ukraine – Page 8 – Oscar Valdes

Push to Defeat Russia

This is the time.
I don’t think Putin would survive a defeat in Ukraine.
Russia is a demoralized nation for when they compare themselves with the rest of the world they have to wonder, ‘how come we’re not among the leading countries?’
‘How come people don’t want to come visit us?’
‘Why doesn’t anyone want to immigrate to Russia?’
‘What is missing?’
‘How come, by contrast, people are risking their lives to immigrate to America?’
‘If we can make sophisticated nuclear weapons, make vaccines, be one of the architects of the international space station, how come we make headlines only when we’re killing our neighbors? Or when we support brutal regimes like the Myanmar dictator?’
What is missing is political development.
Putin has been allowed to arrest the political maturation of Russia.
And he has done so by severely restricting the freedom of its citizens.
By sheer brutality he has held back the historical advancement of his brothers and sisters.
He’s got them hypnotized with the idea of a new Soviet Union, reclaiming a glory that was based on repression and cruelty.
But it’s all wishful thinking. There’s no turning back.
Next door, in Europe, a grand experiment in social understanding is taking place in the form of the European Union. Something similar could be happening in Russia. Instead, its citizens have opted to let one man, only one man, decide the fate of 125 million people.
It is sheer madness.
The courage of Ukrainians in fighting for their land has presented the world with a unique opportunity.
Support Ukraine with all the weapons they need and Russia can be pushed back entirely out of Ukraine. Even out of Crimea which was annexed by Russia in 2014.
A Russian defeat in Ukraine would stimulate the progressive section in the country that has not been fooled by Putin’s grandiosity.
It should be clear that China has nothing to offer in terms of political development. Their people are also in chains, in their case to a Communist party that presents itself as the celestially ordained class of people with the wisdom to dictate to the rest of the nation on how things should be done. The price? Surrender your freedom. Surrender your ability to think. We, in the party, will do the thinking for you. In other words, the Chinese model offers nothing new, but more of the same the Russians have endured for years and years.
The Western alliance should be more decisive in supporting Ukraine.
A defeated Putin will spark a movement to depose him and the likelihood is that such movement will be more pro West than pro China.
The consequences of such shift would be enormous for the prosperity of the word.
A pro western shift in Russia would likely stimulate a pro western movement in China. And the world could see the beginning of a new era, not one driven by conflict but by cooperation.
Imagine for a moment, the clout that Russia, the West and China would have working together to assist development in Africa or any impoverished region in the world?
Instead of arguing over differences that are mostly their leaders’ personal preferences.
Cult of personality is one of the most destructive forces in our world today.
There is a nefarious cult of personality today in Russia, in the person of Putin, in China, in the person of Xi Jinping, in America in the person of Donald Trump.
Cults of personality emerge in nations where the majority or a significant portion of the population ceases to think their own thoughts.
The revolt against such tendency is essential to the freedom of mankind.
Russians don’t need Putin, like Chinese don’t need Xi Jinping, like Americans don’t need Donald Trump. Nor their clones in the making.
Human beings should not surrender under any circumstances. Each life should be a life long struggle to assert who we are, to express each person’s uniqueness.

Oscarvaldes.medium.com, anchor.fm, apple and google podcasts.

