March Madness, and an "off ramp"?

"It is time now, for Blinken start earning his paycheck. Find an 'off ramp' for this mess, before Putin pulls a 'Dr. Strangelove', and starts popping off nukes. I know that is a tall order, but the stakes are high right now. If Putin has indeed taken leave of his senses, time is not our friend."  

March is starting off with some moderation in our weather, and a wild fire burning in the Ukraine. Many are thinking of one thing when it comes to Russia's illegal military action in the Ukraine - this is madness. And now, that madness is bleeding over into March. It is becoming a version of March Madness. Many (including myself), also have this one burning question - what is the end game here? To me, that is a very good question. 

"You can't un-ring a bell." Or, "The toothpaste is out of the tube." You get the picture. What Putin has unleashed on the Ukraine, is going to have consequences which go out, far beyond the horizon. How so? One international law expert said yesterday, Putin's appointment with the Hague, to answer charges of war crimes, is "all but a certainty". In other words, no matter how this turns out in Ukraine, Putin's goose is cooked. As a world leader with ANY standing, he is done. Over. And his country? It will take YEARS for Russia to recover from this - if at all.

I have said this for many years now. The only person I have ever feared, is one who has nothing to lose. Right now, many fear the same is true with Putin. If he thinks he, his country, or both, have no "exit ramp" from this mess, well, remember his finger does rest on the nuclear button.

As Russia's finest continue to get bogged down in Ukraine, and the world cheers on the freedom fighters who are in a pitched battle for their homeland, a sobering thought remains. Where is an "exit ramp" for Putin to get off on? Any ramp will do, so long it allows a modicum of "face saving" for Russia. But, does an "exit ramp" even exist right now? I mean, every day, every shell or missile which is fired, every Ukrainian or Russian life which is lost, digs the hole another foot deeper.

Here is the blunt reality. Every sanction which has been levied on Russia, will remain until there is a reckoning. That is a "hashtag" FACT. If Putin immediately initiated a cease fire, and then redraws his forces back into Russia, the reckoning would still come. Most, if not all, of the sanctions would remain. The suffering of the Russian people would continue. The only possible "off ramp" which I could see, would be for Putin to resign, and honest elections in Russia to follow. Then Russia could address the subject of reparations to Ukraine.

The threats coming out of the Kremlin right now, remind me of the 1960's, when Nikita Khrushchev uttered that famous line to the west, "we will bury you!" Now, one of Putin's underlings have told us, "Russia might just unleash 500 warheads on the west." Even if this was in jest, nobody was laughing. 

It is time now, for Blinken start earning his paycheck. Find an "off ramp" for this mess, before Putin pulls a "Dr. Strangelove", and starts popping off nukes. I know that is a tall order, but the stakes are high right now. If Putin has indeed taken leave of his senses, time is not our friend.