I've been writing some variation of this or another at
various sites on the internet all week. I need to say it here, but unless
others pick it up and run with it, it's going nowhere against the hurricane of
pro-Putin propaganda.
Clearly there are
people with money, power and influence who are selling the opposite message.
There are misinformed "conservatives" who have been fooled into
believing that Russia Today is a non-biased news source and
"libertarians" including Ron Paul who are eating up the Russian
-state issued talking point and regurgitating them everywhere.
Nationalists did not overthrow Yanukovych. There were some
nationalists in the mix; how could anyone keep them out of a popular uprising?
The Maidan (pronounced My'-dahn) demonstrators and those murdered there by the
Russian-backed snipers were mostly everyday citizens. They became engaged when
the Yanukovych government used brutality, and later murder, against those who
were peacefully demonstrating for redress of grievances.
Even then they didn't overthrow the president- he chose to
leave as did others of his party. Those who remained of the 'duly elected' government sought a legal
solution to the whole mess. Those members of the Rada (Parliament) who
remained, waited
for a legal quorum of MP's to gather and then legally impeached Yanukovych.
They created an interim government from officials who were still serving
elected terms, and set elections to happen May 25th.
The law is on their side, to the contrary of what Ron Paul
has claimed. In stark contrast, the Russian Federation Council, called by Putin
to rubber-stamp his move to send Russian troops onto foreign soil, did not wait
for a quorum. Their authorization of Russian troops is invalid and illegal. The
law is not on Putin’s side. Ron Paul is wrong again.
Putin is pushing the narrative that the Maidan and, by
extension, the interim government of Ukraine
That is reverting to the old Soviet playbook; they
would label anyone who opposed them as "fascist" It is as meaningless
as when the left in the USA
Ukrainians voted for Yanukovych based on his promises to
move westward. They had every right to protest his betrayal of their vote and
their nation.
What if the "American Spring" people are shot when
they go to demonstrate in May? What if people rise up in greater demonstrations
as a result? What if Obama and many Democrats were to then take their money and
run? What if those who remain were able to cobble together a legal quorum in
the Senate and House of Representatives and impeach Obama? Would that make
everyone “fascists?” Would that give Russia the right to invade us to
"protect" the Russian speaking populations scattered around the USA
and to annex Alaska because it was once Russian territory? