Over the past week, the Daily Mail UK has predicted that Putin would go on a Blitzkrieg not seen since Hitler, while CNN has been sounding this alarm: Something is going to happen in Ukraine, (but no matter what happens, Biden is doing a good job.)
On Friday, February 18, 2022, surprisingly, Slate Magazine rolled out with this journalistic gem:
"This too marked a shift. In recent days, Putin seemed to be preparing to attack just the Donbas region of southeastern Ukraine, under the false pretense that its Russian-speaking minorities are under attack and thus need protection. On Tuesday, Russia’s parliament, the Duma, passed a bill authorizing Putin to recognize the region’s two districts—which are dominated by pro-Russia separatists who call the areas the “Donetsk and Luhansk Republic”—as an independent state. On Thursday, Russia filed a report with the United Nations falsely accusing Ukraine of committing “genocide” in the region. On Friday, Gennady Zyuganov, head of Russia’s Communist party and co-sponsor of the parliament’s bill, said that Putin would make a major announcement about Donbas on Feb. 20. The sequence of these events suggested that Putin was getting set to recognize the breakaway republics, then send in troops to occupy the region." - Slate
Uh, wow. Slate basically predicted the future a week in advance. I had to go back and check the byline date twice.
Now with that being said, what happens now? Using the Slate Template, let me guess my prognosticating skills.
First of all, there is propaganda afoot. CNN is the Biden mouthpiece and RT is the Putin mouthpiece. CNN screams invasion, RT yells peace-keeping force. The truth is shades and shades of grey.
The Kyiv Post was feeling it this morning and ran this meme on their site:
And that was a poke in the eye to Putin, who believes Ukraine is Russia, and has always been Russia, while that reinforced what we wrote at Beacon of Speech just a month ago:
"There are a THOUSAND YEARS OF LITERATURE, FROM THE OLD COUNTRY, THAT STATE UKRAINE IS RUSSIA, and there are another THOUSAND YEARS OF LITERATURE, ALSO FROM THE OLD COUNTRY, THAT STATE THAT UKRAINE IS UKRAINE. A gross oversimplification is that the Russia/Ukraine Conflict is nothing more than a regional Civil War." - BOS
Moving forward, we are going to treat Ukraine like a Choose Your Own Adventure Book.
-Putin will establish a foothold in the newly established Donetsk and Luhansk Republics and order Ukraine out.
If Ukraine stays- Full Blown War between Russia and Ukraine
If Ukraine leaves- Turn Page
-Putin will ask for Ukraine to recognize Konestsk and Luhansk Republics as independent and will ask Ukraine to recognize Crimea as Russia.
If Ukraine says No - Full Blown War between Russia and Ukraine
If Ukraine says Yes - Turn Page
-Putin will then ask for Ukraine to sign a document that states they will never join NATO.
If Ukraine says No - Full Blown War between Russia and Ukraine
If Ukraine says Yes - Turn Page
-Putin will then sign a Peace Treaty.
I shouldn't be glib, because thousands of Ukrainian lives are in the balance, but it could really be this simple: During the Trump Administration, both the Trump Family and the Biden Family had some shady dealings in Ukraine. Maybe Putin and the Oligarchs are simply pissed that American Politicians are cashing in, in what used to be considered Russian Mob Territory.
As your Dad used to tell you, "Follow the Money."
For all the Libertarian Websites that I follow that lecture that we, as Americans, shouldn't go to war, they are fundamentally correct. A war between Ukraine and Russia is none of our business.
Where is MY red line for America going to war?
Poland.