The war at home

Greetings from the road, my friends.  Woke up way too early for my current Central time location so thought I would post some thoughts.

First, I am in total awe of the leaders and people of Ukraine for their grit and determination and understanding that preserving their country is entirely up to them.  President Zelenskyy has far surpassed most all “expert” expectations about his ability to lead and rally his people in this horrible situation.

And more reports continue to surface indicating that between 5,000 and 10,000 Russian soldiers and other military personnel have been killed in the fighting in Ukraine, although Moscow is not about to provide a number or confirm these.  Another report says that five Russian generals have lost their lives in the conflict.  And apparently, the incompetence of some elements of the Russian military have led to bombs being dropped on Russian military encampments and widespread frostbite among its fighting force, as they were not properly equipped with cold weather gear.

It’s still not at all clear how or when this war will end.  For the sake of those directly involved, let us home that it draws to a close sooner than later.

A side note—I was in a hotel for two nights last week with access to the streaming service HBOMax.  So I took the opportunity to watch the limited docuseries “Chernobyl,” which originally aired here in the U.S. a few years ago.  This concerns the nuclear disaster that cost many lives and created an uninhabitable exclusion zone in northern Ukraine and southern Belarus.  Well acted but the events depicted are rather blunt in their portrayal of the former Soviet Union and their way of doing things.  And it sounds rather familiar in light of what’s happening in Ukraine.

So I mentioned the “war at home” and by that I’m referring to the Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Ketanji Brown Jackson.  This is a jurist who was just confirmed for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals by this same Senate last year, but now a number of Republican Senators have taken it upon themselves to warn Americans of the dangers of this woman.  The sensational headlines write themselves—-Critical race theory!  The 1619 Project!  Child pornography!  Allowing questionable books into schools!  

I could go on, but if you haven’t been keeping up with the hearings, you get the idea.  And if you have, you see, as I do, that this process is about posturing by certain Republicans who appear to be preparing to run for President—that is, if a certain former President elects not to run himself.  Or perhaps this is a Hunger Games-style pageant to see who can curry the most favor to be considered a potential running mate to this ex-President.

I know that one of these Senators was caught on camera yesterday after another absurd and hostile set of questions checking his Twitter mentions to see how much people were writing about what he had said and done.  Another made some obtuse statements, not questions, and stormed out of the chamber.  He’s still mad that another Black judge from his home state was not nominated instead of the current nominee, it seems.

Judge Jackson will in all likelihood be confirmed, as Democrats have the votes and there isn’t any direct sign that those votes are in question.  So the show is really all there is.