Is There a Line in the Sand?

For the past three weeks now I have been getting up around 1:00 am to check the news. Dawn is breaking at that time in Ukraine and I want to see if Ukraine made it through another night.

Thus far Ukranians cling tenaciously to freedom. It seems every day that the end of the rope is getting closer as Russia escalates its atrocities.

With every Russian atrocity, the resolve of the Ukrainians grows stronger. It seems; however, that with every Russian atrocity, the United States and NATO throw a few more economic sanctions and perhaps a few small arms to the Ukrainian forces. There has been no serious help for the outgunned Ukrainian army.

While the Ukrainians are appreciative of any help they can get, the fact is that, as Vice President Kamala Harris enlightened us, “Russia is a bigger country. Russia is a powerful country.”

This invasion began months ago as Russia amassed its army on the border of Ukraine. Day after day, Putin promised that these were just war exercises and he had no intention of going to war. Few took him at his word, but at the same time the same ones who did not believe him, did nothing.

After the Olympics, Putin declared that part of the Ukraine was now an independent state. He sent in troops as peacekeepers for an alleged civil war that never was.

At that point, he dropped all pretenses. Tanks, troops, convoys, fighter planes, charged across the border in what was to be a 24-48 hour blitzkrieg that would end with Russia in full control of Ukraine.

The United States and NATO followed standard procedures and offered to take Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy out of the country to set up a government in exile. Zelenskyy resolutely refused with a line that will go down in the history books, “I don’t need a ride, I need ammunition.” He acknowledged that he was number one on Putin’s hit list and his family was number two.

The world watched as civilians took up arms. Small Molotov cocktail manufacturing groups popped up like mushrooms and spread like kudzu across the Ukraine.

The Russians encountered fierce resistance at every corner. Putin learned that this was not the cake-walk he thought it would be.

An early warning sign of the desperation of Putin came when the Russians engaged in an assault on the Chernobyl nuclear reactor. Even conventional weapons could create a nuclear disaster that would impact all of Europe. The United States and NATO, not wanting to escalate, cautiously stayed on the sidelines.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy asked NATO and the United States to declare the skies over Ukraine as a no-fly zone. Both denied the request because they did not want to escalate.

Russia has been accused of using weapons that are outlawed by the Geneva Convention. NATO and the United States press for more economic sanctions and supply ground weapons. They granted no further assistance because they do not want to escalate.

Russia bombed civilian targets including a maternity hospital, killing at least three including one child. Zelenksyy, in a passionate address called on those who refused a no-fly zone to tell those families why they would not establish a no-fly zone.

Poland wanted to supply Ukraine with all of its Russian aircraft. Initially the Biden administration seemed to agree to help transfer the aircraft and backfill Poland with US aircraft.

Then the Pentagon decided it was not a good idea and nixed the deal. They did not want to escalate.

Reports are now that Russia will stage some type of terrorist attack at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor. They will use the incident as a reason to escalate and perhaps even use chemical weapons on Ukraine.

Based on recent patterns, NATO and the United States will stand back and do nothing. They do not want to escalate.

At some point, one must come to grips with the question of responding to Russian escalation. Economic sanctions certainly are hurting the Russian economy but they do not seem to phase Putin.

No one wants WWIII, especially with a nuclear power, but how far do we go with the line of “we do not want to escalate”? The fact is that Russia has escalated, is escalating, and obviously will continue to escalate.

Is there a line in the sand? Is there a point where NATO and the United States must take more direct action, even if only through combat aircraft supply and support for the Ukrainians?

The fact is that Russian power against Ukraine is not a war, it is a massacre. Ukraine has done nothing to provoke a Russian invasion. There was no reason to invade other than the evil desire of Putin to conquer.

Let’s put this situation in an understandable model. Suppose there were kidnappers in a neighborhood who loaded a house with explosives and began to invade surrounding homes, taking hostages. They threaten to detonate the explosives killing the hostages and destroying homes in the area if there is any interference from law enforcement.

Obviously all these factors would play into the response by law enforcement agencies. One thing is for certain though. Law enforcement would not stand back and do nothing saying, “we do not want to escalate,” while the kidnappers took more and more hostages from surrounding neighborhoods.