On Courage

It starts with the willingness to dissent.
To be able to disagree, to oppose, to not go along with something you do not favor.
It is a quality to be nurtured. It needs to be exercised because otherwise it shrinks and atrophies. And to allow that is to allow for our gradual devaluing. In our eyes and in the eyes of others.
You can be born with that precious quality or work to acquire it.
Having it makes life immensely satisfying for you have an essential tool to shape your life.
There are different kinds of courage. Physical, intellectual, emotional.
A physically strong person may be able to assert themselves in a physical confrontation but not so in an intellectual or emotional one, while an intellectually or emotionally strong person may not stand up for themselves satisfactorily in a physical confrontation.
But what sits at the center of courage? What feeds it?
Four things come to mind:
A willingness to set limits, to say, ‘I have before me the option of this or that but at this stage of my knowledge I set my limits here.’
The willingness to take the initiative on matters leading to our betterment, personal or professional.
The willingness to trust our intuition.
And the steady exercise of all the above.
Courage’s ever present companion is risk. Without risk there is no courage. They go hand in hand.
Courage can be built, if there is the desire. And it is most desirable for it makes life richer and fruitful.
Courage can be public or private.
Every one of us, in our personal lives, is always being asked by life’s circumstances to exercise a measure of courage. Everyday life presents to us a challenge.
Most of those demands are for private displays of courage. Sometimes, though, they are public.
If we have been thinking and acting on the matter, then we’ll be in a better position to meet the challenge.
And if we don’t, then we should learn from it, thus preparing for the next occasion which, unless we’re hiding under a rock, is sure to come our way.
Life is unsparing in that sense. It loves to test us. To incessantly ask us, ‘are you learning from what I bring you every day, or are you sleep walking through it?’ Pay attention.
Lives are better lived when there is courage. Of course, as in anything involving courage and risk, there is no guarantee of results. Every day could be our last one. But such is life.
A word about group or national courage.
Today we are witnessing a special moment. Ukraine has chosen to stand up against Putin’s aggression. It is a remarkable time in history. Thousands of men and women have lost their lives in defense of their land and their right to choose their destiny. Russians and others that stand with Putin, notably China, should be ashamed of their stance.
The rest of us should not forget this.
Political leaderships that silence dissent are a threat to all of us, even to those thousands of miles away.
And just like Russians and Chinese gave in to their leaders, we should be on guard that it doesn’t happen in our land.

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To Have a Center

To have a center as a person, is to be doing something you enjoy, and that something makes you feel stronger and wiser.
Having a center lets you manage your envy, accept that others have more than you do, if they do, and you don’t get rattled by it. You can say to yourself, ‘I have my power, they have theirs.’
If you perceive that you could be doing better at what you enjoy, then you double up on your efforts.
That’s where ambition kicks in, a topic for another day.
We can tolerate periods when we are not doing what we would most like to do, but the search for what is most desirable for us to do shouldn’t stop.
A sense of reality is essential to temper expectations.
If you want to be a famous anything and you’re not even working in that field, then that’s daydreaming.
If you want to be in music and you don’t have a good ear, then that’s a tough hurdle to overcome. I suppose you could write songs.
If you want to be an engineer or physicist, you have to be good at math.
If you want to be a carpenter, you have to have good manual dexterity.
So how do we discover what we enjoy?
Sounds like a silly question but it’s important to ask.
It takes freedom to follow your intuitions. Freedom and courage.
Here’s where the task of parenting comes in. Providing such freedom. The courage part is up to you.
Some years ago I had a dentist who had excellent manual dexterity. I noticed it right away and commented on it. There was a grace and fluidity to his movements. He’d always known it but hadn’t owned it. At university, he had been chosen to do demonstration videos, such was his skill.
He went on to do other things in life for many years, until it became clear that what he most wanted to do was work with his hands exclusively. So one day he chose to quit dentistry and become a carpenter. It had been a hobby of his but now he wanted to do it full time.
‘That’s what I want to do,’ he said to me with proud assurance. He was probably in his late 50s or early 60s by then, but he still had time. All those years he had been searching for his center and finally had found it.
I asked him if his father, who had been a dentist also, had ever commented on his excellent manual dexterity. He answered that the man had not. Which points up one of the essential tasks of parenting, identifying in their children what seems their most obvious talent.
It doesn’t take a whole lot. All the parent has to do is pay attention to their child as he or she unfolds.
The child may not know they have a talent. It takes an observant parent or interested adult to point it out. In doing so they validate it.
Not long ago, another person I know commented on one of her children’s career choice. She added that she thought he’d do well because he was strong in math. In this instance, that critical interaction had taken place. The parent had conveyed to the child, ‘You have that. I see it. It’s up to you to do what you wish with it, but it’s there for you.’
Of course, there are instances when the talent of the child is so clear that it’s apparent to all.
But those are the exceptions.
Having a sense that one has a center is critical in daily interactions.
There are lots of people in this world without a sense of purpose, drifting here and there, doing what they can to make ends meet, but not animated by a focus in life.
Those are grounds for apathy, resentment and envy.
Without a focus in life managing envy becomes harder to do and managing envy in life is a fundamental task.
With a sense that one has a center, one is more tolerant of imperfections, our own and that of others. It leads to patience and kindness.
When two people are attracted to each other, one may have a center and the other not.
But centeredness cannot just be transferred, it is acquired by each individual.
What a centered lover in a relationship with a not centered partner can do, is say, ‘this is what I perceive your gifts to be.’ And it’s up to the person to accept the feedback, work with it or not.
But it is important to do so, for, in a couple, the non centered party will tend to suffer the most when a breakup occurs.
And now to politics.
Are there politicians more centered than others? Of course.
Compare Trump and Biden.
Since I don’t know them personally I can only judge them by their actions.
Trump is not a centered person whereas Biden is.
Why is Trump not a centered person? Because he cannot manage his envy.
From this distant point, I ask, is Putin a centered man?
He can’t be. A man so committed to depriving others of their freedom cannot be a centered man.
His actions are motivated by envy.
That is a central driving force in his invasion of Ukraine.
Putin has not been able to lead Russia’s transformation into a first rate nation even though the country clearly has such capability.
A free Ukraine would stand as a model for Russians to emulate, like West Germany was to East Germany after WWII, and the yearnings for freedom that would flourish from such contrast, would lead to the further fragmentation of what we today call Russia.
Putin could not handle that.

