Sit Tight on Ukraine, but Aid New Jersey's Cities

It’s been a rapid-fire collection of events over the past week in (far) Eastern Europe. The bully/former president of Ukraine was removed from power by both demonstrators in Kiev’s central square and the Ukranian Parliament itself. Ukraine took rapid steps towards reorienting itself toward Europe and, more consequently, the United States.

But that wasn’t all. Ukraine’s former president was declared a fugitive from justice, wanted for crimes against his own people. He vanished for a few days, then turned up in southern Russia only to declare himself not deposed.

Then the situation turned really weird. The Russians invaded the Crimean peninsula, a Russian-majority, autonomous region in the far south of Ukraine. Though the Russians claim that they’ve done so to protect their already sizable military assets in the territory, it is obvious that they seek to pry the peninsula away from Ukraine. If not through outright annexation, then perhaps by the establishment of some kind of proxy republic along the lines of what’s occurred in Georgia.

Obama warned Russia not to do this. Our president wasn’t very specific about what the consequences of such action would be, of course, but he dared Putin to cross a line, which Putin promptly crossed. Though I doubt that the world will soon be enveloped in a thermonuclear war on behalf of Ukraine, it looks like we’re on the verge of some kind of classic, Cold War-like showdown. If some of the editors at the National Review had their way, we’d probably have troops on the ground in Kiev at this moment. So in the middle of this whirlwind of revolution, diplomacy and war, to those who are demanding American boots on the ground and the U.S. Navy to blockade Russian ports, I say this:

Calm yourselves.

We need to remember some facts about Ukraine that many Americans – most, in fact, are completely ignorant of. First, the country’s borders, particularly concerning Crimea, are a result of internal wrangling in the former Soviet Union. The Communist party originally transferred Crimea as a ‘gift’ from then-Soviet dominated Russia to the then Soviet-dominated Ukraine. Since both regional jurisdictions back then were irrelevant, the move was strictly and strangely symbolic. Now we’re coping with the legacy of this move. 

Secondly, Ukraine is a demographic mess. Its larger western portion is dominated by Ukrainians, who despise Mother Russia as the Poles, our allies, do. Any Ukrainian would tell you that they hold Soviet Russia rightfully responsible for the genocidal famine of their land in the 1930’s, and the subsequent Nazi invasion of the same land a decade later (due, mainly, to Stalin’s indifference and negligence toward the Ukrainians under his rule). Now to my American readers, I know that these historical facts seem rather trivial, but believe me, in Ukraine, they’re not. They’re everything.

Ukraine’s eastern portion, including Crimea, is ethnically dominated by Russians. This large population is a result of Stalin’s “Russificiation” policies of the former Soviet Union, which aimed at thinning out the native populations of the non-Russian portions of the Soviet Union. It was a failed policy, of course, but its legacy is still felt in every former Soviet republic, from Estonia to Latvia to

Ukraine is an ethnic and linguistic mix - and mess

Ukraine to Georgia.

Putin’s intentions thus far seem pretty limited, even in Ukraine. The Russian leader may talk tough, but even he knows the limitations of his armed forces and national budget. Occupying small portions of Ukraine dominated by Russians is one thing, but chancing a long and dangerous guerilla war with the majority of Ukrainians, while earning the enmity of all Europe is quite another. In short, I don’t think that Putin is interested in conquering and forcefully annexing all of Ukraine.

I could be proven wrong, of course, over the next few weeks or even days of events. Therefore right now I believe that though we ought to continue to denounce the Russians for their actions, which are illegal under international law, the U.S. and its Western allies need to sit tight. This is because we need to remember something important: we won the Cold War. Aside from Ukraine and tiny Moldova, which are ethnically troubled to be sure, all of Eastern Europe sits safely under NATO’s protective umbrella. American fighter jets and those of its allies fly daily over the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. American and allied troops sit at the ready not in Germany, Britain and France, but in Romania, Poland, Bulgaria and Turkey and, of course, the Baltic States.

Russia is a flailing, Third World military power. This is not the Soviet Union at its peak. Russia’s population is in steep decline. Its overdependence on funding its government though the selling of its natural resources has proven dangerous in this time of steadily falling gas and oil prices. Believe me, the American discovery and extraction of usable fossil fuels in places like North Dakota and Alaska pose far more of a danger to Putin’s Russia than many people realize.