The world faces this scenario. There is more than enough evidence to declare Putin a war criminal. We are in the third week of destruction and terror in Ukraine.

Are we going to stand by and watch Russia escalate the massacre of innocent civilians? Are we going to stand by and watch Russia continue to use prohibited weapons possibly including chemical warfare? Are we going to stand by and watch until eventually Russian soldiers capture and execute President Zelenskyy and his family?

I do not advocate for US soldiers entering a ground war. I do not advocate for overt US air combat operations over Ukraine. I do advocate that NATO and the US stop saying, “we do not want to escalate.”

Putin has already escalated beyond the point of reasonable and cautious tolerance. We cannot fear Putin but it appears that we do. It is well past time to seriously ask, “Is there a line in the sand?” The truth is that there is a line and Putin has crossed it.

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Sign up to receive Common Sense from DC (Not Washington). I won’t waste your time or flood your inbox with junk or pleas for money. You’ll get my thoughts and commentary on various issues and stories about people, politics, and proclamation. You can unsubscribe easily at any time. I appreciate you as a reader and will strive to make it worth your while.

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Democrat Doublespeak

Leslie and I took a cruise at the end of the year and just returned. I purposely declined the ship’s internet package so the only reason I carried my phone was to take pictures.

We needed to get away from everything and make a major decision. I will write more about that in the near future. Continue reading

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Trump Holsters Missile Strikes on Iranians

He had them in his sights. All he had to do was say, “Go.”

His generals estimated that within 30 minutes 150 Iranians would not go home alive. As hard as the military tried to avoid it, there may have been civilians killed in the strike.

They refer to that as “collateral damage.” That does not make it sound so bad. After all, this is war. 

In the United States, there is one Commander in Chief who makes the decision. President Trump figuratively had the target(s) in his sights and his finger on the trigger. He made a final decision to lower his weapon and re-holster it – for now. 

In an interview with NBC’s Chuck Todd for Meet the Press, President Trump explained his decision. For the average American watching, his explanation was very clear, logical, and simple. There was no Washington-speak. 

He made it clear that nothing was final up until the point that he made the final decision. “Nothing is green-lighted until the very end because things change.” 

I took a double-dose of Alka-Seltzer and forced myself to read and watch media clips on CNN, MSNBC, Washington Post, and New York Times. I wanted to see what kind of spin they would put on President Trump’s decision. 

As I expected, I saw headlines that included phrases like, “dangerous confusion”, “reversal”, “ordered attack, but called it off”, “sloppy handling”, Trump’s tale strains credulity.” The mainstream media, who just days before were clamoring that the President was bringing us to the brink of Armageddon,  were now saying that he was indecisive. 

It takes time to prepare for a strike, but a strike is not ordered until it is ordered. The mainstream media is intentionally misrepresenting what President Trump himself clearly explained. “Nothing is green-lighted.”

President Trump went on to explain to Chuck Todd that he weighed the response. “They shot down an unmanned drone, …. and here we are sitting with a 150 dead people that would have taken place probably within a half an hour after I said go ahead. And I didn’t like it, I didn’t think, I didn’t think it was proportionate.”

The mainstream media obviously cannot, or refuse to, understand plain language. The President prepared to respond and he easily could have responded. He made the decision that only he could make. 

It was a wise decision. The leaders of Iran need to understand what happened and be thankful that the President did not pull the trigger. He was fully justified if he had launched a retaliatory strike. 

In this case, he took another course of action. Iran knows what could have happened. 

Some say that now Iran will be more emboldened to act. I do not believe that is the case at all. Whether they ever publicly acknowledge it or not, Iran knows that they dodged a bullet and they have no one but President Trump to thank. 

Now, if Iran is wise, they will cease their mischievous behavior. This time, President Trump holstered missile strikes. They are foolish if they expect him to do it again. 

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Trump Wins Again – Mexico Acts Positively

Have you ever been in the grocery store and seen a parent, let’s say a mother, with a small child, let’s say a 3 year old boy. The little boy spots a bright shiny package of candy. The mother says, “you can’t have that, you need to put it back.” You know that this will go one of two ways and what happens next will reveal it all. 

