Media reports about the war in Ukraine have included information about "thousands" of Russians gathering in public, protesting their country's military advance into Ukraine. There's a fascination with what they are calling a "remarkable" scene, since protesting against the Russian government is a crime which carries severe penalties. People must feel pretty strongly against what is going on to risk being arrested and jailed, or worse, for protesting. It remains to be seen what will happen if this kind of protesting continues, and what kind of effect it will have on the war, if any.
As Russians by the thousands risk arrest and imprisonment to exercise a right that we take for granted, we have some American politicians who have foolishly opened their mouths and have gone on record as being admirers and supporters of Putin, who is standing against everything America stands for and has invaded Ukraine to keep the kind of freedom upon which our country is built away from his doorstep. And they're doing it to gain the favor of a former President who tried to isolate the United States from its democratic, freedom-loving allies and who launched a riot on January 6, 2021 to overturn a free and fair election and subvert the Constitution.
That's not going to turn out well for anyone who has done it.
Free speech, which is a cornerstone of American freedom, isn't permitted by the autocratic Russian government, embodied by its dictator, Vladimir Putin. In fact, while American values are based on the belief that "all men are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights: That among these are the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." the Russian dictatorship is at least partly built on the idea that the privileged class is entitled to its wealth, which brings it power and pleasure, and that the masses are there to serve wealth and power, and should be grateful for the opportunity. There is no recognition of human equality; it is the antithesis of the core values which are the foundation of American democracy.
America's founding fathers developed a government system which recognizes human equality, rather than aristocracy. It relies on the belief that people are capable of governing themselves, determining the full extend and limits of their individual freedom and assuring the collective security, stability and prosperity of their society. That belief was based on about two hundred years of experiencing it prior to having to defend it against an aristocratic monarchy before getting the chance to put it into practice.
Putin's Russian autocracy believes that liberty is the enemy of security, stability and prosperity and that the majority of the people need authoritarian rule in order to have those things. But in spite of Russia's long history as a people, culture and nation, it did not actually have any experience with self-government or personal liberty until the Soviet Union dissolved, and was not able to get past the immediate turmoil and problems caused by the sudden collapse of its government structure. Putin convinced the Russian people that their problems were all caused by their attempt at democratic rule and offered his authoritarian autocracy as a solution. It didn't resolve any of the problems, but by the time most of the Russian people realized it, the authoritarian state he had created prevented them from doing anything about it.
Russian Autocracy is the Opposite of American Democracy
I'll put this in terms that makes it an easy concept to understand. It is not possible to claim to be a patriotic American, believing in the principles and values that are the very philosophical foundation and core of our nation, and also support Putin and his Russian autocracy. The two systems are incompatible and they are, point by point, polar opposites. Ukraine has had its problems as a developing democracy. But so did the United States. The man who helped write the phrase "all men are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights" owned slaves. Women's suffrage didn't happen in this country until 1920, almost 150 years after it came into existence. But in spite of all of the problems encountered in getting to where we are, it is not possible to be a patriotic American, and also to support Vladimir Putin's attack on Ukraine and its people, or to support Vladimir Putin's autocratic rule over the Russian people.
Ukraine's experience is unique. It's history is very much woven into that of Russia, with so much in common that seeing it transition from being one of the founding socialist republics that formed the Soviet Union to a much more autonomous, independent, emerging democracy is remarkable. That's one of the reasons why it is such a threat to Putin. It has had a rough road from where it came to where it is now, not uncommon with other countries that have slowly turned into productive democracies, but it is developing and succeeding, and because of its close historical, cultural and political ties to Russia, is proof that it can be done in a Slavic country in Eastern Europe.
To defend Putin and take his side is to support the destruction of a nation who has adopted the same values upon which our country was founded, and is trying to build itself on them, and to take the side of a dictator who stands opposed to American values and whose ultimate goal is to eliminate American influence in favor of his own. Taking Putin's side against Ukraine would be the equivalent of supporting Communist China's expansion into East and Southeast Asia, or supporting the Soviet Union's hold on its Eastern European satellites and its occupation of East Germany.
Free Speech is Not an Excuse for Ignorance
Ironically, many of those who are apparently siding with Putin because of the influence of a segment of the extremist right are also those who have been screaming that mask mandates and vaccination requirements are tyranny. That's a laughable comparison to the kind of tyranny that is visible in Russia under Putin every day, and it's not even close to what we are about to see unfold in Ukraine under a Putin occupation. Such ignorance is inexcusable in America.
I recommend reading Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century before using the term or discussing it publicly.
A Clear Message
This isn't rocket science, it's political science and it's not hard to figure out what message is being sent by Americans who are expressing their sympathy and admiration for Vladimir Putin, whether that's being used as a way to bash President Biden, or whether, by conviction, they really do sympathize more with autocracy than they do with American idealism. They are telling me not to cast my ballot for them. Those might not be the words we see on their billboards or in their media advertising, but that's the message they are sending. They are telling us that their politics and personal loyalty is focused on something other than what the American flag represents.
The President and his administration have handled this crisis as well as any previous administration has ever handled such an event. There is a measure of competence, confidence, and knowledge that comes with experience. President Biden's leadership has earned the trust of our NATO allies once again, after four years of uncertainty, and it has been his leadership over these recent months that has united most of the world against Putin's aggression. Calling out Putin's intentions, telling the world what he was planning in spite of his denials, and being right on target with the information has been an absolutely brilliant strategy. That's the mark of real experience.
Those who decided to use this as a political opportunity to align themselves with our recent former President 45, who has been a close ally of Putin going back before the 2016 election are going to regret speaking out too soon. That right to free speech which we take so much for granted makes it possible for people to enclose themselves in a cocoon and live separated from truth and the real world, but they are a minority.
Most Americans can see that we have nothing in common with Vladimir Putin's ideology and that he is the real enemy here. Those who are now on the record supporting him and admiring him, in order to curry favor with former President 45 are standing against our country's core values and ideals.
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