Until recently, the sanctions on Russia levied by the United States and its allies in Europe have been largely financial in nature: refusal to honor USD requests from the Russian central bank, locking out of key Russian financial institutions from the SWIFT settlement system, and targeted freezes upon the accounts and assets of Putin and his close allies.
The Dems' message needs to be constant, reminding the country every chance they can that it's patriotic to support other democracies, and that our financial pain at the pump is hopefully shortening the duration of the pain the Ukrainian people have to suffer. The attention spans in this country have shortened significantly, by design of the media companies and others, so this drum must be beaten regularly to keep it fresh in our minds.
Yes, support democracies while continuing to support your favorite Local Saturday Food Markets & small local businesses. I do get Gas $1 off/ per Gallon through a "Reward" program of a large CA Grocery Chain where I get bulk staples Adapt but, smartly.
I submitted this observation in a Letter to the Editor: I shall warrant, putting paid to this latest bout of Russian expansion will require sacrifices on the order of those accepted by Americans on the home front during the Second World War, albeit absent the attendant butcher's bill. The difference being, this time round, the Fifth Columnists and the Sunshine Patriots now have the honking great pulpits afforded by our "information" society.
I'll not be surprised if it never makes it into print.
A much tougher sell is the desperately needed no-fly zone. In my opinion, this should have been imposed from day one. Putin is holding the whole world hostage with his nuclear saber rattling. At some point, he will resort to this anyway when he moves past Ukraine. The longer we wait the more lives will be lost, the more refugees will be created, and the more confidence Putin will gain that nobody will dare engage him for fear of nuclear war. He should have been stopped on day one but we all were gutless. Now we will all pay for that. Maybe someday we will have the luxury to look back on our appeasement of Putin as just another aberrant knuckling under to a bloodthirsty despot. Or maybe we will never have that luxury.
Hawaii already banned all oil imports from Russia. They used to account for over 30 percent here. Interestingly, it was our sole refiner who decided to stop buying from Russia.
The Dems' message needs to be constant, reminding the country every chance they can that it's patriotic to support other democracies, and that our financial pain at the pump is hopefully shortening the duration of the pain the Ukrainian people have to suffer. The attention spans in this country have shortened significantly, by design of the media companies and others, so this drum must be beaten regularly to keep it fresh in our minds.
Yes, support democracies while continuing to support your favorite Local Saturday Food Markets & small local businesses. I do get Gas $1 off/ per Gallon through a "Reward" program of a large CA Grocery Chain where I get bulk staples Adapt but, smartly.
I submitted this observation in a Letter to the Editor: I shall warrant, putting paid to this latest bout of Russian expansion will require sacrifices on the order of those accepted by Americans on the home front during the Second World War, albeit absent the attendant butcher's bill. The difference being, this time round, the Fifth Columnists and the Sunshine Patriots now have the honking great pulpits afforded by our "information" society.
I'll not be surprised if it never makes it into print.
A much tougher sell is the desperately needed no-fly zone. In my opinion, this should have been imposed from day one. Putin is holding the whole world hostage with his nuclear saber rattling. At some point, he will resort to this anyway when he moves past Ukraine. The longer we wait the more lives will be lost, the more refugees will be created, and the more confidence Putin will gain that nobody will dare engage him for fear of nuclear war. He should have been stopped on day one but we all were gutless. Now we will all pay for that. Maybe someday we will have the luxury to look back on our appeasement of Putin as just another aberrant knuckling under to a bloodthirsty despot. Or maybe we will never have that luxury.
Hawaii already banned all oil imports from Russia. They used to account for over 30 percent here. Interestingly, it was our sole refiner who decided to stop buying from Russia.