Of course, it’s far too early in the Russian invasion of Ukraine to know where this whole thing is going to land, but it’s interesting to note that the International Criminal Court has already set its sights on war criminal Vladimir Putin.
Obviously, arresting people in these circumstances isn’t a straightforward matter, but again, it’s too soon to start wondering how this could take place.
My 95-year-old mother and I speak on the phone frequently, and most of these conversations, when we’ve exhausted family matters, turn to politics.
I try to tread lightly here. Mom is a Fox News acolyte (though she reads mainstream media as well), and I don’t see the point in getting into arguments.
Having said that, in the hundreds of discussions we’ve had since Trump was elected, it’s been clear that I believe Trump is a criminal and needs to be prosecuted. When I brought up the January 6th Committee’s announcement (above) last night, she laughed and said, “You really won’t be happy until Trump gets carted off in handcuffs.”
“That’s true,” I admitted, “but that’s not equivalent to saying ‘I won’t be happy until he’s sent to prison.’ If he’s acquitted of these charges, as unlikely as that seems, I’ll be OK.”
Rule of law means a great deal to every decent American. That doesn’t mean locking up people we find repugnant, but it does mean criminally charging the most powerful people in the country when warranted.
Re: the photos here, a (sarcastic) reader asks: If we all lived in mud huts for 103 years would it put the ice back?
Actually, yes. That is, if our individual carbon footprints and other impacts on the environment were the same as they were in 1919, the planet would recover fairly quickly.
But of course, no one wants that lifestyle. That’s why a great deal of thought needs to go into things like how we transition to low-carbon energy and transportation.
You may consider reading up on the subject; it’s as fascinating as it is critically important.
Here’s a reader with a distinctly negative reaction of climate activists. She writes:
I want to stop being demonized by people with bad intent and too much time on their hands who use social media to scare people or point fingers or extort money or just generally monger fear. I am fed up with it. This happens to be a very nice planet, and I enjoy living here and actually deep down I think it and the life that animates it can take care of itself. (more…)
There are people who think this way, but not enough.
We’ve been programmed, and quite effectively, to accept war as part of human civilization.
This is all re-enforced by things like the Russian invasion of Ukraine. I think of myself as a man of peace, but I have to admit that I enjoy hearing stories of brave Ukrainians blowing up Putin’s tanks.
From senior energy analyst and social observer Glenn Doty:
Obviously.
How much clearer can this get, as explained in this article?
What will it take for the Justice Department to indict Trump and his team of traitors?
The meme here is interesting, isn’t it?
On her show “Fresh Air” yesterday, Terry Gross interviewed American journalist and historian Anne Applebaum, who has written extensively about Marxism–Leninism and the development of Central and Eastern Europe. Most of her recent work has centered around Russia and the Ukraine, going back to the formation of the country in the early 1990s.
Terry asked her guest if she’d like to comment on the possibility that Putin could be taken out by one of his own people, perhaps by poison, which, of course, is one of his favorite tools. Applebaum denied to comment, noting only that he remains very distant (physically) from all others, and perhaps communicates in person only with his bodyguards. Yet I found it interesting that the question presented itself.
I’ve often expressed my exasperation that no one on Earth can write political comedy that comes anywhere close to that of Andy Borowitz. Everyone knows that:
It appears that Ukrainians are uploading instructional TikTok videos to operate abandoned Russian military equipment. This particular video depicts a young woman in the cockpit of a Russian tank.
This, I’ll be the first to admit, is just plain fun to watch.
I just hope all this camaraderie and pure euphoria lasts to see the end of the invasion.
