Note to Putin: Don’t Even Think About It

Don't Tempt Him.

So several countries sharing a border with Russia are preparing for war on the theory that once Putin is done with Ukraine, other nations are bound to follow. One of those is Finland (see Finland accelerates preparedness for war in all forms by Shona Murray in Euro.news) and another is Poland (see Poland prepares for war by Rob Schmitz and Greg Dixon on the NPR website.) 

As is clear from both articles, the two countries are quite serious about fighting back. And remember, both nations fought wars of independence with Russia – Finland twice (The Winter War and the Continuation War), and Poland in the Polish-Soviet War of 1919-1921. In both cases, these much smaller European nations did remarkably well against their much larger rival. 

So, note to Putin. Don’t think about an invasion of either Poland, or Finland, or anywhere else in Western Europe. You didn’t do well in your initial invasion of Ukraine. You are still not doing terribly well there. And, yes, you’ve learned a lot over the last few years, but so has everyone else. We’ve all learned the lessons of this new kind of war – the importance of drones, cyberwarfare, social media, etc. –  and we know how to apply them. 

Therefore, here’s a word of advice. Yes, Trump, that repulsive lickspittle, has given you the green light to do what you like in Europe. But he’s not the only factor to consider. Finland, Poland, plus the whole of NATO, are fully capable of hurting you badly.

So badly, in fact, that even a victory might seem Pyrrhic at best, and an abject disaster at worst.

John Bolton: All American Chump

So John Bolton is finally just about ready to publish his kiss-and-tell book about the Trump Administration. According to news media reports, in it, he says that not only should Trump have been impeached for his role in Ukraine, but also he could have been removed for similar offenses in incidents all over the world. Ukraine was just one of many.

But, Bolton elected not to co-operate with the investigation into his boss, and waited to reveal the good stuff in his book, long after the impeachment process was dead and buried in the GOP-controlled Senate.

In a word, WTF?

Now he tells us?

Well, that’s three words, actually, but you get the point. If Bolton is telling the truth, and there’s no reason to doubt him, and if he had spoken up sooner, and helped remove Trump from the White House, then he might well have spared the country untold suffering. Who knows? Maybe he would even have saved lives. If competent authorities had been running things, maybe we wouldn’t have had so terribly, terribly many people die of Covid-19.

But Bolton didn’t act. And the country suffered. And many thousands died.

Which brings up an interesting question. To wit, where does being a witness leave off, and being an accessory to murder begin?

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About me: I’m a writer and former journalist who has published material on everything from computers to the Jazz Age. (Among my small claims to fame is that I interviewed Steve Jobs just after that talented if complicated man got kicked out of Apple, and just before the company’s Board came begging him to come back.)

Please check out my new book, Padre: To The Island, a meditation on mortality, grief, and joy, based on the lives and deaths of two of the most amazing and unconventional people I ever met, my mother and father.

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