Sunday Evening Rant 3/26/17

Today the news is full of protests in Russia against the corruption of the government, aimed at Putin’s hand picked premier, Medvedev. Remember that Putin first came to power on the promise that he would curb corruption, dismantle the mob and bring prosperity to the people. He took over most business and criminal activity in the name of the government. What little he doesn’t control is too petty to be of significance. But there’s goods in the stores, food enough to eat two meals a day, and enough vodka to forget the promises Putin made and failed to keep. So the people love Putin; it’s Medvedev they blame.

Any sensible voter would see that Putin is the one corrupt and Medvedev is the whipping boy to distract responsibility. But when a cult of personality enforced with terror is the head of state, people can’t be sensible. There is a lesson here for the United States.

We need to remember that the man on the horse is just another man with ambition and greed. To blindly follow is to be blind and lost. Look past the tweets of the day and remember the past. Americans have a tendency to forget what happened yesterday and believe the pie in the sky promises of the leaders who win our fancy. If we don’t watch our leaders, we will wind up in the same basket as Russia.

Germany looks to be wiser than the leaders feared. The extremists failed to make inroads into the political leadership in the small state election held today. Add to that the sensible result in Netherlands and the easing of the political turmoil in France and it looks like Europe is straitening itself out. The only place of contention is still the Middle East, where the Caliphate of the Islamic State is brutally mistreating whomever gets in the way. And when no one gets in the way they’ll take someone at random.

The world has dodged a bigger bullet than we realize.

Kudos to the United States Central Command for owning up to the responsibility for air strikes on the building where the Islamic State fighters were using human shields. The loss of life is reminiscent of the Second World War in France or Italy when United States Army forces reduced whole villages to rubble to drive out Wehrmacht troops. The difference is that we have weapons available that can shoot the I.S. fighters without rubling the building, unlike the 1940s. The soldiers just forgot they were not facing any civilized enemy that fights under the Law of War. We must keep in mind that we’re not fighting a legitimate nation state, but a gang of liars, murderers and theves.

That’s enough rent for a Sunday. I’ll rant more tomorrow.