Ukraine: If my parents were still alive…
“Hasn’t the world learned anything from our past? Can’t you see what I see? We need to help these people now!
These are the voices of my late parents as I try to make sense of the current situation in Ukraine. If my parents, Holocaust survivors Eva and Mickey Kor, were alive today, they would be screaming from the highest mountaintop. I appreciate the various humanitarian efforts to help the Ukrainian people, but with Putin now attacking Kiev, I feel compelled to do more.
If my mother was alive, she would probably tweet about “tweeterland”, contact local politicians and publicly demand more action. Due to her terrible experiences as a child in Mengele’s laboratory at Auschwitz, she would yearn to help the children affected by this tragedy. My father, on the other hand, wrote letters to the editor, trying to stir up public opinion and demanding immediate action. But they are no longer there.
I am not a politician or a historian, but rather a student of history. Knowing that history has (unfortunately) a habit of repeating itself, I agree with my mother and ask the questions: “How can this happen again? Where have we failed? Where did I fail?
More than eighty years ago, World War II began largely because of the world’s silence in the face of Adolf Hitler’s advances. Today, a very desperate Putin seems to be using the same playbook to invade Ukraine. Growing up in the shadow of the Holocaust, I can’t sit on the sidelines and ignore the obvious. Inspired by my mother, I voiced my opinions to my local politicians. I have offered my help to those in Romania and Poland who are hosting Ukrainian refugees. I have been in contact with Yaakov Bleich, the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine, to inform him that we as a people care. But, with today’s bombardment of parts of Kiev, including Babi Yar, a Holocaust memorial, that’s just not enough.
If my parents were still alive, they would remind us that if Hitler could have been stopped before he invaded Poland in 1939, maybe they wouldn’t have been kicked out of their homes or taken to a camp. of concentration. If my parents were still alive, they would want every country in the world to exercise maximum economic sanctions against Russia and exhaust all diplomatic options. Every day Putin grows more determined and frustrated with the heroic efforts of the Ukrainian people. As a result, my parents would like a much larger and prolonged effort to deliver arms to Ukraine.
We all know that Ukraine is not a member of NATO and the EU, but my parents would ask, “When does the world realize that only more military manpower can save Ukraine? Is the world waiting for Putin to invade Poland or Romania before sending additional support? My parents wouldn’t want any more bloodshed, but Putin needs to be stopped. Nobody wants to see WW3.
Ukrainian President Zelensky has captured the hearts and minds of the world and it would be an absolute shame if his courage was in vain. As I look up to ask my parents what we should do, I fear the world is acting too late. I miss my parents every day, but if my fears came true, I have to admit that I would conclude that they are in a better place now (than all of us).
—Alex Kor, Carmel
Trump awaits further orders from Putin
Former President Donald J. Trump told CPAC on Feb. 26 that he was open to receiving new orders from Russian President Putin. He did it in his usual half-spoken, half-scrambled nonsense. Trump has said out loud for the first time that he will be running for president for the third time. Until then, he never said it in public. The campaign for the 2024 re-election, Biden against Trump, has begun.
But why now? Trump wants to make more private calls to Putin. He thinks, “They spied on Trump’s campaign,” worked for 2016 as a defensive diversion from his wrongdoings. He hopes it will work again. He hopes he can scare or shame the Biden administration against recording or playing tapes of Citizen Trump calling and asking for further instructions from his puppeteer Vladimir Putin.
No one in the United States should expect privacy when making phone calls from America to foreign leaders abroad. I want the NSA to log every call Putin makes. National security demands nothing less.
President Biden does not expect confidentiality on his calls. He has appropriate personnel involved in every step of every call made to Putin. Staff prepare in advance, some listen in real time, others carry out post-call analysis. The president has no right to privacy here (although the US government does have a right to secrecy). Trump tried to keep instructions he received from Putin’s previous meetings private. Why did he destroy the translator’s notes? Just another violation of the Presidential Archives Act.
Putin will need Trump’s help with the situation in Ukraine. From this point Kharkiv, the second largest city, is overrun and the capital Kyiv is essentially surrounded. Militarily, Putin has the resources to crush the Ukrainian people. However, Putin has already lost the fight to weaken NATO. For decades, Putin has made it clear publicly and privately that the weakening of NATO is his most cherished goal (just after the resurrection of the Soviet Union). As Trump’s puppeteer, he convinced Trump to denigrate NATO for five years. This left many speculating that if Trump were re-elected he would pull the United States out of NATO, which could cripple his effectiveness.
Thus, at CPAC, Trump said that Putin was “smart” and that Ukrainian President Zelensky was “brave”. Next week, Trump will have more praise for Putin and none for Zelensky. The following week, Trump will have more praise for Putin and just criticism for Zelensky. As time goes on and things get worse for Putin (as more nations join the international protests), Putin will expect a return on his investment in Trump. Trump will need further instructions from the man who helped him get elected in 2016. He will likely do so in broad daylight. Again.
I can imagine Trump pleading on live TV, “Russia if you’re listening, I don’t understand why you’re invading the country that wouldn’t slander my electoral opponent, Joe Biden. Russia if you listen, it got me impeached the first time. Russia if you’re listening, what can I do to make myself look as strong, as powerful, as masculine as my hero Vladimir Putin?
I may have mischosen the timing or the wording, but it’s clear. Putin has already lost the prospect of weakening NATO. It is stronger than ever thanks to President Biden’s ability to work well with other members of the international community. The only remaining questions are 1) How deep will Russia dig in Ukraine before choosing to leave? 2) How much will Trump suck from Putin in the meantime? (Helsinki 2.0, anyone?)
— Peter FH Priest II, Terre Haute
Democratic candidate for Indiana’s 8th U.S. District
Chambers makes the video available
Recently, the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual City Update event with Mayor Duke Bennett. Attendees left informed and excited by the countless positive news shared at the event by the Mayor. Those who were not present had to glean their information from other sources where this positivity was not conveyed.
Fortunately, the presentation was recorded.
Typically, our recorded events are only available to paid attendees, but in an effort to inform the general public and let everyone feel the positivity and excitement conveyed in the update, we’ve decided to make the entire presentation available via the Chamber’s YouTube page.
In closing, a huge thank you to Mayor Bennett for his commitment to this event every year. It’s a monumental task to put together countless pieces of information, but incredibly informative and a true description of your ongoing long-range planning.
—Kristin Craig, Executive Director
Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce
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