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Xi Speaks His Thoughts

He’s sitting at his desk in his office in Beijing.
He’s going through reports of his subordinates’ performance. Some are as loyal as he wants them to be, some not so much. The latter are put on the heap for reassignment, i.e. demotion.

News of Nancy Pelosi’s (Speaker of the US House of Representatives) plane arriving in Taiwan flashes on a large screen on a wall across.
He smiles.
‘Beautiful.’
He pauses as he takes in the landing of the plane, the sight of the welcoming committee waiting on the tarmac.
‘The more Americans challenge me on Taiwan, the more I can keep my people furious about their interfering with our sovereignty and the more they will accept the restrictions I impose on their freedoms.
Freedom should be reserved for the leadership, the very accomplished and faithful to the ideas of the party.
Freedom in the hands of regular people leads to chaos, like in the West, where freedom got Trump to be elected. And where they may elect him again.’
He laughs.
‘But what really gets my people to tolerate the harshest of restrictions on their liberties is the promise that one day soon, we will make our move for world dominance. And we’ll have Americans queuing up to learn Mandarin. Won’t that be a beautiful sight?
I can’t wait.’

A voice through a speaker on his desk interrupts.

Speaker phone – Chairman, the cyberattack committee wanted to go ahead with targeting the list of American and English companies they sent you this morning. Have you had a chance to go through it?
‘I have. Leave company D out for now but proceed with the rest. We need their technology.’
Speaker phone – Indeed, Mr Chairman.
‘Thank you.’

He grows silent, a hint of worry on his furrowed brow.

‘That drone attack that killed the Al Qaeda leader in the center of Kabul has got me worried.
I don’t think the Americans would ever try that on me. We would fire missiles immediately on them… but so would they on us. In the confusion, would Russians jump in, too?’

He returns to his papers, assessing the loyalty of his subordinates.

He pauses again.

‘Western businesses have been very good for us… and our forcing the transfer of technology has been essential to what we have become in so short a time.
But they are growing more distrustful. Which is why we’re trying to extend our influence over other nations… but the idea of freedom keeps coming up. It’s hard to squash it, snuff it out, like we’re doing here in China. Maybe the Chinese are more pliant… more willing to tolerate structure… and surrender their personal dreams in the interest of the nation.
That is what we’re banking on to build the new Chinese Empire. The pliant quality of Chinese citizens, willing to work hard for the good of the party and the nation, and willing to surrender their personal ambitions.
In the meantime, I get to extend my rule… until I die… like Mao did.
Oh, to die in power… what a wonderful idea. The whole nation grieving for me.
The thought of it brings tears to my eyes.’

