No man is an island, entire of itself;
Everyman is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
Many of us learned this famous poem by John Donne when we were in high school. How we are all connected to each other. Our former pastor would often talk about how we are relational beings. We need each other. We are connected to each other. This applies to most all of us. Well, except for Vladimir Putin. For reasons few if any understand, Putin has decided to be a "one off" in humanity. A mass murderer. A practitioner of genocide. A monster.
Now he has his new general, all pumped up and ready to go. His armor has been replenished, and he has some fresh troops. Putin can already count the bodies stacking up in Mariupol. He has almost drawn the line in the sand, daring NATO to interfere. He has been uttering some nebulous threats about how Russia will retaliate, if he thinks NATO becomes too involved. He is particularly interested in teaching the United States a lesson. Why? He still considers us to be the "good guys", and in his current world view, "good guys" stand in his way.
Meanwhile, in Ukraine, the home team is not just standing still. They have further stiffened their spines, got more weaponry, and dug in further. They know the fighting in the near future will be even tougher. Putin tried to best the Ukrainian Army with his "B" team, and that did not work well. Now with a general straight out of Syrian war crimes, leading an army whose orders are to win at all costs, things will probably get very ugly prior to the magic date of May 9th.
In an alternate universe, where Donald Trump is still President, I often wonder how the Ukraine would look today. Would Putin have even attacked, if Trump was President? Many, including myself, don't think he would have dared. And even if he had, would he have threatened Trump? I would have loved to see how that would have worked out!
Last night, I saw an interesting article on Poland. They are convinced that once Russia is done with the Ukraine, Poland will be next. As such, they too have stiffened their spines. But Poland is like the Ukraine when it comes to being resolute. If Russia thinks Poland will be patsies, they better think again. Also, there is that pesky Article 5 thing. Like, if Russia invades Poland, all hell will break loose. But maybe that is what this "outsider to humanity" wants. All out war. A total blood letting.
How are things going to play out, at least for the rest of April? I am afraid, not well. Most of us, myself included, hate war. Any war. Any war, anyplace. But this world does not belong to Putin. It belongs to God Almighty. Is that the fight that Putin wants?
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