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A friend asked me to explain the Ukraine thing to him. Here’s my response.

Putin’s view is that a free and independent Ukraine is an existential danger to his rule and to Russia and he is correct. All he wants is to be the badass bully in his neighborhood and to keep any other badass bullies out. From his perspective it’s worth firing off a few nukes to accomplish this if he has to. He has repeatedly said he would and I believe him. Being under Putin is going to be hell as it would be under anybody who can order you to go off and do something that is against your own interests.

Are we the good guys? Well, yes and no. It depends on who you are and what you want. If you are made rich by Putin then we’re the bad guys. If all you want to do is live within the rule of law then we’re the good guys. Who is good or bad depends on who you are and how, when and where your bread is buttered. This is probably the nature of every conflict. If I were Putin I’d be doing the exact same thing…or Stalin or Hitler. He’s doing what he’s doing because of who and what he is and when and how he was raised. History will see whoever wins as being “right.” (“Does anyone now remember all the people Napoleon or Tamerlane killed? NO, just that he won.” A. Hitler) The same can be said for China and Taiwan. Only if you believe there is an ultimate right or wrong independent of human actions can you consider that one or the other is “right.”

The liberal left is always saying things like, “You’re on the wrong side of history.” The implicit statement is that there is an objective right or wrong independent of humanity. I think this is hilarious for the Godless Democrats, but then they say whatever seems like it will end the argument in their favor at that moment. Kind of like, “Follow the science,” or, when whatever doesn’t work out, “The science has evolved.” Putin’s angle is, he was perfectly happy when the President of Ukraine was his puppet and he thought the CIA had staged a coup to get rid of the puppet and installed a freely elected president who was not beholden to him despite Putin spending heavily and on the other guy and using all of his intelligence services to perform dirty tricks…so, obviously it was the CIA. (I’m of the school that if the CIA had attempted a coup then Putin’s bitch would still be firmly in charge.)

I sent you an excellent video that puts the whole thing in a perspective I liked.

My fear is that America’s actions are going to be whatever the Democrats think will help them in the next election and not whatever is best for America. As for what’s best for us? Staying well clear. Russia is backed into a demographic corner and if we can stop them from blowing things up long enough they’re simply going to age out of existence…which will bring a whole new set of problems, like all those legacy nukes with no one alive to keep them safe.