Ukraine-location, location, location, timing, timing, timing

 Realtors tell us it’s all about location, location, location.

They also tell us timing is everything.

Political analysts, I’m sure, would agree.

When my daughter was in college she became friends with a fellow student, who our family quaintly refers to as, Mary from Ukraine, to distinguish her from Mary from Princess Anne High School. Since graduating, they correspond regularly and have visited each other on several occasions in Ukraine, France, Morocco. The two are on similar journeys that began as college students and has continued as they’ve become single working girls, newlyweds and now with their own families.

Had either gone to another school or enrolled in different semesters they never would have met, and both would have missed what looks to be a lifelong friendship. Life certainly is all about timing and location.

That is what I told Mary’s father in my only correspondence with him. When Jessica returned from her visit to Ukraine she delivered a gift to me from him—a pewter glass holder. Before sending him a thank-you letter I researched the significance of the image portrayed on it.

It seems that in the 1600s, Poland was a powerful nation controlling much of Eastern Europe. The people of Ukraine resented living under what they considered to be a repressive regime, much the way a century later we would resent being under England’s thumb.

In 1648, under the leadership of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, Ukraine Cossacks successfully revolted and gained their independence from Poland, just as we would one day do from England. His image is the one on the glass holder. He was Ukraine’s George Washington before there even was a George Washington.

Ukraine wanted what the American colonies would later desire and they were willing to put everything on the line to gain their independence. Like the American colonies, they were successful. But unlike the American colonies, Ukraine was unable to sustain lasting independence, mostly because of its location and 1650stiming.

It was a different time and a different place. The politics of the day demanded they align with a bigger, stronger nation or risk falling back under Poland’s control. By the mid-1650s, Ukraine was under the protectorate of Tsarist Russia. In the end, their fight for independence had resulted in merely escaping the grasp of one European powerhouse only to fall into the repressive realm of another. Their alliance with Russia would, in the long run, prove more destructive than if they had remained with Poland.

In the first few years after our victory over England, we experienced many hardships of forming a new government, but our independence was never threatened. Again, timing and location made the difference.

As a nation, we had room to breathe. Our borders weren’t at risk.  Something else existed in 1776 America that did not exist in 1648 Ukraine—fresh ideas.

In the period between Ukraine’s revolt and the American Revolution, something happened. Something that changed the world.

John Locke was born in 1632 and in his lifetime, he would propose doctrines that would change the world and the way people thought about themselves. He, along with Rousseau, Voltaire and others would shape politics and the approach to governing.

Before these men, revolutions were about replacing repressive governments with similarly repressive ones. But the American Revolution was about revolutionary ideas like life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—ideas first put forward by John Locke. In 1648, Ukraine did not have these forward-thinking ideas as a resource.

That is what I wrote to Mary’s father when I thanked him for his gift. At the time Ukraine, like many other former Soviet states, had broken away from the Soviet Union and seemed to be making a move into mainstream Europe. But as we watch the pictures coming out of Independence Square in Kyiv, we realize the Ukrainian people are again at a crossroads and faced with the same problems it had in 1648—whether it will align with Europe and gain a greater degree of independence or return to being a Russian satellite.

This time it has the benefit of revolutionary ideas, but it must also overcome 400 years of Russian influence. The struggle is also being fought in an area of much unrest and turmoil and at a time when where they wind up will have major repercussions for all the nations involved.

No one knows where this current struggle will end, but again, as always, the times and the location will play a major role.  

This was written in 2014 at the time of Ukraine’s last struggle with Russia. Putin was Russia’s leader then and continues to be today, so again, Ukrainians find themselves at war with a man willing to destroy them in order to control them. Maybe now is the time and place to finally gain the independence they’ve been fighting four centuries for.

And now is the time for Bogdan Khmelnitsky to be replaced by Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Ukraine's latest hero in its fight for independence.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ukraine—a realtors nightmare and they’re not the only ones

Location, location, location say realtors, who are equally big on timing.

Location and timing have always been problems for Ukraine.

My daughter met Mary, a transfer student from Ukraine while attending Francis Marion University. They’ve continued to correspond regularly and have gotten together in Ukraine, this country and other places.

Had either gone to another school or enrolled in different majors, they might’ve never met and would have missed out on what looks to be a lifelong friendship. Life certainly is all about timing and location.

That’s what I told Mary’s father in my only correspondence with him. When Jessica returned from her first visit to Ukraine. She delivered a gift from him—a pewter glass holder. Before sending him a thank-you letter, I researched the significance of the image portrayed on it.

