Where no one has so much power that they can dominate others

Brother came for a visit of just over 48 hours. I very much enjoy his visits, even when brief. Brother likes to do home improvement projects. I showed him that my bedroom extends outward so that a strip a couple feet wide doesn’t have basement under it. Brother commented the insulation between the floor joists didn’t look like enough. So we bought a roll of thick insulation batting. In pulling out the old stuff Brother found some of it had been chewed and had lots of leaf litter. Yup, a few holes in the concrete and gaps between facing boards. So we bought caulk and he used that and some quick dry mortar which I happened to have. Alas, the temperature was too cold for applying the caulk and he still felt a draft. The new bats are in place. The next time he visits he’ll redo the caulk. Yeah, I accumulated a bunch of browser tabs while Brother was here. Alas, many may have to wait while I summarize the latest on Ukraine – and some of that story has been in browser tabs too. On Tuesday Mark Sumner of Daily Kos reported that Putin declared two eastern provinces to be “independent” and he could take them over. Sumner included a video of the Kenya ambassador to the UN Security Council explains what Putin’s aggression means. I didn’t watch it, though mention it to show how much the whole world is watching Putin and knows what he is. Also on Tuesday Sumner explained what was going on that day. Then he noted, building on comments by opposition leader Alexei Navaldy, that the invasion of Afghanistan in 1980 led to the collapse of the USSR. Will Putin’s invasion of Ukraine lead to the collapse of support for Putin? Sumner then noted that some American news companies appear to be taking Putin’s side. An editorial on the Wall Street Journal said Putin “outfoxed” western leaders. And the New York Times repeated Putin’s claims that Ukraine has always been an integral part of Russia. To that last point the US Embassy in Kyiv tweeted pictures of important churches that were built before 1108 – when Moscow was still undeveloped woods. Later on Tuesday Sumner wrote that Russia can’t afford war. Russia may have the 11th largest economy, but that is with a GDP of $1.6 trillion, compared to the US at $19.5 trillion and China at $12.2 trillion. Per capita that is $11,566 for Russia and $53,366 for the US. Like any tyrant Putin fears his populace. If he really thought he was popular and represented a majority he would hold free elections. Russia’s economy is heavily dependent of fossil fuels. And that money doesn’t go into growing and diversifying the economy. Russian’s are pessimistic of their future because of that lack of growth. An army in barracks doesn’t cost very much. An army in the field is horrendously expensive with supply lines to feed, arm, and shelter troops. There is also the cost to maintain vehicles and aircraft. Putin has bragged he has a stockpile of financial reserves. But with strong sanctions the reserves will eventually be used up. On Wednesday evening Sumner posted that Russia has invaded Ukraine. Not just from the eastern provinces it claimed on Tuesday, but from the north and south as well. This post was updated through the early morning hours with videos of various parts of the attack and of tweets from world leaders and news sources. There is also mention of the Moscow stock exchange suspending trading because it dropped so fast and the ruble also dropping by quite a bit. This Thursday morning Sumner posted again, and again with lots of videos. Sumner noted: Putin claimed he was invading to engage in “denazification” of Ukraine – which many Ukrainian parents and grandparents did in WWII. That lie is vile because Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is Jewish. Finland is asking to join NATO. Yes, the Ukrainian military is sustaining damage – but so is the Russian military. There was a battle in the Chernobyl exclusion zone and Russia captured the old power plant. The melted reactor core there is well covered and unlikely to be disturbed. Ukrainians are lining up to enlist in the defense forces. Protesters gathered across Russia. The protest in St. Petersburg was large. In an early afternoon post Sumner liveblogged Biden’s speech. This war is not going to end in days. In an afternoon post Sumner included more videos and: The list of the latest sanctions. The Moscow stock market had dropped 33%, erasing $200 billion in wealth. The Ukrainian defense forces are having some success, such as keeping control of the Hostomel Airport. Aysha Qamar of Kos reported on the anti-war protests in Russia, both in person and on social media. Some protests have been quite large. The protesters know this is risky and many are arrested. If the Russian police know about them they may be arrested as soon as they leave home. Protesters may not be arrested for protesting, instead for violating COVID restrictions. Laura Clawson of Kos wrote about arrests of protesters. Chitown Kev, in a pundit roundup for Kos included a series of tweets from Hayes Brown of MSNBC. The UN Security Council has been meeting to discuss the invasion. Russia is one of five countries with permanent membership on the UNSC with veto power over any UNSC resolution. Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN, challenged Russia’s seat. The UN Charter says the permanent members are China (Taiwan), Britain, France, USA, and USSR. Not Russia. And the USSR seat was not properly turned over to Russia. The process in which China replaced Taiwan wasn’t quite proper, even though it went through the General Assembly. Russia replacing the USSR didn’t even get a General Assembly vote. Kev says this is a gutsy move by Ukraine. If it comes to a vote China is likely to veto it. Brandi Buchman of Kos hopes Europe is ready to receive Ukraine’s refugees who are already clogging roads heading west. Crossings into Poland and Hungary are ready to receive refugees, though just three crossings are likely to not be enough. All but Britain appear ready to welcome Ukrainians. Even some American lawmakers are trying to show their welcome. Aldous Pennyfarthing of Kos pondered the question of why didn’t Putin invade Ukraine during the reign of the nasty guy? The effort might have been so much easier at a time when the nasty guy was working to wreck NATO. Instead, the invasion is happening after Biden worked to unite NATO. The reason is that Putin was expecting the nasty guy to win again (and had provided help to make it happen). In a second term, with the nasty guy unlocking all the doors from the inside, a takeover of Ukraine would have been even easier, followed by Putin’s pick of other Eastern European countries. Rich Lowry, editor of the National Review, claimed that Putin didn’t invade during the nasty guy years because the nasty guy was too unpredictable. Steve Schmidt, an ex-Republican strategist, rebukes Lowry’s claim. The nasty guy is very predictable – ready to sell out America for nothing but flattery. In a post from yesterday Sumner lists some of the things Republicans are saying in support of Putin. And that the whole thing is Biden’s fault. Sumner wrote:

When they’re not spreading the news that Putin is strong, Biden is weak, and that the United States has no interest in promoting democracy, defending nations against aggressors, or upholding our word to allies, Republicans have taken some time out to make it clear that Ukraine totally deserves it. That “corrupt” that Kirk tossed into his statement was no coincidence. It’s how Republicans are describing Ukraine in statement after statement. ... It’s not that Republicans don’t want a war. It’s that they’re already waging one—against democracy in the United States.

They just don’t want the Ukraine war to distract from their own war. Janne Korhonen of Finland tweeted a thread on Tuesday explaining the war from Finland’s point of view. Finland had been a part of the Russian Empire until 1917. From the speech Putin gave on Monday Korhonen says Putin’s goal it to recreate that Russian Empire. Putin doesn’t really fear NATO. What he fears is the Russian people decide to get rid of him. And democracies show that an alternative is possible. That’s why Putin and his formidable propaganda machine have been trying to undermine the European Union and supports the far right in Europe and America. A divided or corrupt West would benefit Putin. Yielding to Putin means a country isn’t really democratic. The people will choose candidates acceptable to Putin. And Putin gains power. That could mean the end of democracy in Finland. So many in Finland are now asking to join NATO. In another thread Korhonen wrote:

I would very much like that every human had the same or better opportunities I've had. But that requires a fair and just sharing of resources. Which necessitates a fair sharing of power, and limits to the powers of individuals. That is, radical democracy. ... The goal should be a society where no one has so much power that they can dominate others, nor so little they can be dominated.

After all that grim news we need a smile, such as this 10 second video of father and son.