Ukrainian President Zelensky to Receive Ronald Reagan Freedom Award… and Not Much Else
“Thanks for the not help. Have a mediocre day.”
In a move some call “surprising” and others call “Meh,” a bipartisan movement to grant the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award to President Zelensky is afoot.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy are coming together to present the award to the Ukrainian President for his efforts in defending his country from the continuing Russian attacks.
I’m sure he’s really excited about it. Want to take bets on how big of a smile he’s going to have on his face as they hand the award to him? Will he even show up, or will one of his ambassadors grab it?
After all, he’s pretty busy at the moment. You know, trying to keep a country together under the onslaught of massive attacks, with little equipment available to spare, sort of takes up a lot of time. I suppose he could try to avail himself of the ceremonies between ensuring his people are fed and burying all the civilians Putin’s responsible for murdering.
It’s hard to be dispassionate when there’s so much at stake.
Oh, I know. I’m supposed to be talking about the news and being some dispassionate person about it all. Right? That’s what’s expected of writers who talk about political subjects.
Well, I think Zelensky and his people would be far better served by giving things they could help defend themselves with. Sanctions don’t seem to be doing much of anything.
Sure, the defense Ukraine troops have put up has been impressive. They’re doing the best they can in the face of an army that outnumbers them and out-equips them. But the real issue is how, historically, the Russian military acts.
The Russian Military is brutal.
Countries in the West have always been quite averse to casualties. While Russia is acutely aware of and feels losses as anyone would, they’ve also historically tolerated them in greater numbers than most Western countries would find acceptable.
They’ve always been a brutal enemy to go against, taking loss after loss while stripping an area clean. They have no issue flattening a town and calling it a day, as long as the territory, in the end, is ultimately in their hands. We’ve seen this very thing happening in places like Aleppo or Grozny.
The troops in Ukraine are doing what they can, but in a war of attrition, Russia will always come out on top. Right now, it seems the only thing holding Putin’s army back is the problem of logistics, and they’re working on ways to bypass those limitations.
I think, given enough time and activity, the grass-roots campaigns and protests happening on Russia’s home soil will make a difference. The word is spreading that Putin isn’t the glorious leader he claims — and people have for years believed — himself to be. Instead, they’re starting to recognize his traits as a war criminal. Despite people being arrested in droves, that can make a real difference in the sentimentalities back home.
We in the West are also seeing it in the reports of Russian troops self-sabotaging their equipment or refusing to fight, despite their commanders trying to throw them into the meat-grinder. That, too, in time, could help.
Time isn’t something they have to spare.
But time is something the Ukrainian people have little of. Noncombatants are terrorized, murdered, and blatantly targeted in attacks, flying in the face of any sense of “civilized war.” Every day, heavy losses are endured and there’s not much they can do except keep fighting.
Meanwhile, we’re trying to hand their President an award so Congress can assuage its guilt and go home with a smile and a pumpkin spice latte.
That’s not helpful. That’s political appeasement at the expense of a people desperately crying out for a helping hand.
Thank you for being you.
Keep striving to “be the best you that you can be” at this moment. Remember, no matter who you are or what you’re going through, you are worthy of being loved. Don’t let anyone teach you anything different.
If you like my work and feel inclined to support it, please consider a Ko-Fi. For free fiction stories you’ll find nowhere else, grab my Original Worlds Substack. Finally, if you’d like to support through a Medium membership, you’ll not only help me, but you’ll get access to everything Medium has to offer for only $5 a month. Any funding goes directly to helping this blind man feed his family.