A quick history lesson for those MAGA faithful and members of the current generation who either skipped class or were too busy on Tik Tok to pay attention. In 1938 Germany was run by a guy named Adolf Hitler. He had his eyes on a part of what was then, Czechoslovakia known as Sudetenland. His excuse for wanting to take the area was that there was a sizable ethnic German minority living there who wanted to be part of the German Reich.
Adolf was a bit of a loose cannon and the two largest western European powers; the UK and France didn't want to tangle with him over someplace that really didn't have anything to do with them. In the fall of 1938, the Prime Ministers of Britain and France met with Herr Hitler and basically said, go ahead, take it. The Czechoslovakian government hadn't been invited to the meeting, but realized they were fucked, so signed on to the agreement. British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain went back to the UK and told everyone the agreement guaranteed, "Peace in our time." Hitler made a speech during which he claimed he had and Germany had no more territorial claims in Europe.
Chamberlain was wrong and Adolf Hitler lied.
In March of 1939 Germany annexed the Czech portion of Czechoslovakia while the Slovak part be--came a subservient German satellite state. In September of that same year Germany invaded Poland and--hopefully you've heard of it--something history calls World War II began.
Reports from the time indicate Hitler was genuinely shocked Britain and France declared war after Germany marched into Poland. Why wouldn't he be? They had backed down over the Sudetenland. He was convinced they'd do the same when it came to Poland.
Fast forward to the 21st century. The real start of the war in Ukraine began way back when Barack Obama was President. The pretext used by Putin to invade the Crimean Península was it was full of ethnic Russians and it had traditionally been Russian territory. The whole ethnic thing was also the excuse he used to finance and arm separatists in easter Ukraine. Mr. Obama slapped some ineffectual sanctions on Russia, then everyone, except the Ukrainians, stopped thinking about it.
If you are thinking what has happened in Ukraine is starting to look like some weird and awful re-make of history, don't worry, it isn't just you.
When Russian tanks began rolling down the highway to Kyiv one of Putin's field officers predicted the war would be over in five days. That was three years ago. They were initially stopped cold by Ukrainian grit and determination, terrible logistical planning--like forgetting to bring along enough gasoline to get them to Kyiv--and massive amounts of military aid from Europe and the United States.
Now, thanks to Donald J. Trump, the U.S. is, "negotiating," a peace deal with the Russians to end the war. And guess who isn't there during the talks? Why it would be the Ukrainians, of course. Although in all honesty, if we've learned anything about the Ukrainian government it's that they won't go quietly like the Czechoslovakians did. Tragically, now they'll have to fight without American help.
The President of the United States has spent the last few weeks trying to drum up domestic support for this sell out. He has called the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy a dictator and claimed Ukraine started the war. In his never ending campaign to isolate Ukraine and dismantle NATO he has also told us the European powers are getting paid back for their aid while we aren't. He has even said the war in Ukraine is Europe's problem, because, "we are protected by a big, beautiful, ocean."
There are some out there who say, without any proof, Trump's fanboy worship of Putin is because the Russian has something on him. Others think Donald Trump is just too stupid to figure out once the Russians finish off Ukraine they'll turn west into Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania, then finally Poland.
Concerning the first thought, one has to wonder what could Putin have on Donald Trump that is so devastating? Let's face it, the guy shrugged off a public act of treason when he tried to overthrow the 2020 election. He has been convicted of fraud and found to have committed sexual assault in different courts. When his wife was home caring for their newborn son he was fucking a porn star. And he as survived it all. Shaming Donald Trump might well be an impossibility.
Saying he is the ultimate naive isolationist doesn't really wash either. Having designs on Greenland and Canada, not to mention at least the middle third of Panama doesn't feel very isolationist. In fact it sounds downright imperialistic.
Others might even suggest his apparent hatred of Zelenskyy is directly linked to the Ukranian President's refusal to cave into extortion by framing Hunter Biden. Given Trump's petty vindictiveness it certainly sounds like the sort of unnecessarily cruel and brutish behavior we've come to expect from him.
It could even be a combination of all those things. Let's face it, the man's mind goes all over the place at 900 miles an hour, 24/7. However, none of them, on their own anyway, feel grandiose enough for our man Donald. Like prophets and serial killers, he is a true dreamer of elaborate megalomaniacal dreams.
It could be Donald Trump is thinking of a 21st century Triumvirate which will rule the world, or at least the desirable parts of it. In this fantasy of strongmen and their global power, Russia gets Europe, China gets Asia, and the United States gets the Americas, plus Greenland. The middle east and Africa is negotiable, well, except for the beach front property in Gaza.
Trump probably hasn't even told Putin and Xi about this vision, but once the Russians take Ukraine and the Baltic States, China plants the flag in Taiwan, and we do the same in Greenland everything will begin to fall into shape. At that point the Russians and Chinese will figure it out on their own. Sure a few wars will break out, but it won't be anything the three of us can't handle. Besides it will give everyone here something to think about other than runaway inflation and absolutely no affordable medical care.
Hey, all it will take for it to work is a triumph of the will. And, by the time it is done, just like in Orwell's novel, "1984" the world will have a manageable number of governments--three.
Pure nonsense you say? God, I hope so. But then when was the last time we saw a President of the United States firing military leaders because he deems them politically disloyal? Or is in the middle of an attempt to not just circumvent the Constitution of the United States, but to nullify it without due process? And when was the last time you saw the United States vote with Russia, North Korea, Vietnam and others against a U.N. resolution condemning unprovoked aggression?
See there, these days, pure nonsense isn't just paranoid fantasy. It is pretty much our reality.
2-27-25
No comments:
Post a Comment