Congressmen | tega227

I am watching the war in Ukraine, and I am sad about this on two accounts. First, I am too old to go there and take up arms against the invading forces. Second, this reminds me of a civil war because a portion of the Ukraine populace speak Russian, and some have family in Russia. This is a war started by a mad man and he does not care about anything except what he wants.

I see the civilian buildings shattered and burned, children and women dying, not even understanding what is going on nor why. I also see fearless people taking on the invaders knowing they could die at a moments notice. I see the people that have never held a weapon trying to quickly learn to shoot and protect their country. This should never happen.

The Russian military is not as good as they think they are. There is video of them giving up because their vehicles are out of fuel, they are hungry and tired. The Ukraine people gave them food and comfort and, from the videos I saw, did not harm nor restrain them. But that is only some of the military because others followed orders and purposely targeted civilians and their domiciles. Why is it taking so long to overrun a country the size of Ukraine with a large Russian army? Incompetence, leadership, the will to fight, what?

Everyone is afraid of a nuclear war if a nation with nuclear powers joins the Ukraine fight. Never to worry, worry about Russia targeting the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and going after another. We were lucky that the bombing did not cause the release of any radiation on the first one, but we may not be lucky if they bomb the next one. Nuclear radiation does not know the difference between friend or foe nor boarders.

Of course, President Biden is accursed of not doing enough to stop the start of the war, among other things he is falsely accused of. The Congressmen that released unauthorized video, when there was a video talk with the Ukraine President, will not even get a slap on the wrist. The rules Russia goes by, our rules, and the rules of the rest of the world are not the same rules. Plus, no one can believe anything Russia say. Russia told the world, before the invasion, that they were conducting war games. We knew better because we now have a President that listens to the intelligence reports. The reports were correct.

But the question now is ‘what can the world do to stop this invasion’? Not much besides the sanctions. The rest of the world could take up arms to help Ukraine, but the Russian mad man may be crazy enough to drop a nuclear bomb. Roll the dice. Then the entire world is in jeopardy. The world can not negotiate with a mad man.

The bottom line is to watch and wait to see what develops and hope it is good. We all must support Ukraine anyway we can with whatever we have. We can also pray for them and keep them in our prayers until this is over. When this is over it will take years to rebuild the country.

During the late 1950’s and early 1960’s I was a member of the NAACP and SCLC. I not only walked in peace marches and sat during the sit ins but, as a teenager and a person too young to vote, I helped Black adults learn to properly vote. Non-White people voting was openly suppressed in Virginia and there were many obstacles. Among things done was the poll tax, counting jellybeans in a jar, outright threats and more. Blacks were afraid because a person could lose their life by simply letting the wrong White person know that they were going to vote. Contacting law enforcement and going through the judicial system was not the thing to do because it was extremely dangerous. The system was all White and, going through the system would put your name and address on file.

Through the years, things were supposed to have gotten better and the law and judicial system was supposed to be equally dispensed. Not so. All that happened was the inequity became shrouded. This is only a small portion of the reasons why Blacks do not trust law enforcement and the judicial system. I, like many other Blacks, have worked in law enforcement, both the military and civilian, and have seen the inequities up close and personal and have heard the comments uttered by the Whites. Not one thing could be said because my life and the life of others would be in jeopardy.

Now the Whites have removed the shroud from the inequities. Congressmen have started voter suppression. States are attempting to change the laws to make it harder to vote, especially by mail (the military vote by mail, what will happen to their votes?). The Klan and other groups are brazenly out in the open. There are too many of these people in the judicial system, law enforcement, military, Congress and state and local government. These people are there to fully take what they want and to do whatever they choose to do.

There are too many in Congress that want to have a fair vote only if it goes their party’s way. If the vote is expected to not go their way, they want to filibuster until the bill goes away which means they won by suppression. So far all I see and hear is the suppressed saying they cannot vote and if they do their vote will not be counted plus some states want to make it exceedingly difficult to vote, yet they do nothing about it.

Voting have been happening since the beginning of time. One of the most famous votes was when the crowd had a choice of saving Jesus or the thief. The people had a choice, voted and the government official did as the vote dictated. Why not today? We voted, elected officials to act in our behalf (to do as we the people want) and expected results from what we the people wanted. Yet the elected officials are only acting in their behalf, not ours.

Going back in time to my days of battling voter suppression will not work today for a myriad number of reasons. Things are the same, yet things are different therefore the situation must be met differently. All that was accomplished in my day as a teenager can be done today to stop the outwardly voter suppression and make it go underground. I do not believe it can be wiped out, but it can be held at bay. Remember, the person you think is not doing wrong may need a second, very stern, look.

tega227

Retirement

Tag Archives: Congressmen

The War in Ukraine

Voter Suppression

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