One path could be that the little boy says, “yes ma’am” and puts it back as they continue to shop. End of story. 

Well, I try to keep my commentary short, but this is a little too short. Nowadays, unless the boy is shopping with his retired Marine Drill Sergeant uncle, that ending is a rarity. 

Here is the path this story more likely takes. After hearing, “you need to put it back,” the boy tightens his grip on the shiny package of candy, pulls it close to his chest and turns away from his mother. The mother says, “you know that candy is not good for you, so let’s put it back.”Little boy, “No.”

The mother, while still pushing the buggy down the aisle farther away from the candy, says, “well, you know that will give you a tummy ache and you won’t be able to sleep.” She extends her open hand toward the little boy to receive the package of candy. The little boy turns even farther away from his mother, pulling the candy even closer to his chest. He answers, even a little louder this time, “No!” 

Still pushing the buggy down the aisle and rounding the corner to the next aisle, the mother says, “Now, I’m not going to tell you again, we’ll have to put the candy back. I’ll tell you what, I’ll get a nice little toy for you. Won’t you give me the candy?” The little boy now shouts as other customers in the store turn and look. “No! I want this!” 

Fortunately for the mother, she was finished loading her cart so she continues the conversation with her little boy as she strolls to the checkout line. “You are making me sad and your father will be disappointed in you. Please give me the box of candy.” The little boy holds the candy even closer and twists farther away from his mother with another louder shout, “No! I want this!” 

Just before going through the line, the mother stops the buggy and walks to face the little boy as he has twisted far away from her. Now things are really serious. “Give that package to me now. I’m going to count to three. ………. One ………. Two ……….

Moments later, you see the mother pushing the buggy with everything checked and paid for heading out the door. The little boy is happily eating the candy and holding on to the new toy that his mother bought for him. 

This describes negotiations with other countries by the United States in recent history. China has cheated the world in trade deals and everyone knew it. It might be unfair to China to call it cheating since they were just going as far as they could go. 

Iran and North Korea defiantly developed nuclear weapons. The Obama administration made a deal with Iran that was so bad, it makes the mother in the story above look like a stern disciplinarian. 

Mexico, opened their doors for a pipeline of illegal immigration to the United States. Democrats in Congress refuse to support our Border Patrol to protect our citizens. President Trump declared an emergency and is building the wall in spite of the Democrat opposition. 

Then, Trump played another card to stop the flow of illegals through Mexico to the US. He told Mexico to change their behavior and act in a positive, responsible fashion. In other words, “put the candy back.” 

For decades, Mexico and all of these countries acted like the little boy in the grocery store. During those decades, Democrats and Republicans took turns playing the role of the mother. Predictably, every drama ended with the little boy happily eating his candy and playing with his new toy as they left the store. 

This time, Donald Trump is pushing the buggy. This time he set forth expectations and clear consequences that would take effect on June 10.

The mainstream media exploded with doom and gloom. Democrats and Republicans reacted saying that his move was a blunder. Like the 10 spies that Moses sent to the Promised Land, they were saying , “we became like grasshoppers in our own sight.” (Numbers 13:33 NASB)

Mexico, on the other hand, knew that Donald Trump would do what he said he would do. It would hurt them worse than it hurt the United States. 

Mexico deployed 6,000 troops to their Southern border with Guatemala. They took steps to stop the wide-open pipeline. They agreed to do more in a speedy fashion. 

Once again, Donald Trump put America first. The swamp denizens were shouting the equivalent of passages from the 1950’s child rearing advice of Dr. Benjamin Spock. Trump just looked Mexico in the eye and said the equivalent of, “you need to put the candy back.” 

After over two years with President Trump, Mexico knew what was about to happen. They chose to behave in a positive fashion. They put the candy back. Trump wins again!

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Trump – Missiles – and Our Adversaries

Last week, President Trump announced that President Bashar al-Assad of Syria had deployed chemical weapons again. Visibly moved by the news, and in a reference to former President Obama’s red-line speech, Trump said that this attack crossed “many, many lines, beyond a red line, many, many lines.”

The following day, he ordered a narrowly targeted strike on the Syrian air base from which the Syrians launched the attack. President Trump was right in ordering the strike. Continue reading FacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailFacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailby feather