Russia is also geographically overextended and domestically troubled. Putin’s own government, if certain trends in fuel prices and demographics continue, has a troubled future, if it has a future at all.

Again, I’m not stipulating that Putin loves democracy, or is some kind of moral leader and incapable of doing harm. He’s a bully and aspiring dictator. But he’s got limits. And we do too. For those Americans who are now calling for a fast, $15 billion grant to Ukraine, I ask this: have you seen Trenton lately? Visited Newark or Paterson? Perhaps a few billion should be thrown in their direction before we start writing checks to Kiev.  

Memo To My Legislators: Learn from Ukraine. Repeat as Necessary.

From: Daniel B. Kurz, M.A., New Jersey Citizen, Parent and Educator

To:    State Assembly Speaker Vincient Prieto

         State Senate President John Sweeney

         Assemblyman John Wisniewski              

         Assemblywoman Loretta Weinberg

Cc:    Legislative Team from District 16 (My Home District)

Re:    Are You Kidding Me?

Over the past 24 hours we have seen dramatic developments in Ukraine. There, the democratically elected multiparty Parliament has voted unanimously to remove that nation’s chief executive, President Viktor Yanukovych. Most legislators have cited the former president's abuse of executive power as the primary reason for this constitutionally based, legal

Legislators: Burn the midnight oil if you must, but remove Christie and Guadagno now!

action.

Yanukovych clearly showed his contempt for both the law and for the lives of the people he served by authorizing the execution of demonstrators in the central square of the capital city. As more evidence comes to light, it is also obvious that a blatant pattern of corruption and patronage, not to mention bullying, has been the overall practice of his administration.

It is my firm belief that at this moment straightforward evidence persists that the administration of our governor, Chris Christie, amply demonstrates an equal pattern of corruption, contempt for the law and human life.

First, we must look to the events of September 2013. We know from documented evidence that members of the Governor’s inner staff ordered the closure of several Fort Lee lanes to the George Washington Bridge for no legally-based reason. In fact, evidence in the emails and texts between two of the governor’s appointees, Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Kelly and Port Authority Operative David Wildstein, display a genuinely sadistic attitude toward the people/victims of this state. In the traffic jam that ensued, millions of dollars worth of delays resulted, tens of thousands of lives were put at risk and accidents occurred. The entire Northeast corridor of the United States was affected, and it ought to be noted that these jams transpired during the anniversary of the September 11^th Attacks. Al Qaida, our sworn enemy, is known especially for its anniversary attacks on major pieces of infrastructure. By ordering these jams, the Governor’s administration put our nation in jeopardy and clearly damaged its wartime preparation and footing. Had an attack occurred on the region at that time, the consequences would have been beyond disastrous.

Additionally, over the past few months, allegations have been made by the mayor of Hoboken that point to a political use of Federal funds intended to ease the pain and burdens of those New Jerseyans effected by Hurricane Sandy. The mayor disturbingly documented in her notes that our Lieutenant Governor threatened to keep funds from Hoboken unless the certain political actions were taken that the Christie Administration favored. It is bizarre and frankly suspect that our Lt. Governor has, aside from denying the allegations, refused to discuss them at all with any member of the public, the press or the Legislature.

With these two scandals, a third has emerged that is more serious. The Governor has claimed total ignorance of any of these actions, from the order of the bridge closing to the threats of the Lieutenant Governor. His denials are frankly not believable, but anyway point to a leadership ability that is both negligent and incompetent.

If this governor is capable of such missteps, or at least, being at the center of their whirlwind without knowing of them, then he is capable of much, much more. The Legislature must act now to protect the people of New Jersey from this kind of chief executive by impeaching and removing him as soon as possible. Whether or not he ordered the lane closures and the Sandy aid withheld is something that, as a private citizen, he will have to answer for in a court of law. But as for the standards of impeachment and removal, I believe his actions have already surpassed any reasonable threshold for action.

What are you waiting for? How far are you willing to toy with our liberties on behalf of the Governor’s political career? Are you waiting for this governor to order police officials that are loyal to him reroute traffic from the Lincoln Tunnel? Would such officers open fire on drivers who ignored such a likely and illegal order? Isn’t it time to stop ignoring these dangerous hypothetical situations, knowing what we already know?

If you think that I'm being overreactive, or unfair in my comparisons to the situation in Ukraine, I must ask: Are you kidding me? 

