Month: March 2022

Joe Biden has wanted to be president for a long time. 32 years is a long time. You don’t want to become president and not be consequential, not make a difference, not do something great.

So now Joe Biden is president, and so far, he has not fulfilled his ambition. Whether he is limited by cognitive decline, the ineptitude of his advisors, or the siren song of the progressive left, one can argue that his first year as president has been worse than inconsequential.

But now, as fate would have it, Joe Biden has the opportunity of a presidential lifetime, a God-given defining moment. If Joe Biden can meet this moment, he can transcend the negativity and harsh disrespect that is being used to weaken his presidency, and in the process provide his political party with a rallying cry that could save the mid-term elections for the Democrats.

President Biden has stated that the world is at an inflection point – whether democracy and individual freedom can coexist with, or even triumph over, autocracy and subservience.

An autocratic society can exist only by controlling its people, whereas a free society can exist only by controlling its government.

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has brought this ideological conflict into sharp focus. It demonstrates that a free society can be a threat to an autocratic society just as much as an autocratic society can be a threat to a free society.

By extension, freedom anywhere threatens autocracy everywhere.

As the leader of the free world, President Biden needs to rise to the occasion and champion freedom and democracy as if our very lives depend upon it.

“What does it mean to be free? To live our lives as we want, to follow the god that we wish, to be able to think and dream and express great thoughts without fear, to risk failure to achieve great goals, to rise in the morning knowing that anything is possible, to retire in the evening knowing that the next day will bring the same.

What does it mean to be free? To live our lives without the tyranny of oppression by either government or places of work and worship, to know that an honest day’s work will bring the bounty of a dignified life, that no man or woman will be subjugated by another, that everyone will receive the blessings of self-determination.

What does it mean to be free? To live our lives knowing that frailty and infirmity and misfortune will visit us all, and that we will be able to rely on the generosity of our friends and neighbors and fellow citizens to provide us with comfort and security when we are unable to provide these things for ourselves.

What does it mean to be free? To live our lives prepared to defend our freedom at whatever the cost, to reject rule by dictator or ruling class, to have no patience for corruption or for legal theft of property and wealth and achievement.

What does it mean to be free? To live our lives where our laws are fair and just for all, where opportunities exist for all in equal measure, where our accomplishments are based upon our merits, where the advantages of birth and family are tempered by generosity and compassion, where strength of character means more than wealth and status.

Those of us who are free benefit from those who came before us, those who had to fight to be free even at the sacrifice of their own lives. Freedom honors each one of us equally, standing in defiance of the belief that it is somehow God’s will that the strong shall dominate the weak.

And so, when freedom is threatened, whether by kings or dictators or despots or others who would force their dominion upon us, we must rise up together as one free people in defense of freedom, to confront the threat, to never surrender, to see the battle through to the end. For once freedom is lost, it is all the more difficult to regain.

So let the voice of freedom ring out loud and strong, from ocean to ocean, from mountain to mountain, from field to field – We who have been born free will fight to live free and will die to stay free.”

Or words to that effect.

Just as Abraham Lincoln had his “four score and seven years ago,” and Franklin D. Roosevelt had his “we have nothing to fear but fear itself,” and John F. Kennedy had his “ask not what your country can do for you,” Joe Biden needs to have a similar moment.

If he can find his moment, then Joe Biden will achieve his ambition.

Every day we hear stories about the magnificence of the Ukrainian resistance, the tragic suffering of the Ukrainian people, the horrifying destruction of Ukrainian cities and towns.

Every day we hear our loudest and most popular/respected/vilified talking heads give their opinions on the state of Putin’s physical and mental health, the inadequacies of the Russian military, the unprovoked nature of the ongoing Russian attack, and the horrors of war.

Every day we hear about the tragic deaths of civilians, the dwindling supplies of food, water, heat, and medicine, the use of vacuum bombs and cluster bombs in violation of the Geneva Convention, the possibilities of chemical and biological warfare and possible use of tactical nuclear weapons, the indiscriminate bombing of schools and hospitals and residential neighborhoods, on and on and on.

And always, there are these spoken or unspoken questions – what is Putin going to do next, and how can we avoid provoking him?

The number one concern of NATO seems to be to avoid escalation of the war and avoid any direct confrontation of Russia, even if that means the destruction of every Ukrainian city, the displacement of millions of Ukrainian refugees, and years of urban warfare.

NATO needs to be reminded that it exists specifically to confront Russian aggression. There would be no NATO if there was no threat of Russian aggression.

Plan A, which consists of economic sanctions, financial isolation, limited arms support to Ukraine, the hope of a negotiated settlement/surrender, and the refusal to sell any more Big Macs to the Russian people – this is a very cautious and measured response, not the very strong and principled response that is needed at this time.