It seems that in the 1600’s, Poland was a powerful nation controlling much of Eastern Europe. Ukrainians resented living under this repressive regime, much the way, a century later, we would resent being under England’s thumb.

In 1648, Bogdan Khmelnitsky led the Ukraine Cossacks in a successful revolt against Poland. His image is the one on the glass holder. He was Ukraine’s George Washington before there even was a George Washington.

Like us, Ukrainians had willingly put everything on the line to gain independence. Unlike the American colonies, their success was short-lived.

It was a different time and a different place.

The Treaty of Pereyaslav in 1654 put Ukraine under the protectorate of the bigger, stronger Tsarist Russia, eliminating the risk of her falling back under Poland’s control. Unfortunately, Ukraine’s fight for independence merely resulted in escaping the grasp of one European powerhouse only to fall into the repressive realm of another. Their alliance with Russia would, in the long run, prove more destructive than if they had remained with Poland.

Over the next three hundred years Ukraine’s borders shifted constantly as the big fish that surrounded her—Russia, Poland, the Ottomans and the Nazis, among others, tried to gobble her up.

The Crimean War (1853-1856) is as good an example as any of the hapless fate suffered by Ukrainians for no greater sin than living where they do. Some say it was fought for religious reason, others for territorial disputes. France’s Napoleon II wanted to drive the Ottoman Empire out of Europe, Imperial Russia wanted to make a move into Europe. The Ottoman’s just wanted to hang around a little longer and Ukrainians simply wanted everyone to return to their own homes.

In the period immediately following our victory over England, we experienced many hardships in forming a new government, but our independence was never threatened. Again, timing and location made the difference.

We had room to breathe because our borders weren’t threatened. Something else was different in 1776 America, something that did not exist in 1648 Ukraine—fresh ideas.

In the hundred years between Ukraine and America’s Revolutions, something happened. Something that changed the world. Philosophers like John Locke, Rousseau, and Voltaire gave the world revolutionary ideas of what the governments resulting from revolutions should aspire to.

Before these men, revolutions were about replacing repressive governments with similarly repressive ones. The American Revolution was about revolutionary ideas like life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness—ideas that did not exist in 1648, and which forced Ukraine to turn to Russia.

That’s what I noted to Mary’s father when I thanked him for his gift in the early 2000s. At the time, the Ukrainian people were again at a crossroads. They had broken from Russia, but needed a strong alliance to safeguard their new-found freedom. 

Fortunately, the protection provided by Europe and the United States did not come with strong-arm demands for control as was the case in 1648, but rather with enlightened ideas for self-governing.

Location, however, remains a problem for Ukraine, and is exasperated by Russia’s desire to go back in time and again become a force for evil. They’ve retaken Crimea and set their sights on all of Ukraine. More than ever, Ukraine must rely on powerful allies to help guarantee her security, but something else has gone wrong.

Since World War II, the United States with its unwavering values and democratic ideals has been both a model and protectorate of all countries, particularly Ukraine and other nations once part of the Soviet Union.

Earlier this year, that support was compromised when President Trump attempted to secure Ukraine’s involvement in our 2020 election for his benefit. His corrupt attempt at extortion, aided by his supporters both inside and outside the government has hurt both us and Ukraine. They have also hurt the cause of freedom and democracy.

Ukraine could be forgiven for wondering if there will ever come a time and place that will enable them enjoy true independence, as other free nations do, without a foreign superpower using strong-arm tactics to threaten their existence.  

Republicans Hoping for a Flag

 Republicans running out of way to defend Trump - NBC  News

Congressional committees continue to expose bad, corrupt, and often illegal behavior by the president and his cronies. Just to be clear, illegal means criminal.

President Trump’s effort to withhold military aid from Ukraine until they provided him with dirt on his potential political opponent, Joe Biden amounted to no less than inviting a foreign entity to interfere in an American election. This is a crime.

This crime was committed in part during a phone call between Trump and the newly elected Ukrainian president. It was made worse because the Mueller Investigation, just a few months earlier and Robert Mueller, himself, just a day earlier speaking before Congress had condemned Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election.

No one in Trump’s circle, no Republican in Congress has made any effort to refute the accusations. The case appears to be very open and shut.

While not condoning his behavior, they are questioning the Democratic Congress’s method of investigating him—essentially attack the process. Questioning the motives of the whistle-blower, the closed hearings, and anything else.

