Something to be aware of, something to reckon with: “How Moscow grabs Ukrainian kids and makes them Russians.” That is an extensive report from the Associated Press. And here is an extensive report from the New York Times: “Russia Signals It Will Take More Ukrainian Children, a Crime in Progress.”
My view is: People do not have to read such reports, word for word. They are, of course, tough to bear. But we should be aware of the reality — simply the general reality. And those who want details, of course, can have them.
• How about the matter of accountability? “Zelenskiy Vows To Bring Russian ‘Executioners And Murderers’ To Justice Over Bucha Killings.” That is a report from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. And here is a report from CNN: “US announces it supports creation of special tribunal to prosecute Russia for ‘crime of aggression’ in Ukraine.”
Without accountability, repetition — the repetition of evil — is guaranteed. There are mountains of research and writing on this.
• Volodymyr Zelensky is an extraordinary wartime leader. A report by the AP’s Julie Pace is headed “Ukraine by rail: Inside Zelenskyy’s efforts to buoy a nation.” It makes for instructive reading.
Zelensky, of course, is hated by a great many in the United States. Politicians and media personalities alike seethe with resentment toward him. It’s easy to understand why. I have discussed it many, many times.
Did you see, by the way, that Ted Nugent called Zelensky a “homosexual weirdo”? This was when Nugent was kicking off a Trump rally last weekend. Par for the course.
Some are forthrightly anti-Zelensky and anti-Ukraine. But a larger group, I would say, is anti-anti-Putin. They hate the idea of good-and-evil, or even right-and-wrong. They need moral equivalence, at a minimum. Zelensky reminds them that there is a war on, which implicates all of us, whether we like it or not. He reminds us that democratic values are very, very different from what Putin and the Kremlin represent.
And, most annoyingly, perhaps, he reminds us that a little courage — moral, physical, and political — is requisite. A lot of people would like to write Ukraine off and return to business as usual. The Ukrainians are terribly inconvenient. They won’t just die, or submit, and get it over with.
When I was coming of age, I knew people who resented the hell out of Havel, Walesa, and the rest — not to mention Reagan, Thatcher, et al. They were perpetually defensive of the Kremlin. They were perpetually critical of the freedom fighters. They said that supporters of freedom were provoking the Kremlin and leading to nuclear war.
And they said, constantly, that the United States was in no position to pass moral judgment. What about all our problems, huh, huh?
Nothing has changed, really (well, a lot has changed, in our political environment, but you know what I mean).
• Appearing on Fox News, J. D. Vance, the new senator from Ohio, called Ukraine “the most corrupt country on the face of the planet.” You have to ask, or I have to ask: Has the senator ever heard of Russia, to name just one other country? Does he know anything about Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian kleptocracy?
Night and day, anti-Ukrainian propaganda pours into the ears of millions of people, including some of my nearest and dearest. They are hooked up to these media outlets as to an IV. It has tragic effects.
During his campaign for the Senate, J. D. Vance went on Steve Bannon’s show. (They are a natural pairing.) “I gotta be honest with you,” said Vance, “I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another.” The man he replaced in the Senate is Rob Portman, who was the Republican co-chairman of the Senate Ukraine Caucus.
If there is a neater illustration of the trajectory of the GOP — Portman to Vance — I don’t know what it would be. (Romney to Trump?)
• In recent years, many people have been talking about the “horseshoe theory” of politics, whereby extremes of Left and Right curl up within kissing distance. This is true in economic policy, foreign policy, etc. The horseshoe came to mind when I saw this headline: “Ben & Jerry’s Founder Is ‘Top Donor’ of Group Campaigning Against U.S. Military Support for Ukraine.” (Article here.)
• Symbolic things matter. And I thought the Washington Nationals did something laudable when they asked the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S. to throw out the first ball on Opening Day. The ambassador, Oksana Markarova, made a statement:
I am honored to start this Opening Day, and I am sincerely grateful to all Americans for standing with Ukraine as we fight for our homes, dignity, freedom, and independence. This war has already claimed the lives of hundreds of Ukrainian athletes and coaches, including one baseball player who fought within the ranks of [the] Ukrainian armed forces. Since the very first days of Russia’s large-scale military aggression, thousands of Ukrainian athletes [have] volunteered to defend their country, 56 baseball players among them. We share [a] passion for freedom and baseball with the USA, and we will win together.
May it be so.
• On Friday, I had a note about the U.N. Security Council — whose presidency Russia took over yesterday. A reader writes with a sharp and pertinent memory: The Soviet Union had three seats, not one, in the General Assembly. The other two were, officially, for Ukraine and Belarus.
Which may be an admission of nationhood?
At issue in the current war is a big, fundamental question: Does Ukraine have a right to exist? Does Taiwan have a right to exist? Does Israel have a right to exist?
I believe those are the only three countries whose very right to exist is questioned. I admire all three, a great deal. I hope they overcome their enemies, and survive, and flourish.