Even if the Russian offensive never leads to a Russian victory, the unwillingness of the free world to confront a Hitler-like dictator until it is almost too late sends a clear message to other dictators and repressive governments – free societies are weak and indecisive and will not defend themselves or each other.

It is time for Plan B.

First, Ukraine must set forth its own terms of negotiated peace, to consist of the following:

• Immediate removal of all Russian military presence from Ukrainian lands, including Crimea and Donbas, including the removal of all Russian warships from Ukrainian seas.
• Payment from Russian gold reserves for the reconstruction of Ukrainian cities, towns, and infrastructure damaged/destroyed by the Russian military.
• Arrest and imprisonment of Vladimir Putin and all high-ranking members of his government pending trial in the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Second, NATO must provide full humanitarian support to the Ukrainian military so that it can effectively put an end to the ongoing destruction of Ukraine and the indiscriminate murder of Ukrainian civilians by the Russian military, to consist of the following:

• The gift of MIG-29 fighter aircraft and armaments from Poland to the Ukrainian air force.
• The gift of F-35 and F-22 fighter aircraft and armaments from the U.S. to the Ukrainian air force.
• The establishment of protected corridors to/from all areas of conflict in Ukraine to facilitate the delivery of food, water, medicine, and weapons, and to allow refugees to leave if they choose to do so.

Third, NATO must be more proactive in accepting new member countries who wish to be protected from Russian tyranny, and to be more understanding that not every government will be as democratic and free of corruption as it would like.

The type of aggression and the willingness to reject the sovereignty of nations as exemplified by Russia’s actions cannot be tolerated in today’s world. It is a malignant cancer that threatens world stability and self-determination. It must be stopped now.

The interdependency of all nations becomes more and more apparent as time passes. The fact that many people far removed from the Ukrainian conflict are likely to die from starvation because the conflict has disrupted Ukrainian wheat production is clear proof of this.

The 141 nations who condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine are 141 nations who understand that the sovereignty of nations is sacrosanct and are repulsed by Russia’s unprovoked aggression. These nations do not believe that the decision of nations formerly dominated by Russia to join NATO to protect themselves from future Russian tyranny in any way justifies the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The world overwhelmingly rejects Russia. What is missing now is a clear and profound statement from the UN Secretary-General that provides a vision for the future based upon global cooperation so that together we can address our shared earthly concerns, and how war between nations has no place in a civilized world.  

The stark brutality and inhumanity of Vladimir Putin stares the entire world in the face as Ukraine is being blown apart to satisfy his megalomaniacal ambition. He laughs at our inaction as he threatens us with nuclear war should we dare to interfere with his destruction of a sovereign state.

This is what the world has come down to – one man’s insanity that could result in death and suffering the world over at a level never before seen, the promise of untold nuclear destruction being used to blackmail and intimidate all who would dare oppose him.

Now the world sees what true imperialism and evil is really like, what all countries will be threatened with should such aggression be left unchecked. And the world thought that the U.S. had imperial ambitions?

Russian and Chinese aggression threatens to destabilize a geopolitical order that has allowed the entire world to enrich itself during an extended period of peace, and for what? Trade between countries and regions has flourished during Western guidance and oversight. How will the Russian and Chinese models of unbridled brutality and ruthless centralized control do anything but crush the human spirit?

Corruption exists in all systems of government, but Russia and China practice corruption on a massive scale. They speak of communistic ideals, but the reality is that it is only the ruling class that enjoys the fruits of everyone’s labor.

In the purest sense, capitalism is about rewarding people who are creators, innovators and risk-takers, socialism is about ensuring that every person has dignity and a basic standard of living, and communism is about ensuring that every person works together to create an efficient and organized society.

The shared danger for all forms of government is that they can be bastardized into dictatorships where a strong and ruthless leader or political party achieves total control and systematically eliminates any dissent through propaganda, the police, informants, and the military.

Russia and China have clearly strayed away from the socialistic and communistic ideals upon which they were founded. They have become dictatorships and use their power to systemically control their populations.

As we have seen in Ukraine, people would rather be free than controlled. In theory, freedom is possible within all types of governments. In practice, it seems that only in governments that embrace fair elections, term limits and a peaceful transition of power can truly be free.

It has been a difficult and painful lesson for the U.S. to learn that it is not for us to decide for other countries what form of government they should choose to have. Clearly Russia and China have yet to learn this lesson.

The time of the U.S. acting as the peacekeeper for the world and attempting to create democracies everywhere has come to an end. It is critical now that the U.S. concentrate on the more positive aspects of diplomacy and avoid involving itself too much in the affairs of other countries.

