Well, good. I’m not the only one crazy enough to believe that Western democracies may not be up to the long-haul task of defending the world against autocracies. World chess champion Garry Kasparov stated, “Today there is a clear and present danger [Putin]. Winter is here. It is still unclear if the free world is willing and able to meet this challenge.” He also said, “If only Russian men were as brave as Iranian women.” Ouch! The truth hurts, and he is right.
I have long feared that the Western alliance may not be able to outlast Putin — though it has proved robust thus far — yet the more he pushes, then the more strained the coalition becomes, as evinced by the rightward shift in the political power of some European governments. And that brings me to another point that Kasparov made in his speech at St. Mary Aldermanbury at the National Churchill Museum at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. As the Georgia Recorder states, “He is concerned that former President Donald Trump will win another term in 2024 and cut off support for Ukraine. Trump’s supporters in Congress vote against aid to Ukraine and his cheerleaders on Fox News, especially Tucker Carlson, are telling Trump supporters that Putin is justified in the war.” Indeed, this is the long-game perspective. Something that Kasparov apprehends well. It is my fear, too. And it is the direction we’re headed because this is stupid America. What are the chances that traitor trump runs on the idea of “peace in Europe” and an end to high gas prices (i.e., inflation)? If Putin can just stave off an outright loss in favor of a stalemate that engenders a sustained energy supply crisis, then what are the prospects that an agitated America will want to end economic hardship by sacrificing Ukraine? Who is the chief American antagonist to Ukraine (besides douchebag Musk)? Traitor trump!
This kind of returns to my original post at the outset of Russia’s war on Ukraine: The Fall of Ukraine. I thought Russia’s military would rout Ukraine’s armed forces in that post. As it turns out, the opposite is true, but now the real question is how long the West will supply Ukraine’s holy war against authoritarianism. Welcome to stupid America!