There seems to be a tremendous amount of optimism that the West will meaningfully step up and help Ukraine if Moscow escalates its war of aggression in the coming months as many fear it will.
I cannot even begin to imagine how such unshakeable faith in western support can exist.
Not one - NOT ONE - country has even formally and officially recognized that Russia is the aggressor state waging unlawful interstate war against Ukraine. Russia militarily invaded in *2014*.
Without this CRITICAL recognition of FACT, there are so many limits on help. And more critically, if no one can even recognize that Russia is the aggressor state, how can we expect any WILLINGNESS to pursue appropriate remedies and courses of action?
We haven’t seen sufficiently meaningful support for Ukraine to date. We have seen many measures to have good relations with Moscow, and to simply “end the conflict” with no attempts to bring about a FAIR, JUST, and ENDURABLE peace for Ukraine.
What we have seen a great deal of as well is stern words for Ukraine, words of warning not to “escalate tensions” or “provoke Russia” EVERY SINGLE TIME Moscow demonstrably escalates its war. And deals which benefit Russia.
Again - where’s this new optimism coming from?
To be brutally honest, if I were sitting in the Kremlin, I would look at the “rah, rah - we’ll support Ukraine!” as little more than an extension of “deep concern”. Just empty rhetoric.
This doesn’t mean I believe Ukraine will be totally and utterly abandoned. But this new line of “Moscow will be making a big mistake - the West led by USA will save the day!!” seems a lot like faith in unicorns, and based not in reality, but on a lot of myth and fantasy.
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One thing most people probably aren’t aware of is how much effort Moscow puts into controlling the narratives of events in the world. The Kremlin doesn’t just buy influence in academia, think tanks, and the media - it bullies and intimidates. With varying degrees of success.
If Moscow can’t buy a publisher, editor, or journalist, it tries to force them to print Kremlin favourable narratives (often including flat out lies) or to force them to NOT print the truth (lies of omission).
Being a plain old bully is often effective enough.
But there are certainly some editors and publishers (not that many - but they do exist) who don’t succumb, dealing with the bullying superbly, giving it back as forcefully as they get it.
Imagine someone invaded your country, rounded up ALL the academics, scientists, artists, musicians, religious leaders, and all political and ideological opponents, and killed them point blank in mass purges.
Imagine the invasion forces instruct you at gunpoint that you may no longer speak your national language, practice your culture, or anything related to your national identity. They burn books and tear down public signage, quickly changing the names of streets and cities.
Imagine that the occupier then killed millions in other “smaller”genocides to ensure compliance with the national and ethnic destruction. Millions killed in a span of a year to ensure the message that any fight for your national identity will be your demise.
I’m fed up with this shit. It isn’t just “semantics”. If you do not use ACCURATE language about Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, don’t expect anyone else to either. And that means dramatic limits on what Ukraine’s legal recourse is.
If you live in occupied Donbas & felt all your life that you're Russian, belong to Russia, want to join RU, it's a mistake to continue living in Donbas. Donbas will never be RU. For the future of your kids and grandkids, you should seek your place in Russia.
- President Zelensky
Zelensky makes an absolutely uncharacteristic statement which is a massive departure from his stated objective and policy of "winning hearts and minds" of Ukrainians in Russia-occupied Donbas, Ukraine.
Even though many would agree with the general sentiment, not only it is at odds with Zelensky's previous position, it is a dangerous - and possibly harmful - way for the president of Ukraine to address residents of Russia-occupied Ukraine.
I recently expressed concern about how many double dose vaccinated people were going back to pre-Covid normal, and were partying it up too much. I got serious shit from a lot of people. Several of the “we need a break from these measures and deserve to relax now” got COVID.
I take zero pleasure in that fact. I share it because they are the same people who, (as I expected) now that they got infected after vaccination, are warning people to “take delay seriously” and “keep wearing a mask even if fully vaxxed” because they didn’t and got sick.
We shouldn’t have to go through this insanity. We need to be adequately informed about what Covid is, how it spreads, what vaccines do, and why we still need the added layer of preventative safety measures like masks for now.
I don’t want anyone to become infected with this horrible virus
But I would certainly prefer staunch anti-vaxxers who will not even have a civil convo be the ones to fall ill over a child who got sick because our governments have failed us.
I’ve lost family to COVID. Death came far too soon. Family & friends have suffered COVID induced stroke, heart attack, and a plethora of other horrible ailments. Some with “very mild” almost asymptomatic cases are experiencing the very real hell of #LongCovid. It’s awful.
My son was born at the outset of the pandemic. Our lives are full of challenges because of this pandemic. I know how hard it is for many. But I can guarantee that it will NOT get better on the course many places are taking. Just look at Florida. The numbers are STAGGERING.