  

Ukrainian Blood: More than Just Sacrifice; For Putin, It's the Writing on the Wall

The events of the past 48 hours in Ukraine mirror that of a movie ending. While it is important to remember that this is real life, and real people died horribly fighting a tyrant who was clearly contemptuous of human life, the rapidity of events and sudden reversal of fortunes must be noted. And more importantly, so should the effect that these events will have – probably this summer – on a certain, fraudulently elected Russian strongman and aspiring dictator.

Let’s have a short (biased) review that will undoubtedly do Ukraine’s recent

Putin: Witness Your Future

history an injustice. (Former?) Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovych was elected under questionable circumstances. After this election he quickly had the leader of the opposition arrested and convicted of corruption amongst other charges, even as he built a complex of palaces around his nation, some of which have been discovered to have small zoos and wholesale replicas of Greek ruins. Then Yanukovych began the process of selling out his nation to Russian President Vladimir Putin by signing a series of political and economic agreements with the so-called “Russian Federation.” And it’s no secret that he did this though much of his nation favored a more independent and Western-leaning Ukraine, while Putin is clearly trying to reconstitute the Russian empire through a new regional pact.

When protesters showed up a few months ago and began to seize parts of the capital, Kiev, things really got out of control. Riot police were called out. At first, protesters clashed with police, resulting in some deaths and several injuries. Then through the anti-tyrannical magic of social media, thousands transformed into tens of thousands, then hundreds of thousands, then millions. A week ago, apparently, whether acting on the “advice” of his good neighbor Putin or on his own volition, the Ukrainian president had had enough. He ordered the police to stop enforcing the law, and to start executing protesters from snipers’ nests positioned in the central core of his capital city. If the protesters weren’t going to understand orders, they would understand bullets. Stalin did it in Ukraine in the 1930’s. Mao did it in China in the 50’s and 60’s. The Chinese Communist Party leaders did it in Beijing in June of ’89. So he gave the order. Shoot, and shoot to kill.

But it didn’t work. This time, things were different. The problem is that this isn’t 1935, or 1966, or 1989. This is not a world where, aside from North Korea, a ruler can simply act out without consequence and start randomly killing his or her citizens in broad daylight. Not if such a leader wants to remain part of the larger global economic and political order. Not in the age of the Internet, of YouTube, of Facebook, Twitter, of global flows of capital and information. No, this is not the 20^th century at all. This is the Age of Connectedness. This is a time where, regardless of how strongly your supporters back you, your supporters still want to live and prosper in comfort in this information-soaked world. This is an age where, if you start killing people, everyone sees it, comments on it, blogs on it, posts it, from Kiev to Katmandu to Kansas City. This is an age, at least from the point of view of tyrants and would-be tyrants, of strict and instant responsibility.

And it is because of this rising tide of massive and instant communication and information that the (Former) President of Ukraine is driving aimlessly around his furious country, at this very moment, with less than a dozen armed supporters. Perhaps he hopes he can sneak into Russia. Perhaps he hopes that Putin will order some kind of invasion to reinstall him, but that’s unlikely. The Cold War is over, and Putin knows that if he acts to do that, the entire world will condemn him, or more terrifyingly, stop buying Russian natural gas. Putin’s Russia is no Soviet Union. It is a dictatorship set atop a fragile nation-state. It is a cumbersome political machine lubricated by ready cash, period. No cash, no supporters, no power.  

Yes, as revelers celebrate their victory in Kiev’s central square this evening, Putin and his inner circle must be feeling really scared. Perhaps scared is not the world: terrified. The mini-Putin in Kiev just played his last card and, though future events in Ukraine are hard to guess at, they probably will not include him except for making some room in a prison cell. Putin and Yanukovych may call this a coup, but any Russian and Ukrainian and American would tell you that when a democratically elected, multiparty national legislature unanimously votes to remove a murderous executive from office, it’s not a coup. It’s good democratic governance.

Last year Moscow saw some huge demonstrations against Putin’s rule. The Russian President knows now that, judging from recent events in Ukraine, the endgame from a similar event would be, well, similar. Additionally, Russians are acutely aware of their shrinking population and demographic crisis. To open fire on the nation’s best and brightest on, say, a July 2014 day would amount to genocidal charges from his own people, and would mean an end to Putin and his sham government.   

Putin, the blood of Ukranians is more than just a sacrifice for freedom. It’s the writing on your wall. Get out now.