This will be a short blog because I’m not going to write anything that people don’t already know. I’m going to make two points that are crucial for America and for the rest of the world.

I’m inspired by the courage of the people in Russia, standing in line in the still biting Russian winter; putting their own lives and future at risk; and making a statement to the rest of Russia and the world about what CNN has labeled the “Thugocracy” of Putin, to mourn and protest the murder of Aleksei Navalny.

Point Number 1 – If Putin and his thugs win, the rest of the world loses – and most certainly America loses.

I’m a student of history. I’ve been focusing on the period in Germany from Hitler’s “Beer Hall Putsch” in 1923 (Think: “January 6 in Munich”.) to 1939 (When Hitler finally achieved power in Germany. That hasn’t happened in America yet. We should all be dedicated to stopping anything like that here.) As I study, I see parallels everywhere between that time and this. It is a perfect example of Mark Twain’s quote, “History doesn’t repeat. But it rhymes.”

If Putin and his thugs win, they won’t stop there. And China will see that they can win by conquering their neighbors with armies too.

Point Number 2 – The most powerful force Putin has right now is his friends in America. Trump is first among those friends. All anyone has to do is remember what Trump did and said when he had power (but didn’t really know how to use it). And if that doesn’t work for you, look at what he says now. He proclaims that he would actually encourage Russia to “do whatever the hell they want”. The same thing happened in 1941 when Republicans in Congress tried to stop Roosevelt from helping Britain with the “Lend-Lease” program. To the benefit of the entire world, Roosevelt was able to push his program through Congress and Britain – the last force in Europe stopping Hitler – survived. If that isn’t a perfect rhyme for today, I don’t know what could be more perfect.

The Russian people, by mourning and protesting the murder of Aleksei Navalny, under the guns of Russian troops, are telling us that we must come to the aid of the soldiers fighting and dying in Ukraine for themselves and for us. This is no time for politics.

Point Number 1 … If Putin wins, the rest of the world — and especially America — loses. I’m a student of history. I have focused on that period from about 1923 (When Hitler’s “Beer Hall Putsch” took place — think “January 6 in Munich”.) to 1939 (When Hitler achieved final power in Germany. That hasn’t happened yet in America. We should all be dedicated to making sure that it doesn’t.) I see parallels everywhere to the NAZI movement and the MAGA movement.