Nobody controls me here. I control everybody else. ¹

                                                  (Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin)

 

What should we have learned from Hitler’s suicide or from Mussolini’s bitter end? May I suggest that we must recognize that megalomaniac narcistic sociopaths never give up the tribal power they hold over dupped followers—unless overthrown, sometimes violently, or by their deaths. That power must be torn from their greedy hands, for they may well risk death before releasing their hold on dictatorial power—even by suicide. The irony here is that these chameleons (literally, “on the ground lions” or just pesky lizards) never exhibit personal attributes of service to others or to community except for a price. Instead, they make a pact: allow them absolute/unchecked power in exchange for relief of alleged grievances and vague promises of personal freedoms. History informs us that this type of exchange has almost never assured moral leadership or a just society—too often not even with religious leaders of both church and state. Rare are the dictators/monarchs/cult leaders who exhibit the moral leadership and personal integrity to enter such a social pact and deliver justice and freedom for all their subjects. Rather, they exact a heavy price. For they are men of weak character who weigh their power over others as appropriate accouterments to their personal fame and success. Without that power, these men might be pitied as delusional or wholly fanatic. They give little or no credence to their promises of securing the personal freedoms and just governance of their followers. Rather they extort them and abuse their trust while maintaining deniability of their personal misdeeds. They recoil behind the shady cover of their power and control, ever ready to strike down any opposition. “Why do they act thus”—you might ask—perhaps because they shrink in fear of being held accountable for their actions.

 

Putin is losing his unprovoked war against Ukraine. Not only his credibility, but his presidency is on the line. He came to power promising a renewal of the Russian empire and the establishment of a “vertical” power system exclusively administered by himself. As mentioned in my previous blog, Putin considers himself as the embodiment of the state, much as Trump believes he is the “greatest President in history.” These men cannot willfully separate themselves from their self-identification with the power they hold. For they believe themselves above the law. Without that power, they become not just normal humans like the rest of us, but the faux personae they attempt to hide from view. These men want to “control everybody else” because they refuse to be governed by others or risk being seen for who they really are. Their values are honed by their own self-interests, not by other’s or even society’s. They pay less heed to values, laws, and norms of decency, nor to any intimation of humanitarian concern for the welfare of their fellow citizens, even though they pretend otherwise. As a result, these men stand apart, unconstrained and intractable in their quest for power. Putin, for example, wants to resurrect the Russian empire of the 19^th century. He must then be Czar-like. Therefore, he will eliminate all obstacles in his path to power and glory. Trump, by comparison, can never concede his election loss. He must be President forever wherein he can use his bully pulpit to belittle/attack all opposition. He rails against any slight or criticism, sparing neither political opponents nor even the institutions of government, his so-called “deep state.” Both Trump and Putin have waved the big stick of nuclear war like any bully on a school playground. Before Trump fell in love with the North Korean dictator, he bragged that he could wipe North Korea off the world map. More recently, Putin has threatened NATO, the US, and, of course, Ukraine with his extensive nuclear arsenal.

 

We have seen the devastation these types of men leave in their wake. The conflagration of World War II is not dissimilar to the genocide and brutal destruction of societal infrastructure we now witness in Ukraine. The shots fired against Ft. Sumpter are also not dissimilar to the Trump-inspired brutal insurrection of J/6 and its aftermath of white supremacists’ death threats. America and the free world cannot compromise or cede any ground to such men for they cannot be mollified by concessions. They feast on each step won towards eventual total victory: state by state for Trump; and country by country for Putin. They must have it all and never concede their power over others, whereby they would lose their self-identity. Instead, they stand alone, self-justified, answerable to no one, and driven to extend their power over others unchecked and uncontrollable. Throughout history, these types have been the ruin of established societies and cultures. Left unbridled, they leave only chaos and suffering in their wake.