While it is acknowledged that American values as codified by the Bill of Rights and as defined by our democratic system of government represent our beliefs and are worthy of emulation, other countries have their own values and traditional forms of government. The U.S. must learn to accept these differences and withhold moral judgement.

In addition, the U.S. must learn to lead by example and not by coercion. This is made more difficult by the dark money interests that have corrupted our democracy, the thousands of innocent people our military forces have accidentally murdered as part of our peacekeeping missions, and the political and social unrest in our own society that has stagnated our own development as a nation.

If the U.S. continues to be unable to address its own problems and unwilling to acknowledge its own mistakes, it will be difficult for the U.S. to lead by example. Given our hyper partisanship, it is unlikely to see how this is going to be accomplished any time soon.

Even so, it is vitally important that the U.S. reaffirm all our allegiances to our allies and take all necessary actions to strengthen them on an economic and cultural basis.

The U.S. must address our relationships with all countries in the Americas, including Cuba and Venezuela. We need to be perceived to be a friend and a partner who helps and supports without being judgmental or manipulative. Live and let live should be our guiding principle. The Americas are our natural sphere of influence, and we need to concentrate our efforts there.

The U.S. must also learn to accept Islam in the same way that we have accepted the Hindu and Buddhist faiths within our country. We need to become more enlightened regarding other ways of life and points of view, and to do our best to repair the schism between Islam and this country.

With respect to Russia, for as long as Vladimir Putin is alive, the Russian people will suffer from oppression, a substandard quality of life, and the resentment and distrust of countless people of all nations around the world. When he is finally dead, history will judge Vladimir Putin harshly as a man who would be Tsar, a man who cared nothing for his own people, a terrible man obsessed with his own grievances and ambitions.

However, Vladimir Putin is still alive, and arguably the most dangerous man in the world. He is clearly a sociopath that suffers from paranoia, who is isolating himself even from his closest advisors, and all the while he remains in control of the world’s largest stockpile of nuclear weapons.

One can only hope that the unprovoked atrocities and war crimes in Ukraine will eventually disgust and repel the Russian military to such an extent that they will turn on Vladimir Putin and stage a military coup before Europe and the U.S. decide that they must intervene to stop the carnage.

Just as the Baltic countries, Poland, and Ukraine have flourished by developing closer ties to Western Europe, the Russian people and Russia itself would also flourish by renouncing its Imperial past and simply being a proud nation among many. This is what the world needs now.

If Russian aggression in Ukraine proves to be Vladimir Putin’s downfall, and Russia is no longer an ally of convenience for China, then it makes it more likely that the world can influence China to act in a more reasonable manner.

The world has clearly and emphatically renounced this unprovoked Russian aggression that was based upon a selective interpretation of historical boundaries and claims of past dominion that have no relevance to current geopolitical reality. Russia has been economically and socially isolated from the world community because of its actions.

It remains to be seen if the world would be willing to renounce a Chinese invasion of Taiwan in the same manner.

By all accounts, the Chinese Olympic games were full of excellent performances by many athletes, and the performance venues themselves received generally rave reviews.

But there was much more Olympic drama than usual. There were poignant performance failures, more evidence of performance enhancing drug-based cheating by the Russians, and dozens of foreign-born athletes of Chinese descent abandoning their countries of birth to represent China. The athletes themselves were subdued and intimidated by the oppressive Chinese system that kept them isolated and afraid to speak their minds.

Moreover, the entire Olympic games have played out as Russia has steadily amassed an overwhelming military force at the border of Ukraine, and as soon as the Olympic torch was ceremoniously passed to the Italians in preparation for the next Winter Olympics, the Chinese immediately pledged their support in principle for Russian aggression.

The spirit of the Olympics has been degraded by these Olympics, if not broken.

Although it is still likely that the Olympics scheduled for Paris in 2024, Milan and Cortina in 2026, and Los Angeles in 2028 will be held, it is no longer a certainty. The sports world, and the world in general, is entering into unsettled times.

These Olympics feel too much like a repeat of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, which was intended by the Germans to display the superiority of the white German race. Three years later, Germany invaded Poland and World War II began.

To a significant extent, the Chinese Olympics feels like a display of the supposed superiority of the Chinese totalitarian system and a rejection of the established world order that has allowed the entire world to prosper.

When both Russia and China exhibit nationalistic behavior that includes the stated willingness and intention to invade sovereign nations, how does the spirit of the Olympics survive?

When athletes become an extension of the State instead of an expression of love of sport, how does the spirit of the Olympics survive?

When the competition of sport becomes an extension of the competition of ways of life and thought, how does the spirit of the Olympics survive?