JUST one bullet! An assassination of an archduke, and the first world war be gan! Millions died on battlefields. It was a war which led to the next world war, where not just the battlefields, but gas chambers smelt of charred, burnt human flesh! Today, a stunned world looks at a Russian madman! Who with his act of madness could be unleashing another world war!
A madman who when elected for a maximum of two terms as President of Russia, circumvented the rules, by becoming prime minister after those two terms, with a puppet president, and then changed same laws so he could be president for life! And after overcoming these ‘small impossibilities’, such men like him look around, and ask, “What next? Why not war?”
Hitler did the same. He came in through a democratic process, and his ‘What next’ nearly blew our world apart! As Putin does just that, what is going to be said is he has the support of his people. Really? You mean the Kremlin voted he could go to war?
Before their fool hardy acts, the ‘what next’ leaders fill their seats, councils, advisory boards, and other institutions with yes men. And that’s done in a very subtle way: Fear and intimidation! The men and women brave enough to stand against them for democratic values or ethical beliefs are either hounded, jailed, or silenced.
These leaders then build a cult around themselves; their Karate skills, KGB connections, pictures showing the size of their muscles or the measurement of their chests! All this is meant not just to show a fit leader but alas a strong bully! American presidents, are also shown on the treadmill, or exercising but never to pulverize the people into submission.
What should pulverize people into submission should be their constitution, the laws of the land, their free press, and a fair judiciary. As long as these institutions have muscle and teeth, the people don’t need to know the size of the chest or karate background and so when someone like Trump shows his buffoonery, bluff and bluster, he gets thrown out!
Which means it is the duty of we the people to safeguard our democratic institutions. To see our press stays free, because what is mentioned in papers, offline or online, is your voice. Stifle that voice, and give power to ‘Putin’ like ‘what next leaders’. Don’t be scared to protest! That’s your right, use it, without fear and fight by the constitution, your birthright!
When you fight against such men or women, who you safeguard are not Ukrainians next door, but yourself. Hitler finished with the Jews then started on his own people. Also remember for the ‘what next’ policies of a stupid emperor in Japan, Hiroshima, Nagasaki and thousands of Japanese suffered disastrous consequences. Stop such autocratic leaders! And I’m not just talking about Russia and Putin..!
