There is war in Europe.
It irks me to see Americans acting shocked because a large nation with a powerful military is invading a much smaller, weaker nation. The American military is far more powerful than the Russian, and Iraq was a far weaker country than Ukraine is now. It irks me even more when I see pro-Trump, pro-Putin conservatives making this same point as a way to mitigate Putin’s guilt. Echos of Trump’s comments on Putin to Bill O’Fuckface. I condemned the US invasion of Iraq then, and I condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine now. War of Aggression is the first war crime.
I’ve even seen one person say something to the effect of, “This is why we (the US) have to be extra careful with our foreign policy, because mistakes like the invasion of Iraq or support for apartheid Israel give the bad countries something they can point to in order to justify their own terrible deeds.” They recognize the parity of the actions, but somehow still draw a moral distinction between us, the good guys, and those other, evil countries. It’s a mistake when we do it, but for “them” it’s just the natural result of their less noble nature. Madness.
Kick Russia out of SWIFT.
I watched a video of a Ukrainian man weeping as he kissed his kids goodbye; his wife took their children to safety while he stayed to fight. Man, it’d be tempting to run. Call me a coward if you like, but Einstein fled Germany, and was right to do so. He was worth more alive as a thinker than he would have been as a fighter. But I do get the impulse to make them bleed for every inch of ground, too.
I go back and forth on that, thinking about the rise of neo-fascism and authoritarianism in the US. Sometimes I want to split, and to find a more stable country where I can focus on my work. But, on the other hand, fuck those nazi pigs. I’m not ready to cede the largest military to ever exist to a bunch of white-nationalist, toe-headed, chubby cracker assholes. When the 2020 election rolled around, I bought a rifle and volunteered at the polls. And I still think that was the right move. The working plan is to stay and fight, but make preparations to get the fuck out of dodge should the tides of history break the wrong way stateside. It’ll all come down to which way the military goes. The rank and file are lousy with nazis, but intel and the airforce are more likely to be on the right side of history (this time, at least). That’s my guess, though my air-force vet buddy tells me not to underestimate how shitty even the brass is. So I guess we’ll see.
Bought some protein bars and an electric blanket today. The electric blanket is going to live by my desk. My neighbors keep their heat cranked, and it warms up my kitchen (shared wall), which is where my thermostat is, meaning my heat stays off. Meanwhile it’s 63F at my desk. Energy bill last month was almost double the usual, so the heat needs to stay low anyway. I’ll plug the electric blanket into the kill-a-watt, and monitor my usage.
Woke up early today and decided to get up and write instead of laying in bed listening to the voices. That was the right move, though I’m tired now.
Another week’s almost over. Every week is a long week.
