As expected, predicted, and reported, as the COVID-19 Omicron variant waned, so would mask mandates, vaccine requirements and other mitigations, all based on scientific research and evidence of effectiveness in stopping the spread of the virus, be lifted as needed. To put any of that in the category of "tyranny" is to insult and minimize those in the world who experience real tyranny. Frankly, it's the result of selfishness and ignorance, and it's become a political trademark. Some people have lost their lives as a result of this kind of behavior, not because they've experienced "tyranny" or at the hands of the government authorities who issued the mandates, but because of their own ignorance.
So this week, I've been reading about the trucker convoy that is aiming to clog up the traffic on the Capitol Beltway in Maryland and Virginia, around Washington, DC. They are aiming to "be a pain" to drivers there as a means of protesting mask and vaccine mandates for COVID. Don't those trucks have radios in them? And if they do, what are they listening to, old Hank Williams songs? Most states have lifted the mandates as COVID figures dropped. We knew they weren't permanent. I guess these guys didn't know that, or they were misinformed. Perhaps they are just trying to imitate their fellow Canadian truckers who did, indeed, make themselves "a pain" but other than that, failed to achieve their purpose with the protests, made a lot of people angry, and strengthened the political position of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
With a humanitarian crisis looming in Ukraine, as Russian missiles rain destruction down on its civilian population and its cities, this particular trucker convoy may accomplish some unintended outcomes. Protesting non-existent mandates seems pointless anyway, though it's clear they've headed into DC based on other motives, like still not being able to come to grips with the reality that the former President was beaten, defeated, LOST the election. But I think they're really going to convince a lot of Americans who haven't really had their eyes opened to the dangers of right wing extremism driven by conspiracy theories and misplaced loyalty and that these people really are enemies of American democracy, liberty, the Constitution and representative democracy as we know it. Protesting for your own selfish benefit during a major humanitarian crisis and a war against liberty is about as anti-patriotic and un-American as it gets.
I'd be willing to bet that there are more than just a few Putin backers in that group.
Meanwhile, Almost Two Million Ukrainians Have Fled Their Homes
Approximately 4,500 Russians have been detained, and threatened with 15 years in prison, along with a torturous interrogation, for protesting an unprovoked, inhumane military invasion of a sovereign, independent country. Maybe that will help put things in perspective. I'm not counting on it, given the misinformation and outright ignorance that has permeated the anti-mask, anti-vaxxers and the political wall that has been erected around those issues. Most Americans have absolutely no idea what it feels like to experience real tyranny, and many of us take the real liberty that we have for granted, as if it is something that will always just "be there" without any effort on our part.
Over a million Ukrainians have fled their homes because they are not safe from relentless missile attacks and shelling in their neighborhoods and around their homes. Compare that to being required to wear a mask that covers nose and mouth to help prevent others from getting a contagious virus that has become the third leading cause of death among Americans in just two short years, and which has killed, to date, 957,000 Americans in two years. That's a rhetorical statement, because there is absolutely no comparison at all.
Ukraine Has Been a Free Country for Just 31 Years
Ukrainian history is very closely tied to that of Russia, as is its language, culture, religion, just about everything, including being the part of the Soviet Union that suffered the most devastation and Nazi brutality during World War II. And yet, in spite of that, when the Soviet Union fell apart, and Ukraine declared its independence, and began building a democratic government and a free society, they experienced something as a people that they had never known before, and it became the centerpiece of their national identity. That has set them apart from their Russian cousins, just like it has in most of the other European former Soviet "republics." They've flourished.
Putin has menaced them for at least a third of their existence. He's tried to install puppet governments, and actually succeeded with the help of an American, Paul Manafort, our former President's first campaign manager. Yeah, remember him? He's used the presence of Russian-speaking people in the Crimea and Donbas to deny freedom to Ukrainians living there. As Ukraine has become more and more comfortable enjoying its freedom and its representative democracy, Putin has planned to keep it from happening so that the experience won't translate over to his own people. They've taken up arms to fight this invasion off. That's how much it means to them. They are fighting against real tyranny.
So this truck convoy protest, and those who drive their private vehicles into the mix, looks pretty selfish and petty. Frankly, it looks as anti-democratic, anti-patriotic and anti-American as the January 6th insurrection, a riot engineered to overthrow the legitimate government and subvert the constitution, looked. But this is a free country, so go ahead, see if you can block the traffic on an already impossible-to-navigate, regularly clogged up freeway. Help people see just how ridiculous is the whole conspiracy-theory, falsehood-driven extreme political right is, and steer them toward the Democratic party come November. This is just about the best free publicity we can get.
Too Much Taken for Granted
The Ukrainians are united in a stand for their independence and freedom. The trucker convoy is standing for their own selfishness, fed by lies and conspiracy theories. Ukrainians are accepting rifles, standing together, protecting each other, drawing strength from each other and putting their lives at risk to do so. The trucker convoy supports an unwillingness to consider the safety and well-being of others by doing something as simple as putting on a mask, or getting a little needle stick in the arm.
Ukraine looks to the United States, and to its allies, as a model for the kind of democracy they want to build. We need to show them what that looks like, not taking things for granted as we have done for so long, but demonstrating that our Constitution, which has survived for over 200 years, will continue to do so and our representative democracy is as strong as it ever has been. One of the best ways we have to demonstrate this is to clean house when it comes to the January 6th traitors. The justice department needs to keep the courts busy prosecuting everyone, starting with the former President. If that launches a "political war" then at least we will be able to identify clearly who the enemies of freedom, democracy and America are, and we can use the best weapon we have to eliminate them. It's called "the ballot box."
No comments:
Post a Comment