He dabs his moistened eyes.

‘And now this war in Ukraine. When will it end? Putin acts like he’s going to win… but it’s starting to look like he’s not. The West has got bolder… now committing to sending in fighter jets. And the Russian military may want a change in leadership… which may align with us or not.
New leadership aligning with the West would be disastrous for us… which is an argument to assist Russia win the war… but if I do… western markets may close off to us. They’ve warned us, Biden has.
Anyway, we’ve bought enough Russian oil.
Putin should be bolder… send in a team to kidnap Zelensky… take him to Moscow and try him for crimes against humanity.
I fear he’s running out of time. He may ask us for more drones, to attack Zelensky in Kyiv, like the Americans did in Kabul… but if one of our drones hit Zelensky… that would be a problem.’

He closes his eyes for a moment.

‘But I don’t trust Putin. Sooner or later, he’ll remind me that he has more nuclear weapons than I have… I know that’s coming. But what I admire in him is how he’s domesticated his people to do as he pleases. I should learn from him. And how he persuaded Donald Trump that he had nothing to do with interfering in America’s elections. That was beautiful to see.’

He returns to his paperwork, sorting out the most loyal from the less loyal.

Oscarvaldes.medium.com, anchor.fm, apple and google podcasts

Biden’s Age

There are those who criticize him just because of his age. Those who do are envious of the man.
For there he is, at 79, leading our nation and doing it well.
The skeptics think he won’t last, that he is on the verge of falling apart any moment.
But he keeps proving them wrong.
Talk has begun about whether he should run again when his term is up. Born on Nov 20 1942, he would be 82 if he were to start a second term. Is that too old to be president?
Why not wait for Biden, himself, to tell us?
We all age differently, and given his stellar performance, he’s earned the right to tell us whether he feels up to running again.
Biden should be judged on his record, not on his age.
A man in his position is being scrutinized constantly.
We should trust that his team, all those around him, including Jill Biden, would be the first to notice instances of dysfunction that would affect his judgment.
Would that team, in the interest of preserving their jobs, be inclined to cover up signs of dysfunction? It’s possible but I don’t think likely.
There are two reasons for that: One, that the team is aware of the responsibility to the nation and two, with the public exposure presidents have, any deficit would be hard to hide.
Biden is a little over a year and a half into his term. Who’s to say that he won’t become more and more effective as time goes on, with all of us benefitting?
He has earned the respect of world leaders for his admirable leadership of the western alliance in confronting Putin.
That ordeal is far from over and I don’t doubt that, if he remains in good health, he will continue to deal effectively with whatever comes his way.
If we trust his integrity, as I do, why wouldn’t he, or his wife, be the first to tell us, ‘I don’t think I’m up for the job anymore. Thank you for the privilege of leading our nation, but I now must let another person take over.’
Joe Biden would do that. You either believe it or not. I do.
As a nation we stand to gain a great deal by trusting that some men have the maturity and wisdom to know their limitations. We are watching, of course, as we should.
The more we see of Biden governing, the more glaring the difference with his predecessor.
Which is why I think that, as sanity returns to the Republican party, the more remote becomes the possibility that Trump will be nominated again. And Biden would more than stand his ground against any other Republican candidate, man or woman, young or old.
Age should not keep us from having Biden run again. Our gauge should be his performance.
On that count, he is paving the way for his reelection.
In any event, should he choose not to run, for whatever reason, the party has plenty talent ready to step up.

Oscarvaldes.medium.com, anchor.fm, apple and google podcasts.

Mr Biden, Sell Us the War!

