.

The same thing happened to Germany after WWII when the nation was divided into East and West, the Soviets (Russia) controlling the East. While the greater prosperity in the West kept acting as a powerful factor urging their unification, a bitter and resentful East Germany, went on shooting dead all those attempting to cross to the West.

Other countries intervened to help Germany become one nation.

Now they are being asked by history to play its part in assisting Ukraine.

But Germany is conflicted, reluctant to stand up against their former oppressor.

They have the power to assist, the strength to be a deciding factor.

And yet they will not.

But you can’t give in to a bully and keep your self respect.

Because you once misused weapons and caused immeasurable pain, does not excuse you from using them when the cause is honorable.

Ukraine’s plight is dire. They want freedom.

Germany has freedom. It needs to prove to itself that it can help defend it against the greatest oppressor those neighboring countries face – the reality of a life impoverished by the rigidities and cruelty of a repressive system, as in East Germany after WWII and until October 1990.

Will Germany defy Russia or bow to it?

Defiance in defense of a nation begging for help is a mark of immense courage.

And a chance for Germany to restore its full pride as a people who can and will bear arms responsibly in defense of justice anywhere in the world.

Oscar Valdes. Oscarvaldes.net. google and apple podcasts and buzzsprout

Biden’s Response to Putin

Has been energetic and realistic. He has not looked at the 130,000 Russian troops amassed on Ukraine’s eastern flank and said to himself, ‘maybe they’ll go away.’

I understand that Biden’s characterizing such buildup as presaging an ‘imminent attack’ has unsettled Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, since the latter has his nation’s economy to manage, but to think that Russia’s military buildup is meant to merely kick off a war of nerves on Europe and America, is pure poppycock.

Putin wants to inflict harm on the West for what he sees as his diminished great power status, particularly in light of China’s rise.

Just 20 years ago China’s GDP was estimated to be $1.34 trillion while Russia’s was $306 billion. But in those two decades, China’s GDP has grown more than 13 times to become an $18 trillion economy while Russia’s has only gone up 5.5 times. (2021 figures)

So China has zoomed past Russia and left them wondering, ‘what the hell just went by?’.

To make matters worse, all this has happened while Putin has been in power. So it is a great embarrassment for him and his nation, to be seen by the rest of the world as having been outclassed by their neighbor.

It has got to hurt Putin.

In his moments alone he has to wonder what didn’t he do to better direct the course of Russia.

He wishes he had had the daring to accomplish, steal, connive, do whatever worked, to rise as the Chinese have.

But he didn’t.

Meanwhile, the longing to be in the spotlight doesn’t go away. So what better way than to invent a crisis and claim that the West is a threat to him.

President Biden has seen right through it. He has not dithered. He’s acted promptly and is making every effort to get an incredulous Europe to face the facts. That to be dependent on Russia for energy is a horrible idea, in light of Putin’s predatory history.

Europe has been steeped in denial, which leads to timidity and so favor the notion that the threat to Ukraine is mere bluffing.

Putin is a wounded and vengeful man, who cannot blame anyone but himself for not releasing the considerable powers of Russia to reach as high as they can. Had Russians been allowed to be part of a market economy that embraced political freedoms, Russia would now be a leading economy. But it didn’t happen.

The blame falls squarely on Vladimir Putin.

He cannot live with that truth so he invents threats, hounds, imprisons or poisons dissidents, stokes a resistance movement in eastern Ukraine that has cost 14 thousand lives so far.

Oh, yes, he has modernized his Army and now has supersonic missiles. And gas and oil and wheat to export, but the potential of Russia, under his power, has been wasted.

He can’t face that truth so why not demonize the West instead.

And when Biden stands firm, Putin then talks of the West ‘goading’ him into invading Ukraine. Or he gets Xi Jinping to send a Chinese official to tell the West to ‘calm down.’

No. There’s no time for that.

Putin’s threat is real.

President Biden has had the wisdom to face it and should not relent one bit in his stance to confront Putin.

And Putin should think of stepping down. He has done enough harm.

Oscar Valdes oscarvaldes.net. apple and google podcasts, anchor.fm and buzzsprout

Why Putin Will go to War

One. He clearly sees the divisiveness in the West. Germany is ‘uncomfortable’ providing weapons to Ukraine, supposedly because they started WWII and they have all that angst weighing on them. But it must not weigh on Germans that much because they sell arms to Egypt which is run by a dictator. Oh, but they did contribute 500 helmets to the alliance’s efforts. Terrific. Never mind that thousands of Ukrainians are about to die to satisfy Putin’s ambitions.

Two. Putin controls the supply of natural gas to Europe, and Europeans are loath to inconvenience themselves with shortages. Businesses will put all manner of pressure on politicians to quickly submit to the great Putin. All the while saying, ‘Why, he just wants Russians to have a little more space to stretch.’

Three. Putin is convinced the sanctions the West will impose when Russia invades will not last because of the above.

Four. Russia’s economy gets support from China who, for now, will buy enough of their energy supplies to bolster their invasion of the Ukraine. In today’s papers, a senior Chinese official came out urging America to ‘calm down.’ As in, don’t get too excited, it’s just the Ukraine. Surely the Chinese statement was prompted by Biden’s decision to send troops to the border with Russia. Of course, China is all in for their ally Putin, and eager to disrupt the US-EU alliance.

Five. Putin doesn’t give a damn. He has little regard for human life. Remember the Malasyia Airliner Flight 17 shot down on July 17^th 2014 as it flew near the Ukrainian-Russian border on its way to Kuala Lumpur? It was brought down by a Buk missile fired by Ukrainian dissidents and supplied by Russia. A Dutch-Australian investigation put the blame squarely on Russia but they denied any involvement. 283 passengers and 15 crew members were killed.

The good news today is that Putin was disappointed by the written response to his requests provided 2 days ago by the US-EU alliance. Good. The West is maintaining a firm stance and that is a strong deterrent. Still, for the reasons above, Putin will invade anyway. It’s his gift to the Russian people. ‘We will reestablish dominance over territories formerly in the Soviet Union and push westward.’

So it’s Biden, the leader of the Free World, against Putin, the leader of the Un Free World.

(China doesn’t have as many nuclear warheads as Russia and the US but it’s working on it)

Oscar Valdes. Oscarvaldes.net, apple and google podcasts and buzzsprout