President Zelensky walks the walk and talks the talk!

https://www.herald-dispatch.com/opinion/letter-to-the-editor-zelensky-is-an-inspiration/article_8cda349e-a128-5b5e-be82-63b6170e5fde.html

Echo opinion published in the Herald-Dispatch in Huntington, West Virginia from William Huron from Chesapeake Ohio:  

Ukrainian President Zelensky is a true hero who is putting his country first, before his own safety. 

President Zelensky in Kyiv refuses US offer to evacuate, saying 'I need ammunition, not a ride': Walks the walk and talks the talk!

In fact, Zelensky is staying in Ukraine's capital, (Kyiv) leading the battle against the brutal and unprovoked Russian invasion of his country.

Russia's president, Putin (war criminal!) spreads the false information that Zelensky has fled the capital, which was under siege.  Zelensky responded using his phone from a recognizable location outside the presidential office in central Kyiv, saying, "Good evening, everyone. Your leader is here. Your government is here. Your soldiers are here. We are all protecting our country and we will continue to do so. Glory to Ukraine."

Several days later, still repelling the Russians, Zelensky, in reply to the United States' offer to evacuate him from the war zone said, "I need ammunition, not a ride."

It is so refreshing to have a leader stay in his country and lead the battle against brutal invaders. One opposite example of so many leaders under threat from an overwhelming force is Afghanistan. Recently, when the United States deserted Afghanistan*, and the Taliban was taking over the country and headed toward the capital the Afghan president and other top leaders raided the treasury and fled the country leaving its citizens to tend for themselves. 

 The United States and our NATO allies must give Zelensky whatever he needs to protect his country from Russia. Were Russia to prevail, and defeat Ukraine, who would be next?

Our own American hero, George Washington, having to use his own financial fortune and fighting the strongest army in the world at that time against formidable odds, prevailed and gained our independence from Great Britain (BTW, with the assistance of the French!). Zelensky and other heroes who fight for their countries' independence are an inspiration to freedom loving people everywhere. 

From William Heron in Chesapeake Ohio

* Maine Writer post script:  I cannot imagine how the United States could maintain such a high level of support for President Zelensky and the brave Ukrainian people if the country was still trying to prop up the failed Afghan government that was abandoned by Ashraf Ghani.

President Zelensky is an example of competent leadership in action! 

Super-spreader Donald Trump is making dark pre-World War II history real again

Echo opinion by Diane Mufson, published in the Huntington West Virginia, the Herald-Dispatch.

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler addressing a rally in Germany, c. 1933.

About Donald Trump's super-spreader political rallies, I am troubled by wildly cheering unmasked crowds at the campaign rallies where violent rhetoric and perverse, unacceptable references often appeared.

“Have you ever seen anything like this?” I asked my friend, during a walk in Huntington West Virginia's Ritter Park. “Have you seen the pictures of the Nuremberg Rallies?” 

I indicated that I had seen pictures of the Nuremberg trials in Germany after World War II. “No, not the trials, the rallies,” said my friend.

Needing more information, I Googled the Nuremberg Rallies, begun in 1923 and becoming an annual event from 1933-1938. These involved thousands of passionately cheering (Nazi cult!) supporters of Germany’s Nazi leaders who promised solutions for all Germany’s social and economic ills. It did not matter that these solutions were inhumane and targeted political opponents, people of Jewish faith, homosexuals and others.

To me, the most jarring aspect of this conversation was that my friend, who raised the subject of the Nuremberg Rallies, was born, raised and educated in Germany. It should distress most Americans to know that a person with this background saw even the slightest similarity between Trump’s rallies and those in pre-World War II Germany.

While Trump’s rallies and campaigning are not akin to those of Nazi Germany, similarities in crowd adoration and devotion to the leader (forget social distancing and masks despite scientific advice during a pandemic), encouraging bigoted stances toward minorities (“Mexican rapists” and Charlottesville’s “very fine people on both sides”) and cheering unlawful behaviors of political opponents (“lock her up” Michigan’s Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer) should cause Americans to have concerns about these messages and fallout from inflammatory political rallies.

When people with extreme positions on one side of the political spectrum feel emboldened, extremists on the opposite flank believe they must react. This is no way to unify a nation facing health, economic, educational, environmental and election crises.

Extreme dissension in our national politics has rendered Washington unable to handle critical problems (inability to pass a needed stimulus for the millions out of work and businesses facing bankruptcy). Yet, there must still be hope, which I found right here in West Virginia.

Last week’s TV debate between gubernatorial candidates Republican Gov. Jim Justice and Democratic challenger Ben Salango, moderated by Hoppy Kercheval, showed you can have two candidates with very different political viewpoints conduct themselves productively and civilly, even with a few zingers included. 

Americans expect their political candidates and leaders to present their views openly, but political rallies that fan the flames of hate for those who think or look differently are very troubling.

Diane W. Mufson is a retired psychologist and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch Opinion page.