Given their disparate origins and experiences, it is more than a coincidence that Messrs. Putin and Trump are friends and fellow travelers. Putin, the former KGB operative, and Trump, the celebrity schmoozer and former real estate tycoon, are both ruthless, amoral and used to getting their way. Both have connived their way on to the world’s center stage by destroying those in their way and both willingly threaten the very well-being of fellow citizens for personal gain and aggrandizement.
The unfolding carnage in Ukraine brought about by Putin threatens not only that country’s citizenry but also the very security of the world. It borders on the brink of the unthinkable with the possibility of unleashing a third world war or worse a human holocaust. This is what one man, Vladimir Putin, has inflicted on all of us for his own selfish and deluded shortcomings.
The continued corruption of American politics brought about by Trump threatens not only the well-being of Americans, but also the stability of much of the Western world that looks to the United States for stability and leadership. Our government appears dysfunctional. A dangerous void has been created in international politics that has emboldened unscrupulous leaders to reach for power. This is what one man, Donald J. Trump has brought on us for his own selfish and deluded ambitions.
We are not responsible for the rise of Putin, but, unfortunately, Trump is our creation. That is to say the creation of the Trump Republicans, many of whom we call friends, and the legion of apolitical people who eschew interest in politics.
Our world and the larger world teeter on the brink of disaster. There is not a smidgen of difference between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. They are Blood Brothers!
That’s tellin’ it like it is!