Old Men Tell It Like It is

Statue of Socrates at the Academy of Athens

 

Soon after you turn 60, it begins to dawn on you that you no longer count as a human being and fellow citizen.  From 16 to 40, you are in the groove; after that you are on the downhill run but making good money (you hope), so you don't mind.  But after you retire on a small pension, and you can no longer shake your booty without throwing your back out, you are just not wanted in the social whirl anymore.  A harsh truth of human life.  If you can't run with the big dogs, better stay up on the porch.

Old age is no fun, though between aches and pains it can be fairly pleasant as long as your body holds together.  A compensating factor is that, having lost your juvenile awe of authority figures, and having no job to protect, you feel free to say exactly where the cow bit the cabbage.  And old men who have paid attention through all the stages of life usually have some very keen wisdom to share, if anybody will put down the goddamn smartphone long enough to listen.  

Here's a few old guys like your Head Trucker who speak their minds and give some damn good advice.  I don't necessarily agree with everything they say, but I do like the way they say it.  They can be pretty funny, too.

First up, Tom Powell, Jr., from Illinois, gives a mini-review of a Canadian comedian's rant:

 

Blue Dot in Texas, down in the southern part of the state, doesn't mince words about the state of the country: 

 

Pissed Off Bartender, somewhere in Alabama, isn't quite an old man yet, but we'll grant him honorary status on account of his awesome beard and stache:

 

Finally, fired-by-Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton is a Republican with great expertise in foreign and military affairs; I'd never vote for him, but he really knows what he's talking about:

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Sunday Drive: Grieg, In the Hall of the Mountain King

As performed by NATO massed bands in Germany, 2007.  The bearded guy on the French horn gets my vote.

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God Save Ukraine

President Zelensky made a moving address to the European Parliament by video link today:

 

Just a few thoughts at bedtime, after a day of listening to many fine speeches praising the courage of the Ukrainian people and their government:

A Russian convoy of heavily armed troops and tanks, 40 miles long, is just twenty miles from Kiev.  The brave Ukrainian people and their dauntless President Zelensky are fighting tooth and nail to defend their country, and begging the West for help - and plenty of aid is already on the way, meaning military equipment and humanitarian supplies - but not boots on the ground or or planes in the sky, without which, it seems to me, they can only delay, not prevent, their defeat.

I know and fully agree, mentally, with all the very good reasons why the West simply cannot send their troops or planes into Ukraine.  But it makes my blood boil to think of these beleaguered people, fighting against the odds for their freedom, their homes, and their families in a mortal struggle with the most evil man to darken the earth since Hitler.  And no one dares lift one finger to help them.

Where have we seen this scenario before in history?  

The odds against Ukraine are very great, indeed:  just look at this comparison chart, a screen capture tonight from DW television (Germany):

Click to enlarge.

Despite their bravery and bravado, the Ukrainians are clearly outmanned and outgunned.  Beyond that, supplies of food, fuel, and medicine are already running short.  What real hope does Ukraine have of defeating a ruthless invader all alone?  What comfort will it be to have the admiration of all the Western democracies when the last defender lies dead in a pool of blood?  Of what use will be our praise of the fighting Ukrainians then?

I wrote Sunday of this terrible moral dilemma - nothing can be done; but by all that is holy, something ought to be done to help them, and deliver them from the maw of the ravening Bear.

I have no answers.  I am just praying God to save Ukraine - someway, somehow.  And give peace to all the world.  Amen.

Update, 3/2/22, 6 p.m.:  Yesterday, neither Prime Minister Johnson nor President Biden made any reference at all to Putin's nuclear threat when they had opportunities to do so.  But for a military man's perspective, DW (a German TV network) presents this chilling interview with General Sir Richard Shirreff, retired Deputy Allied Supreme Commander of NATO, who tells plainly just how dangerous Putin is, and what could happen in Ukraine.  Very informative.

God save us all.

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