Russo-Ukrainian War: A Nameless Soldier, a Shameless Politician, and a Soulless Leader

Now I think of three people whose behavior could have a huge impact on the world in months and possibly years to come: a nameless soldier, a shameless politician, and a soulless leader.

The first I admire, the second we should have nothing but contempt and the third should be recognized forever as a war criminal.

The unknown soldiers are the thousands of Ukrainians – the uniformed and civilian men and women – who are defending their country’s developing democracy against Vladimir Putin’s barbaric attempt to wipe Ukraine on the map.

Whether they are professionally trained soldiers or “babushka” using their smartphones to report the coordinates of Russian tanks hiding in the forest behind their camps, their willingness to fight anonymously and die to protect Ukraine’s freedom and culture is the biggest rejection of Putin’s statement that Ukraine is not a “real” country but an integral part of Russia’s “historical, cultural and spiritual space”.

We don’t know their names – I can’t pinpoint a single Ukrainian general despite their success so far – but their exploits have shown Putin that the country they are fighting for is real, very clear and very willing to defend itself fully. strength. fierce.

If the Ukrainian leadership chooses to sign a peace agreement with Russia, we should help support them in the negotiations but, as long as they choose to resist, we must help them arm themselves.

Because they are not only defending Ukraine, they are also defending the possibility of a united and independent Europe, in which one country will not simply swallow another. That not only leads to a better Europe but also to a better world.

Trump and the Capitol Hill attack

The second person I think of is Kevin McCarthy, the leader of the Republican minority in the U.S. House of Representatives, a man who, as we know now, lacks the courage to continue his short -lived display of courage.

We should be grateful for the journalistic work of my colleagues at Hours Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns understood the extent to which McCarthy’s behavior was a treatise about cowardice in four actions: Act 1: Martin and Burns quoted McCarthy’s words when he spoke to fellow Republicans about his feelings about former President Donald Trump right away. after the attack on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021.

“I’m sick of this year,” McCarthy said, calling Trump’s actions on Jan. 6 “horrible and completely wrong.”

Trump is likely to be impeachable, McCarthy said, so he intends to tell him “he should resign.”

Act 2: After these revelations were published on Thursday morning, McCarthy released a statement saying “the news reporting from New York Times about me is completely wrong and wrong. “

Act 3: That night, thanks to a leaked audio recording published by the Times and aired on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show, the whole world heard McCarthy speak at a conference of House Republican leaders Representatives that his plan was to tell Trump that the request for impeachment “will be approved and my recommendation is that you resign”: exactly what McCarthy denied being said time before.

Act 4: McCarthy – instead of apologizing to his voters and the American people for lying – called on Trump to explain why Trump should continue to look good on him. Trump completely forgave McCarthy’s pantyhose for his sin of telling the truth.

John Wooden, the legendary basketball coach at the University of California, Los Angeles, once said that “the true expression of a person’s personality is what he does when no one is looking.”

Most lawmakers want the world to believe that, when everyone is in danger for America, they have told the truth and defended the Constitution against a president trying to destroy it. McCarthy privately told his GOP colleagues that was his position.

But then McCarthy showed his true identity. Realizing that doing the right thing for the country could earn him Trump’s support and his dream of becoming Speaker of the House, McCarthy lied about telling the truth. And, even worse, when McCarthy’s lying and reprehensible character was exposed, many in his party still supported him.

The new “McCarthyism”

This is the new “McCarthyism” – Kevin McCarthyism – where a politician can say anything, even lie about telling the truth, and stay away from it.

This trend is as a major threat to American democracy as Putin does. Because if a shameless and unworthy crook like McCarthy can sell his soul to enough people to be Speaker of the House, he is second in line to the President after the Vice President.

And this is a threat because everything McCarthy and his colleagues have done is blurring the distinction between our system and the one led by the soulless man: Vladimir Putin, who also would not hesitate to use any means to cling to power, even if it is confinement. or allegedly poisoning their detractors or poisoning democracies with disinformation.

Vladimir Putin’s obsession

However, Putin is not only obsessed with clinging to power and is willing to break any rule to maintain it. Also is obsessed with losing powerthe dignity and respect of Russia – which resulted from the collapse of the Soviet Union – and the need to regain them.

His reckless decision to invade Ukraine was fueled by the desire to stop NATO and European Union expansion across Russia’s borders. But I want to do it in a way that will show everyone how weak and divided the West is and that Ukraine is not a real country, beating that country in a week. The class is starting and Putin will teach the West a lesson.

But Putin’s plan to teach that lesson turned out to be bad. Instead of teaching the West – and all Ukrainians who want to be part of the West – a lesson and erase Russia’s shames, Putin is even more embarrassed.

We must tread carefully on this: nothing is more dangerous than a doubly humiliated leader with nuclear weapons.

Putin is capable of anything: when looking at how this war has caused confusion in the Russian and Ukrainian economy and military, Putin’s place in history is certain: he was the leader who ruined the two countries to save face: aari. But she will do everything to maintain the look.

So here’s my conclusion: A biography of Ariel Sharon was published a few years ago in Hebrew entitled “He Doesn’t Stop at a Red Light.” It is also an appropriate title for our time.

What worries me about the state of the world today is the number of leaders willing to run the red light without shame, in the sunshine… and with a sense of total impunity.

That is, overcoming the legal and regulatory barriers that have kept the world peaceful for the past 70 years, where we have no wars between great powers and have allowed more people to climb out of extreme poverty faster than to others. time in history.

We will miss it when it is over. But to maintain this, we need to help all unknown Ukrainians who are fighting for their freedom succeed. And we need to make sure that Putin’s search for dignity fails by destroying the Ukrainian movement for freedom.

But none of that is enough if every politician in the United States who thinks they can run a red light to seize or hold power will succeed. Who is next in our model?

I can no longer remember a time in my life when I felt more in doubt about the future of American democracy and the future of democracy in the world. And do not be deceived; they are related. And don’t be fooled, both will still arrive at either of those two outcomes.

Source: The New York Times

Translation: Elisa Carnelli

CB