Photo by Sima Ghaffarzadeh on Pexels.com

Sell the war to the American public. It is a remarkable achievement, one that we should all be proud of. Sell us the war!
You have been key in rallying the western alliance. You have motivated, encouraged and persuaded the fence sitters. To you belongs a great deal of the credit for where Ukraine now stands.
Do not underestimate this triumph.
I recall you getting lots of flak for pulling out of Afghanistan. But if you hadn’t done so your focus would have been divided and your resolve diminished.
There has not been a moment like this in our recent history.
This is a far greater achievement than the first Gulf War in 1990 (Bush the elder) and the war in Bosnia in 1995 (Clinton).
This war has been a major determinant of inflation but our economy has slowed enough that Jerome Powell in the Federal Reserve kept the latest rise in interest rates to .75 bps. The markets have responded positively.
Gas prices may remain high while Putin continues to squeeze Europe by reducing gas supplies but the western alliance has held strong in spite of such pressures.
Trust that Americans will understand the importance of backing Ukraine.
The recent choice of providing them with warplanes is hugely important. Now it is becoming clearer that Putin can and must be driven back.
Your political courage in resisting the Russian offensive deserves full acknowledgment.
Had Trump been reelected, Putin would’ve had no problem annexing Ukraine.
Why, Putin would have been a regular guest at Mar-a-Lago and Trump would have been invited to the installation of Russia’s new puppet regime in Kyiv.
But the freedom of a courageous people would have been forgotten.
Sell us the importance of the war so we can avoid losses in the House and Senate this November.
With the Supreme court’s overturning the federal mandate protecting women’s right to an abortion, a significant percentage of women will show up at the ballot box to express their displeasure.
Meanwhile, the hearings on the January 6th attack on the Capitol make obvious the tyrannical intent of Mr Trump and should be a source of embarrassment to most who voted for him.
Beware of the polls suggesting you are unpopular. There are groups of people who will not see the evidence even when put in front of them, but they will not be consequential when it matters.
This first year and a half of your tenure has been remarkable. Covid is retreating and even Joe Manchin chose to turn around and back your bill.
Your recent performance in Saudi Arabia was excellent. You did not come back with a tangible concession but you stuck to your guns and did not flinch from restating your belief that the prince was responsible for Jamal Khashoggi’s death.
Sell us the war, Mr President. It is an achievement that is transforming Europe and the West and all Americans should own it.

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

Finally, the Warplanes

It was with much relief that I read the news yesterday that the West had decided to finally send warplanes to Ukraine. It has been a long wait.
And it will be a turning point in the war.
America is setting up to train Ukrainian pilots to operate F-15 or F-16 fighter jets. And while it will take some months for the aircraft to be put to use, the decision has all the markings of a game changing choice.
The underlying thinking is what I find most relevant. And that is the willingness to confront Putin. To not be cowed by his threats of using nuclear weapons.
For the longest, the West had hesitated to provide much needed warplanes fearing a nuclear escalation would follow. But no more.
The battle for Ukraine has become a defining moment for the West.
Not only is NATO in the process of expanding its membership (Finland and Sweden) as a result of Russia’s invasion, but a new resolve has been created.
Putin may boast that he has got around some of the sanctions imposed on him and may be dreaming of the pain he can still inflict by restricting gas supplies to Europe come winter, but it has become evident that his choice of massacring Ukrainians was a disaster.
Ukrainians’ blood and endless sacrifices, Zelensky’s steady and inspiring leadership, both have been critical in the new conviction that Russia can be defeated and pushed back to their own border.
All the nations that have banded together to oppose Putin and aid Ukrainians, deserve great credit for such courageous stance.
As an American, I thank president Biden for his strong leadership and commitment to uniting the West.
Inflation was an inevitable consequence of the war effort, and yet there are signs that this, too, will be manageable and the West will endure and thrive.
By contrast, Putin’s fate is sealed. He will forever be no more than a small man with grandiose ambitions who chose to ravage a neighbor nation.
History will not forgive him.
It will be up to Russians to depose him and I have no doubt they will.
He stands in the way of their political and economic development. Stands in the way of their cultural and technological growth. Whereas this was evident well before the war, the war has made it blatantly clear.
Russia cannot realize its possibilities with a man like Putin as their leader.
It is hard to say how Putin will be removed from office but I have no doubt that forward thinking Russians have given the matter serious thought.
I predict that Vladimir Putin will fall soon, perhaps even before the end of the year.
By contrast, Volodymyr Zelensky’s star will continue to rise, as will his commitment to rebuilding Ukraine into a first rate nation, a shining example of what political and moral courage are able to create.

