Weekly Comments Archive
Archived Issue
Sunday, February 27, 2022
ISSUE #1101
Weekly Comments:  Putin’s War on Ukraine: Plenty of Irony

Yes, it is Putin’s War. Events on the ground in Ukraine are changing by the minute so a few of the points below may be outdated by the time you read it.

There are several ironies about the Putin war on Ukraine.

For almost a year, Putin built up his military presence on Ukraine’s border. Meanwhile, our military leaders were “booting out soldiers without Covid vaccinations,” planning for “demographically diverse leadership”, allowing woke “gender pronouns in email signatures” and designing uniforms for “non-binary service members” and “pregnant airmen.”

The actor/comedian who is President of Ukraine stated boldly, “I’m staying and fighting,” while our President, a self-proclaimed experienced master of dealing with Putin, said, “I’m going to my Delaware beach house for the weekend.”

Ukraine fights to hold back Putin’s invasion a day at a time. President Biden replied about the effect of sanctions on Putin, “I’ll check back in a month.”

Biden said his Administration will use “every tool at its disposal to protect Americans from rising prices at the gas pump.” It’s ironic he didn’t mention the best tools: encourage drilling more wells, installing more pipelines and maximizing production of our oil and natural gas to also supply Europe.

A young mother in Ukraine, holding her baby, reports tearfully on television about the war around her. Here in the US, television host Joy Behar of The View complains, “I’ve been wanting to go to Italy for four years, and now this.”

European countries, especially Germany and France, pressured us in 2015 to join the Paris Climate Change Agreement to reduce fossil fuel production, which we did (with a 4-yr interruption under Trump). The irony is, until yesterday Germany was balking at aggressive actions against Putin because they depend on Putin for heat, transportation and electricity from… FOSSIL FUELS.

Putin is the cause of this ongoing disaster but is the main beneficiary because he’ll make Billions more from higher priced oil and gas exports, including oil he is selling to us.

John Kerry is really mad at Putin for invading Ukraine with tanks, aircraft, missiles, and warships because they aren’t powered with renewable energy, thereby setting a terrible example for the rest of the world. “The northern two-thirds of Russia is frozen tundra. Thawing puts the people of Russia at risk.” Putin might respond, “If it thaws, we can grow more wheat. That’s less risk of starvation.” See, ironically, Russia might benefit from global warming.

It is NOT ironic that German leaders changed their minds about helping Ukraine. The people of Germany rose up, recalling how Hitler’s Nazis ransacked and stole from Ukraine during WWII. They probably mentioned that Ukraine President Zelensky is Jewish.

It is NOT ironic that Ukraine’s military and civilians are fighting fiercely for their country. There are many examples of bravery and sacrifice reminiscent of Patrick Henry, “Give me liberty or give me death.” Or General McAuliffe’s reply to the German demand to surrender, “Nuts!”

As I’m finishing this, it’s about daybreak Monday in Ukraine. Let’s pray for a peaceful solution.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

(Dateline: ODESA) “Who hasn’t pictured Odesa on the Black Sea? Russia and Turkey have been fighting over this for a thousand years.” DT #2520, Sept. 2, 1934

“People don’t change under Governments; the Governments change, but the people remain the same.” There’s Not a Bathing Suit in Russia, 1926

 

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