"But how anybody — how anybody in this country, which loves freedom — can side with Vladimir Putin — which is an oppressor, a dictator, he kills people, he imprisons his political opponents, he has been an adversary of America at every chance he's had — it's unthinkable to me. It's almost treasonous.
And it just makes me ill to see some of these people do that."
Utah GOP Senator Mitt Romney, February 27th.
The signs of autocracy are everywhere, not just in Russia, but here in the United States. Putin’s war is just a reminder of what happens when authoritarian trends are not nipped in the bud. From book and classroom censorship to voter exclusion to enhance a racial and ethnic purity to laudatory support of brutal dictators hell-bent on territorial expansionism regardless of the human toll. Politicians willing to sacrifice democratic principles, even their oaths of office, to erase “one person, one vote” to enhance their political careers at the expense of the republic itself. As the world condemns Vladimir Putin as the rogue tyrant he unequivocally is, witnessing a former president and too many of his lock-step followers compliment the “genius” and “shrewdness” of a brutal and mendacious dictator engaged in an unlawful siege of democratic neighbor is terrifying.
As I read the comments of so many online articles on Putin’s war, I see so many right-wing Trumpist condemnations of Joe Biden as a greater danger than Putin, I fear for our future and those who cannot live within a bona fide democracy. It should be a time of unifying the United States against a clearly evil foe. Nevertheless, as noted above, there is growing GOP support for our efforts to contain Russia’s assault. Trump’s grip on the Party just took a body slam, but there are still supporters of a new American order still clinging to this failed ex-president.
I see the folk-hero status attaching to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, staying in the middle of his national capital to lead military resistance, and a rapidly growing international belief that Putin is mentally unstable, egomaniacal of historic proportions, a feeling that has sent shudders everywhere as he directly threatened NATO under the guise of putting his nuclear “deterrent” forces on full alert. Did Putin forget about Mutually Assured Destruction? Or has insanity eclipsed that clear and obvious risk? Isn’t there an operative treaty to prevent this?
According to the US Department of State website, “The [renewed] Treaty between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, also known as the New START Treaty, enhances U.S. national security by placing verifiable limits on all Russian deployed intercontinental-range nuclear weapons. [On February 5, 2011, the] United States and the Russian Federation have agreed to extend the treaty through February 4, 2026.” Putin is threatening to withdraw from this accord, which would begin a massive renewed nuclear arms race. Does unexpected Ukraine defensive resistance increase the likelihood of nuclear war? Should Russia be expelled from the UN Security Council?
We have woefully under-supplied Ukraine with the necessary weapons to support a viable defense against Putin’s military. How did that happen? Remember the recorded July 25, 2019 telephone conversation between then-President Donald Trump and Zelensky? The one where Zelensky requested more sophisticated weapons from the US to deter Putin? If you recall, there was a less than subtle suggestion that such weapons would be provided only if Zelensky motivated a deep official Ukrainian dive to find criminal activity by Joe Biden and his son in Ukraine. When that did not happen, Trump stopped that weapons shipment. Putin was Trump’s friend, a reality that continues into the present day.
You can see the ongoing discomfort in the eyes of Putin’s cabinet and parliament. And you can also be sure that China and her leadership are beginning to realize the risks of supporting the Russian autocrat: unwilling to join Russia’s UN Security Council’s veto of a condemnation of the unprovoked Russian invasion of an autonomous region. Ukraine: a people and a country with particular disdain (if not pure, seething hatred) of Russian domination. You can feel the rage rising in NATO, now leading the charge against Russia’s central bank, even to the point of severing access to the SWIFT financial messaging transaction system as much as feasible at this time. Even Germany, the NATO country most at risk of losing necessary natural gas to fend off a freezing winter, has made an unprecedented commitment to supply massive weapons to Ukraine. The US Congress will soon be considering a massive upgrade in American military and humanitarian aid to Kyiv.
That thousands of protestors all over Russia, facing arrest and very long prison terms, are still taking to the streets, tells you that Putin’s hold on Russia, particularly among the younger generations, is slipping away. As of this writing, more than 6,000 Russian protestors have been arrested, but thousands continue to express their disenchantment with Putin’s war. Repression can work only so much for so long. Given the level of anti-Russian demonstrations the world over, Putin is hardly succeeding in his efforts.
Ordinary Russians – that middle class – are now experiencing a big personal hit, one that should render Vladimir Putin ever so much less an iconic idol. According to the February 28th BBC.com, “Russia has more than doubled its interest rate to 20% in a bid to halt a slump in the value of its currency… The Bank of Russia raised the rate from 9.5% after the rouble sank 30% after new Western sanctions. The currency then eased back to stand 20% down.
“The collapse in value erodes the currency's buying power and could wipe out the savings of ordinary Russians… Amid pictures at the weekend of queues at cash machines, Russia said it had the resources to ride out sanctions.” Trading on the Russian stock market, prices having plunged, is now suspended. Even neutral “banking secrecy pledged” Switzerland has frozen Russian assets! Add to these horribles, Russian forces on the ground in Ukraine are beginning to realize how much Russia is despised, how willing Ukrainians at every level are ready to fight – with Molotov cocktails and small arms – and even die rather than let Russia take over their cherished lands. With satellite images showing three quarters of the staged Russian troops (including those in Belarus) now deployed, Russia is amping up its attack, but this may be more costly to Russia than the Afghanistan debacle. Hundreds of thousands of refugees have also fled across the Polish border; misery and shortages abound.
Putin now has reason to look over his shoulder at his own entourage. His actions were insufficiently planned, the battle underestimated, his unpopularity growing and the consequences to all of Russia hardly appreciated. Clearly, his entourage will be particularly incented to act should Putin elect even to consider a nuclear attack. Putin must be aware that there is a very real possibility of a traditional “Russian solution” to a failing and flailing autocrat: an “unfortunate accident” or an accelerated retirement based on some form of medical cause. Even global autocrats are wincing at the potential inspiration of local uprisings against their own regimes that the Ukraine debacle has evoked.
Not only does the planet face accelerating inflation, inevitable in these sanction/wartime circumstances, but we are all at risk of the consequences of a mentally unstable, humiliated and angry autocrat with too many weapons – including one of the biggest nuclear arsenals on earth. Imagine what might happen if a rogue Russian pilot decides on his own to fly his bomber or fighter directly across the border to take on NATO… and impress his boss. Not a good outcome. The February 28th Ukraine/Belarus border meeting between Moscow and Kyiv was a predictable bust. The US has ordered 12 officials at Russia UN mission to leave, we and can expect a reciprocal Russian response against us. Will the UN Security Council push of the issue to the General Assembly make a difference to Mr. Putin? Don’t hold your breath. Putin is living in a parallel universe of horrific denial.
I’m Peter Dekom, Mr. Putin miscalculated, bit off more than he can chew, but every human being on earth is now at risk as a result of his distorted and insane actions.
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