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

9/20/22 Note: I wrote this article based on information that had appeared in the NY Times or the WSJ the day before (7/26/22). Yesterday, in the WSJ, and again today, I read that the US has no immediate plans to send war planes (F-15s of F-16s) to Ukraine. Something changed. Perhaps it is the concern that Putin will see it as an intolerable escalation on the part of the West. Thank you.

To Be Russian Today

The spotlight is on Russians.
Why did they allow a man like Putin to gather so much personal power?
Why did Russians give up their own power, giving it instead to Putin to do as he wishes?
Because they did, Putin went on unchecked, dreaming of recreating the Soviet Union.
And Ukraine has been ravaged with devastating brutality.
Russian foes of Putin’s rule have existed all along. Some have died, others are in prison, like Alexei Navalny.
A nation of great vitality, of considerable talent and inventiveness, has succumbed to a vulgar leader, a small man with dreams of ruling the world.
But Putin is not Russia.
And the rest of us need to be very clear about that.
To be Russian today is to admit that, as a people, they failed to summon the political courage needed to stop Putin’s rise to power.
To be Russian today is to admit that political courage is a priceless quality, and that without it freedom is not possible.
To be Russian today is to remind the world that without such courage life is diminished, and men like Putin will use the opportunity for their own aggrandizement.
To be Russian today is to admit that there is a critical time to dissent, and that means confronting the fear of reprisals.
To be Russian today is to remind us all that such fear exists in every one of us and that it must be confronted.
The fate of humanity depends on many things: hard work, inventiveness, compassion and the acknowledgment that every single one of us has something to contribute.
But without political courage, without the power to dissent, vulgar men will seek to dominate others by brute force.
Without political courage, all of humanity’s achievements can be destroyed.
The devastation in Ukraine today is happening because all of us, not just Russians, failed to object to the rise of a tyrant.
To be Russian today is to remind us that we’re all vulnerable to succumb to fear, and that standing up to it is a priceless quality upon which the survival of the planet depends.
The massacre in Ukraine, like the subjugation of any people anywhere, is a call to the rest of us to affirm our humanity and give assistance to all who are being forced to be silent.
Here in America, the forces of darkness elevated Trump, and he responded by trying to overturn his electoral defeat.
So we, too, like Russians, have failed to exercise our political courage.
The power to dissent is the road to freedom. And freedom the only path to the realization of humanity’s endless possibilities.
To be Russian today is to be anyone of us.

