Russia seems to revel in being the global bad boy. And now, with its invasion of its neighbor Ukraine, it will pay a steep price.
Vladimir Putin has been a thorn in the side of the U.S. and global freedom for decades. This former KGB agent has sown havoc where he can, directing minions in cyberattacks all around the globe, and working to disrupt nations moving toward a more free society.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported that an estimated 74 percent of all the money made from ransomware cyberattacks went to sources “highly likely to be affiliated with Russia.” We even had a ransomware attack here at Fredericksburg Publishing Co. a couple of years ago and fortunately pulled our server outlet quickly and had ample backup resources. But it was still a pain to deal with and rebuild files, and it made us want to take a crowbar to whatever lowlife was sitting at his computer with nothing better to do.
Personally, I got to where I didn’t even like to watch Russian tennis players and root against them at all points. But that’s not fair to the many Russians who didn’t ask for and do not want this war of aggression.
Putin is no “genius” and gets no style points for invading a neighboring free nation. He’s a bully, a tyrant and troublemaker. Discord has been his main global contribution.
Commentators, activists and others cozying up to him show their political ambitions are greater than their love of country and of freedom. Thankfully, our representatives in both parties are mostly distancing themselves from that garbage.
It’s good to see the global market working against Putin, shutting down his access to his thieving capital, as well as to the oligarchs who support him. While many common Russians live in poverty, he and these oligarchs live the gilded lifestyle and hide money all over the globe. You know it’s bad if even neutral Switzerland has cut off access to those funds.
Richard N. Haass, a former diplomat and now president of the Council of Foreign Relations, said on social media: “It would be a wonderful irony if Putin, who has done so much to weaken democracy, helped bring about its revival in the U.S. and beyond by reminding so many of the dangers of totalitarianism and weakening the anti-democratic people and parties in the West that got close to him.” This man with the global view also said this moment may reshape the U.S.-China relationship, pointing it out as an opportunity for China to side with a rules-based world order, or a lifeline to Russia to cement that it is hostile to the West.
Perhaps some good will come of this situation. The pain of higher oil prices on the global market may get us to reinvest in or own production, as Russia is shut out. We still need a balanced energy portfolio, even as we make inroads into cleaner options. That won’t happen overnight and this exposes our dependency on oil oligarchs around the world. If China does side with Russia, it will get us to further examine our relationship with them. We have exported so many manufacturing jobs to China over the past 40 years, hurting American labor and driving down wages. As our current supply chain issues show us, there is a cost to doing business abroad, and it could very well get higher.
We need to return to “American-made.”
Russia is a mess and deserves no spotlight on the world stage. They are losing soldiers to a determined Ukrainian people willing to fight for their freedom. They are running out of fuel and sending rations that expired years ago to their soldiers. The globe is turning against what Reagan termed “The Evil Empire.” (How quickly we forget.)
There is value in NATO. There is value in promoting freedom around the world. This conflict will either help America realize that or we’ll travel further down the path to isolationism and inner rot.
Our prayers are with Ukraine and its people.
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