This is not new. Crooks have been crying foul for as long as crooks have been committing crimes.

So what are they hoping to accomplish?

Muddy the waters is a common defense maneuver on par with comparing apples and oranges. It is not, however, a legal term although it is often a legal strategy. Attacking the process is the Republicans strategy to muddy the waters so to speak.

In a court of law, no judge would allow this, but impeachment is not a legal procedure. It is government’s answer to government misconduct. In fact, muddying the waters, comparing apples to oranges is practically the definition of how government works. In government, it is always about this with that in the background versus that with this attached. Politics is nothing if it is not muddy waters.

This still doesn’t tell us what Republicans hope to accomplish by arguing process in their defense against substance. To better understand what is going on in Washington, it would be helpful to look at what goes on in a football game.

What makes Trump really mad

The civilized world looks upon Mohammed bin Salman and Vladimir Putin as they greet each other at the G20 Buenos Aires Summit and cannot believe their eyes. These two suspected (with good cause) murderers are laughing and high-fiving and fist-bumping like two teenage boys celebrating a little league victory.

One can only imagine how this image must infuriate Donald Trump, the man who lives in awe of these two brutal dictators. Trump makes no secret of his admiration for strong leaders—Putin, Erdogan, Kim Jong-un, Duarte—men the rest of the world recognize as bullies and murderers.

Among the many criticisms of President Trump is his seemingly inability to grasp the intricacies of how a Constitutional republic operates. The idea of checks and balances, a representative government accountable to the people, the simple concept of respect for those who don’t agree with you seem foreign to him.

He can’t understand why his Attorney General is loyal to the Constitution and not to him. He doesn’t understand why he can’t get the FBI, his FBI, to investigate his political opponents. He sees the opposition party as not that, but rather as traitors. In his mind, voting on principle is a vote thrown away.

All this should come as no surprise. His business empire is built, like most empires, on nepotism, not sound business practices. There was no board of director’s oversight. Laws regulating his business were seen as obstructions to be ignored.

Family, and the loyalty that family provides, were the cornerstones of the Trump organization. They remain at the center of the Trump administration.

But to say he doesn’t understand what democracy stands for or how it works is to shortchange him. That great brain that he is always pointing to, the one God could have given to anyone, but chose to give it to him, might not be all Trump imagines it to be, but he would be the first to agree that he ain’t stupid.

What bothers him most is not the difference between our system of government and the governments that his admired dictators rule over, but rather that there has to be a difference. Why can’t a president possessing his unique talent not still get the special treatment these dictators receive, despite living in a free country?

Every Trump move is questioned—by Democrats and Republicans, as well as foreign leaders. The press won’t leave him alone. He has publicly voiced his frustration that the American press won’t defer to him the way the North Korean press fawns over Kim Jong-un. It’s not that he doesn’t know the reason. It’s that he doesn’t think the reason should exist.

For two years, he has had to repeat constantly that there isn’t, and never has been, any collusion between him and Russia. He barely knows Russia. Yet, he can’t shake the idea that whenever he makes these proclamations, everyone in the room is winking and rolling their eyes.

At the same time, Putin is able to say whatever he wants and no one in Russia questions his motives.

In Helsinki Trump shared the stage as Putin admitted he wanted Trump to win the 2016 election, an election that Russia interfered with, and who's interference Trump denies. Now, in Buenos Aires, Trump has to pretend his cancelling of talks with Putin is because of Putin's barbaric behavior in Ukraine and has nothing to do with revelations that Russia and Trump are, and have been for a long time, tight as thieves. 

Then he must listen as Putin's spokesperson explains that yes, Trump says it's about Ukraine, but the real reason is probably rooted in his domestic problems back home—problems Trump insists don't even exist. 

Trump is relegated to tweeting stupid stuff because he can’t speak the truth, while Putin can say anything he damn well pleases and face no repercussions. When Trump exclaimed that he could shoot someone in Times Square and get away with it, even he knew that while his supporters might accept that behavior, such action would be seen by everyone else as unforgivable. Such is not the case in their own countries for the real life murderers that Trump holds in such high esteem.

Putin, Mohammed bin Salman, and guys like them can say and do whatever they want. They can literally get away with murder, while Trump is unable to get away with what he considers no more than political shenanigans, things he thinks everyone does—mainly because they are things he has always done.

Trump is a great believer of democracy. He just wishes that when a great leader like him comes along, democracy could cut him some slack, and operate more like a dictatorship.