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

The Lesson from Britain

The combative Boris Johnson, under much pressure from his party and fellow countrymen, decided to surrender his post while remaining as a caretaker until a new prime minister is chosen, which I read could take months.
I was sad to hear the news.
His flaws had persuaded electors to move on, yet to many, myself included, he had endeared himself by his full and unrelenting support for the Ukrainian cause.
Mr Zelensky immediately expressed his regret at losing such staunch supporter.
But there is the larger lesson here for the rest of the world and for Russia and China in particular.
In Britain, bastion of democracy, proud heir to the great tradition started by Athenians, when you cease to approve of a leader you can make it clear and the person steps down.
Not so in Russia or in China. Or in Myanmar and many other countries that merely pose as democracies.
Even here in the US, on January 6th this year, a president obsessed with retaining power, posed a threat to the peaceful transition of power.
Not so in Britain.
England shines in this moment as it affirms the primacy of the will of the people.
In a prison cell somewhere in Russia, Alexei Navalny, the most vocal critic of Putin’s regime, will probably remain incarcerated on false charges, as long as Putin is alive. He must be thinking of how long the road ahead for the country he so loves to one day mature politically and ascend to democracy. He may not live to see it.
Lies in Russia have long become the rule. And because of it, Putin does as he wishes.
Alexei Navalny criticizes his regime, then he goes to prison.
To be out of prison in Russia means you have renounced your right to your own opinions.
To walk the streets of any Russian city means you have willingly surrendered your right to publicly express how your country should be run. Instead, you have agreed to have Vladimir Putin decide for you.
Does the great Vladimir want to order the destruction of a neighboring country, with which there are long standing ties, because they are now daring to choose freedom? Then let him do it. The great Vladimir knows what’s best for me.
And the man or the woman choosing to entertain such thoughts will be allowed to continue on their walk.
But it will be the walk of a diminished person.
Lying and distortion of reality is Putin’s favorite tool. And he will keep working it. Until one day, something will spark in the hearts and minds of Russians who will ask themselves, why can’t we have at least moments like the English do? Why can’t we breathe politically?
Political lying is a mighty tool, and it takes many people willing to join in the farce to make it happen. Even from distant countries.
The other day, while reading the WSJ on the net, an ad emerged that kept flashing across the screen. It was a statement from a former vice premier of Thailand. In it, the regally dressed man told of how great a leader China’s Xi Jinping is. I don’t remember the details, but at the end it said something like, ‘And what is most impressive (about Xi) is the purity of his spirit.’
?????
A day or two before, in the NYT or WSJ or both, the heads of the top intelligence services in England and America made the public statement that the rate of cyberattacks by China on the West, to steal technological information, was steadily increasing (and going on for years).
Did the vice premier in the advertisement know that?
Of course he did.
But in Russia and China the citizen doesn’t get a chance to object to a leader’s lies.
And so people keep walking along, their heads a little lower every day.
In England, you get thrown out of office. And the English, in spite of all their chaos and mistakes, can say to the world, ‘our voices must be heard, and flawed as they may sometimes be, they are priceless.’
Thank you, Britain.

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

Responses to WSJ articles

In the Opinion section, yesterday, 7/19/22.

Article ‘Biden’s Saudi Arabia visit was worse than an embarrassment.’
My response –
‘Glad Mr Biden stuck to his guns. No bowing to the prince. Fist bump was good enough. And the restating that he thought MBS was responsible for Jamal Khashoggi’s death, a mark of political courage. Schiff didn’t like the president’s performance? Too bad. Don’t think Biden is worried.
The Saudis have to grow up. Take responsibility for their actions.
Like Russia and China better than the West? Go for it. can’t wait for the photo showing MBS embracing the exemplary human being that Putin is. Or hugging the ‘historical figure’ the Communists have made of Xi Jinping. Close my eyes and I can see them rising towards the heavens. Hand in hand.
As to Iran, they’re a problem but not crazy. Not yet. They’re likely to get a good deal of money for signing on again and give Israel more time to prepare for that moment when they finally build it. Our surveillance and that of the Israelis will detect if they choose to go crazy and build the bomb. We’ll be ready. It won’t be pretty.’

Theocracies of any kind are a form of arrested political development. Whatever your belief in a supreme deity, it is man who must learn to govern his affairs.
Theocrats thwart the development of the individual. They do it, not in the interest of furthering mankind but out of selfish reasons. Instructing their subjects on what to do and not, while they sweeten their own existences.

Article ‘Some risks are worth taking for Ukraine’
My response –
‘Why let Putin decide what is escalatory? Abiding by his terms is putting him on the driver’s seat. There are over three times more Russians than Ukrainians. Ukraine will run out of soldiers before Russia does. For the West to not firmly push for victory reveals timidity on our part. I am with those who have been advocating for sending planes to the Ukrainians. The idea that Russia will control more territory at the end of this conflict than it did before the start must not be acceptable. So let it be us to escalate instead. There will be no nuclear war because Putin doesn’t want to be burnt to a crisp and China will be the first to say, ‘Don’t do it because the West will nuke us too and we don’t want to see Xi roasting’

Whereas I feel Mr Biden has done an exemplary job in uniting the West, I believe there is room for more push. Leaders like France’s Macron have muddied the waters when he talks of not humiliating Russia. Oh so very mindful of Putin’s feelings, but meanwhile, thousands and thousands of Ukrainians keep dying and their infrastructure is ravaged.

We need to challenge Putin. Ukraine is ready to go on the offensive.

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