 

While Donald Trump is almost a comic book character, ranting and raving with conspiracy theories, lies, and imagined grievances, Putin waves the flag of nuclear war and attempts to mobilize—that is, forcibly draft—Russian men to fight an unprovoked war of his sole creation. Ukraine never threatened Russia. In fact, it had merely resisted Russia’s illegal meddling in its attempt at self-governance. Stymied by this resistance, Putin chose military conquest of its neighboring state. This violation of national borders is a breach of the UN Charter which Russia, as a member of the Security Council, is sworn to protect. Trump, whom I once called Putin’s “mini-me,” attempted to trash a free election, the very soul of our democracy and in violation of our Constitution. While our Constitution is the bulwark of our democracy, the United Nations’ Charter is similarly constituted as the bulwark of peaceful co-existence among nation-states. It is the only international agreement specifically designed to prevent a rogue state from infringing on the territory and sovereignty of another state—and possibly initiating another world war. ²

 

To my mind, the problem both America and the world face today is both existential and a test of character. History tells us these “strong” men must not be allowed to carry out their ego-driven demand to hold near absolute power and threaten their chosen adversaries at will. Trump’s lies and incredulous ravings arouse the specter of violence, as we have witnessed on J/6 and almost daily from his mouth since. Meanwhile, Putin’s oft-repeated nuclear threats attempt to hold the free world at bay while he decimates the land and people of Ukraine. That which Trump cannot achieve lawfully—mainly due to negative judicial decisions, he will attempt to win via his tribal threats of violence against the establishment. That which Putin’s military does not win on the ground, he will simply destroy by rendering all of Ukraine an unlivable wasteland. Such a vacuous victory is further proof of the invalidity of Putin’s ploy of restoring greater Russia. A generation of Russians would have to live with the stain of his inhumanity hoisted upon their shoulders. He, like Trump, has no other goal than self-aggrandizement. Both deluded men want to vanquish their supposed enemies and silence all critics of their behavior. Both men despoil the heritage of their respective nations and belie the integrity of their people.

 

What can be done to stop these besmirched soul-brothers? As a formerly registered Republican, I hate to admit the need to defeat the Republican Party at every level of State or Federal office. The Grand Ole Party cannot be allowed to rigg the next election as Trump demands of his sycophants. Republicanism can only be restored when cleansed of this virulent parasite and his quest to overthrow our Constitutional government. Eventually, Trump will be held accountable by our judicial system. Putin, on the other hand, faces an even greater danger, for Russia has never dealt lightly with failed leaders. As a former Russian foreign service operative admitted, “we do not simply remove the man in charge, we kill him.” It will not go well for Putin as a former KGB operative. He will not be forced into retirement like Gorbachev or Yeltsin. Perhaps, he will be induced to jump out of a six-story window, a KGB fate that has befallen to many of Putin’s antagonists. He must know and fear this outcome, making him even more dangerous.

 

Neither America nor Europe wishes to engage Russia in actual combat. And no country can forbear a nuclear cloud over its horizon. But if Putin persists in doubling down on his aggression, then conflict may be unavoidable. If Putin cannot stop Ukrainian soldiers with his undisciplined army and extensive firepower, then he likely will escalate his attack with further atrocities against Ukrainian civilians. If NATO and the American military have not already considered the West’s response, they will have failed in their due diligence. It may well be time to show the West’s resolve. When Putin amasses his newly mobilized forces of potentially 300,000 or more soldiers on the borders of Ukraine and his allegedly “breakaway” Russian republics in Southern Ukraine, it may finally be time to ready NATO forces on Ukraine’s Western borders. How long would it take the West to destroy Russian aggressors with the superior firepower NATO has both from land and sea? That war would end in weeks and leave Russia unable to mount a threat from its shared borders or from its naval fleet at the bottom of the Black Sea.

 

You might ask, how close would the world then be to a nuclear disaster? Too close, for sure. But remember what stops men like Hitler. While Donald Trump can and will eventually fall to the gavel of the courts, Putin can only be stopped by force—or the promise of force. Although his Presidency exists in a “vertical” system of unchecked power, I do not believe the Russian people will allow Putin to take them to the brink of nuclear war. Already, his mobilization of Russian civilians is spreading dissonance among his people. Why would any Russian want to conquer a destroyed and bombed-out country to fulfill the grandiose ambition of a megalomaniac? Are they willing to kill more Ukrainian civilians or occupy a demolished and devastated country for the sake of one man’s assault on windmills? I have had a few Russian friends in my lifetime and can assure my readers (some of whom are Russians) they are not fools–but seriously loyal to family and country. If Putin persists in raising the stakes of his war, Russians will resist and revolt against his lunacy for the sake of Russian heritage and the future of their children.

