Thread by @JBelcourt73

So yesterday saw a great man exit the world stage. Mikhail Gorbachev died at 91. Reactions have been mixed with a bit of hostility and accusations that us "westerners" just don't know the truth. Maybe, but lets dive into this a little bit. First I said he was a great man

This is not to mean he was good, effective, or grandiose. Rather its a historical tool to describe someone who changed the course of history through his actions. Before he came to power in the USSR the US and Soviets had reached their absolute nadir of relations. Able Archer is

perhaps the most dangerous moment of the Cold War era even more so than the Cuban Missile Crisis because a paranoid cliché ruled the USSR. Yet within just a couple of years of coming to power he and Ronald Reagan had managed to turn the downward spiral into one that was generally

ascending and this would ultimately lead to the end of the Cold War. That reduction in the threat of thermonuclear war is in itself a great moment. Had he permitted the the most paranoid elements of the old guard to remain the guiding force he may well have gone down in history

as the monster who unleashed nuclear Armageddon. I think that is pretty self evident but lets move to something more germane to what Russia is doing today and why I think he deserves a second nomination as a great man of history. While he was in power he could have used the Red

Army in Poland and East Germany, demanded the Czechoslovakia not permit east-west travel etc. He had a massive army in the West that could have done it. He chose not to. Likewise when the Red Army went into the Baltics, he could have permitted the kind of crackdown the army

and Politburo wanted. Again it was a no. When push came to shove, he was not willing to unleash death and destruction on the captured and colonial peoples of the empire. Compare that to Lenin, Stalin or Putin... At roughly the same time that his life came to an end, a report

emerged that as many as 1 in 3 Mariupol residents has died since Feb 24. That kind of carnage would make Stalin giggle and quote himself about statistics. It obviously does not bother Putin at all except perhaps in how long it took. I don't think anyone though would assume

Gorbachev would be anything but horrified by it. In fact, via an intermediary he was apparently upset at the war though it is unlikely he knew the truth of the destruction given his age and poor health. He was a rare bird, empires rarely give up captive populations without a lot

dying. Look at how long Churchill and Britain resisted granting India and Pakistan their freedom. So while he may not have been a Cyrus the Great telling the Jews to go home and rebuild their temple he was never the less a great man on the historical stage.

Ukraine became independent under him, declaring independence as a direct result of hardliners attempting a coup against Gorbachev. When the coup failed, he did not send in the Red Army instead he ended up supporting the move and by the end of December

the USSR was no more. Putin has spent every day since railing against the loss of so much of the empire. Russia was stripped of its western colonial subjects and many of its Asian ones as well though many remain. Chechnya tried and Putin used an unrelenting high explosive hammer

beat them back down. What he is doing in Ukraine today, was presaged there. No life is sacred to him but his own. This is why western support is so vital. Western arms give Ukrainians the hope of defeating Putin and finally and forever securing the freedom that Gorbachev's

legacy permitted. I write my leaders @JohnBoozman, @SenTomCotton and @RepFrenchHill every day reminding them that I expect the flow of arms to continue until Russia is ejected from Ukraine. An ejection that appears to be well under way around Kherson. I like many of you eagerly

awaiting news of the counter-offensive in the South. My main go to for information is of course @MriyaReport it is far more reliable and Ukraine focused than any legacy media platform or Russian influenced MSM story. In addition the space helps drive donations to @MriyaAid a

charity that I fully support. I also give to @georgian_legion because that is what #WeAreNAFO does. Also for the first time yesterday I gave to @united24_gov_ua to keep my promise to donate if @oleksiireznikov became a fella.

he did is a most awesome way. Giving to Ukraine, her defenders and those working so hard to support her fight for freedom is a duty, but also a pleasure. I hope that my efforts to inform (to drive donations and awareness) and my donations save as many

https://twitter.com/oleksiireznikov/status/1564646677197328385?s=20&t=UfaZ5MpujPLrxN5YxmpeWg

lives as possible. Putin has shown that he will kill everyone to get what he wants. That willingness to hate all forms of life is pure evil. I think we can all agree that compared to Putin, we would all prefer Gorbachev and his desire to avoid war.

Until Ukraine wins on Ukraine's terms: Slava Ukraini! #RussiaIsATerroristState #GenocideOfUkrainians #UkraineWillWin #Arkansas #Ukraine #GorbachevRIP #Pedoputin @mfa_russia <--- still losing and now in full retreat.

@threadreaderapp unroll please