Ukrainian civilian resistance | Breaking Big Money's Grip on America

We live in extremely challenging times. A great many of us are overwhelmed by what’s taking place in our country and in the world. Yet, as dark as it may seem, some encouraging signs of positive change are on the horizon.

The Ukrainian people in the face of a massive attack on their country are showing amazing courage and fortitude. An inspiration to all of us. “Ukrainian forces (have) continued to halt significant Russian battlefield gains,” according to recent reports.[1] At the same time, Russian protests against the war are steadily intensifying. More than 5,000 anti-war demonstrators were arrested in 69 Russian cities last Sunday alone.[2] Western nations have united to impose crippling sanctions against Russia in an effort to pressure Putin to end the war.[3] And military expert, retired Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman even predicted that “the Russian invasion into Ukraine marked the ‘beginning of the end’ for Russian President Vladimir Putin as casualties from the war grow.”[4]

On the home front, COVID cases are declining significantly.[5] Almost the entire country is open for business. The U.S. economy added a record 6.4 million new jobs in 2021.[6] And Congress finally passed a $1.5 trillion bipartisan budget, including support for Ukraine and climate protection.[7]

One of the most surprising signs of progress is in the redistricting battles occurring across the country. Republican gerrymandering was supposed to give the GOP a distinct, unfair advantage in November’s Congressional elections. But Democrats are winning redistricting court cases in key battleground states like Pennsylvania and North Carolina. According to CNN, “they now have a chance to come out better than expected, and perhaps even benefit from the new maps overall.”[8] With President Biden’s poll numbers finally rising, the Democrats just might have a chance of holding onto their majority in Congress next fall.[9]

Finally, slowly but surely, the January 6^th insurrectionists are being brought to justice. Earlier this month, a federal jury convicted Guy Wesley Reffitt on the very serious charge of obstructing Congress’s certification of the 2020 presidential election. At the same time, the Justice Department announced the indictment of the former Proud Boys leader, Enrique Tarrio, on charges of conspiring with several of his top lieutenants to plan and launch the assault on the Capitol.[10]

Just this week Attorney General Merrick Garland stressed that “almost every U.S. attorney’s office in the country is working on this matter…People are working every day, 24/7, and are fully aware of how important this is. This had to do with the interference with the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to another. And it doesn’t get more important than that.[11]

Meanwhile, the House Select committee investigating the insurrection, recently said in a court filing that it had gathered sufficient evidence to conclude that former President Trump and some of his allies might have conspired to commit fraud and obstruction by misleading Americans about the outcome of the 2020 election and attempting to overturn the result.[12]

We are moving forward. Truly positive change is on the horizon.

Bruce Berlin, J.D.

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.), the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.

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[1] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/10/russia-ukraine-war-military-dispatch-march-10-2022; https://us.yahoo.com/news/ukraines-army-vastly-outgunned-inflicts-211426968.html

[2] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/10/anti-war-protests-intensify-in-russia-along-with-police-crackdown

[3] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/05/world/europe/russia-ukraine-invasion-sanctions.html

[4] https://www.yahoo.com/news/vindman-beginning-end-putin-171123293.html

[5] https://www.axios.com/covid-cases-continue-steep-decline-in-us-420ab059-19df-4d4c-9052-178fe17aeb3e.html

[6] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-01-07/u-s-sees-record-job-growth-in-2021-after-millions-lost-in-2020#:~:text=The%20U.S.%20economy%20added%20a,Labor%20Department%20data%20released%20Friday.

[7] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/10/us/politics/senate-spending-bill-approved.html

[8] https://edition.cnn.com/2022/03/08/politics/democrats-congressional-redistricing-fights-ctzn/index.html

[9] https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2022-03-08/bidens-approval-rises-in-crisis

[10] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/08/us/politics/guy-reffitt-jan-6-trial.html

[11] https://www.npr.org/2022/03/10/1085016383/garland-says-the-jan-6-investigation-wont-end-until-everyone-is-held-to-account

[12] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/08/us/politics/guy-reffitt-jan-6-trial.html

I’m in Boynton Beach, Florida visiting a friend with my partner. Last night we went out to dinner on the oceanfront. All the restaurants were buzzing with people eating, drinking, having a good time. From the looks of it, you’d never know that we just might be on the brink of World War III.

On the other side of the planet, Russian tanks and artillery are demolishing Ukrainian towns and cities. Hundreds of thousands of innocent people are fleeing their homes. Despite valiant resistance, Ukraine is slowly being overrun by Vladimir Putin and his massive army.

We are at a loss of what to do to prevent such a catastrophe. We send donations. Hope and pray for peace. But really feel helpless, or do not think about it at all.

We leave it to our elected officials to deal with such overwhelming matters. And we fail to remember how the people’s silence helped another tyrant overrun Europe less than a century ago.

So, what can we, the people, do? While there is no silver bullet to stop the invasion of Ukraine, we cannot sit idly by. We must make our voices heard and support the Ukrainian people with donations and supplies. Ukrainians are showing what unarmed people can do to resist. This unarmed part of the resistance is gaining momentum:

“Coordinated resistance can spread and move from inspirational isolated acts to decisive acts capable of rebuffing an advancing army…In shared videos, unarmed communities are facing down Russian tanks with apparent success…The tank driver either does not have authorization or interest in opening fire. They choose retreat. This is being repeated in small towns across Ukraine.”[1]

In fact, some Russian soldiers who learn the truth about their invasion of Ukraine are laying down their arms, even disabling their own armored vehicles.[2]

At the same time, focusing on the Russian people might well be our most effective strategy. We need to flood the Russian people with the truth about the atrocities against Ukraine that their government is committing in their name. Many Russians have friends and/or relatives who live in Ukraine. Ukrainians and Russians share languages, families, and an extensive web of history and culture.

The Russian government has been unable to block social media’s pro-Ukraine and anti-government views. Only 47 percent of younger Russians — more attuned to this media than their elders — support the war. Authorities’ further efforts to block access to independent social media “would come at a high political price among a skeptical, social-media-addicted younger generation. And a younger, antiwar generation increasingly opposed to an aging, isolated leadership may — as the Soviets discovered after their disastrous adventure in Afghanistan — cause unexpected problems for Vladimir Putin.”[3]

A great many Russians oppose this war. As the sanctions being imposed on Russia take their toll, more and more Russians will protest and demand that the invasion must cease. As Time magazine recently observed, “Protests, fueled by the disconnect between the people and the actions of the government intent on suppressing all opposition, could be Putin’s eventual undoing…it is clear that war enthusiasm is already drying up.”[4]

Just as Americans’ protest against the Vietnam War hastened that war’s end, so can Russian dissent quicken the conclusion of the Ukrainian invasion. Americans must do whatever we can to increase the Russians’ awareness of the injustices and atrocities that their government is inflicting on the Ukrainian people. That may well be our best shot at peace in Ukraine.

Bruce Berlin, J.D.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://wagingnonviolence.org/2022/02/ukraine-secret-weapon-civilian-resistance/

[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/01/world/europe/russia-troops-pentagon.html

[3] https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/03/04/russian-social-media-ukraine-vk-propaganda/

[4] https://time.com/6154240/russia-protests-war-ukraine-putin/