 

Some years ago, I sat in a class led by the man who coined the word “glasnost.” He was part of Gorbachev’s administration.  Although “glasnost” (openness) and “perestroika” (restructuring) were sidelined by the communists, the KGB, and the unfortunate ineptness of Yeltsin, there were millions of Russians who hoped for a more humane government. Even Putin promised to protect democracy, but in exchange for absolute rule over his vertical power system, as stated above. The “man would be king,” accountable to no one. But did he protect democracy as promised? We now know he won his first election in 2000 because of a massive fraud coordinated by the Kremlin in support of his Unity party. Among the elements of this fraud were (1) the inexplicable rise in registered voters, (2) evidence of ballot stuffing & election day fraud, (3)  intimidation of the vertical chain of command that reached down through governors, the military, the universities, and farm managers, (4) vote switching after being cast, (5) inexplicable changes in electronic transmission of vote counts, (6) and the telltale elimination of evidence by the summary destruction of “troublesome” voting records. ³ This history is not what Russians were promised by the then young and popular Vladimir Putin. Nor did Americans anticipate Donald Trump’s attack on our democracy as outlined in my blog, “What is American Democracy’s Fate?” But both men exemplify how power-hungry men will connive and prosecute a fraud to gain the seat of power and endeavor never to give it up. It appears likely that every Presidential election during Putin’s reign has maintained some elements of his initial fraudulent election. Likewise, Trump is already planning to reuse in the 2024 Presidential election the same criminal techniques he introduced in the 2020 election to defraud the electorate.

 

What can and must unite the nations of the world—to include Americans, Europeans, Ukrainians, and Russians—is the common and hopefully universal desire for peaceful co-existence. All peoples should also share a common desire for a government that treats its citizens with respect and secures their individual freedoms. We cannot allow power-crazed leaders to serve their own interests or paranoia instead of the common good of their countrymen. Nor can we allow any post World War II leader to drag his/her country into modern era hostilities that can far exceed the conflagrations of the last century. What we witness now in Ukraine is the insane senselessness of a war where its spoils consist in the total devastation of a country’s infrastructure and the genocide of its innocent civilians. Moreover, nearly every country in our globalized economy has been affected by this unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. But one man stands alone as responsible for this global impact. At this writing, he seems to weigh his vision of a “greater” Russia as more imperative than the costs of war in lives and hardship. Like the man he favored as America’s former President, he values his winning above all else—even though, literally, everybody else loses!

 

Will the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine result in a greater war in Europe? Will Putin’s genocidal conduct of this war lead to indictments in the proposed International Court of Human Rights? Perhaps, Russians themselves will remove Putin from office, thus avoiding a greater war, creating the possibility for a de-escalation of fighting, and allowing a world court to hold accountable only the warmongers rather than besmirch the pride of the Russian people in whose name Putin acted alone. Certainly, it would take time for the violence and atrocities of this war to be forgotten. But time will cure grievances and soften the memory of personal loss, as it did in Europe after its last great war. Rather than escalate to win at all costs—as it appears to be Putin’s wont—why not institute a cease fire now and pursue peace and reconstruction.  Both Ukrainians and Russians share history and even current familial relations. These are not two people who should be at odds with each other. Divisive politics should never take precedence over our common humanity. And no system of government should allow an executive to rule as if above the law and unaccountable to the people he/she serves. Russia is the largest country with the greatest nuclear stockpile in the world. Both the Russian people and the world need Russia to be a responsible partner in the global economy and a progressive leader in maintaining the peaceful co-existence of all nations.

 

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¹ This is an exact quote from a lengthy interview Putin had with three journalists before his 2000 inauguration as President of Russia. That interview became his famous autobiography, “First Person,” as quoted in Karen Dawisha’s incredible journalistic tour-de-force, “Putin’s Kleptocracy,” p. 252.

² On May 13^th, I published a blog entitled “The Russian Bear.” Therein, I suggested changing the role the Security Council now has over UN initiatives. The UN should be governed by a majority of nations that comprise all the continents of the world, not just the former allied partners of World War II. And the Security Council should comprise only those nations willing and able to support the charter of the UN by force if necessary. I offered this suggestion as a starting point for serious discussion. For, If the UN had a more inclusive and effective military force in this manner, Putin’s Russia would not be just facing global economic sanctions but a military confrontation with the entire planet.

³ Ibid., “Putin’s Kleptocracy,” pp.243-250.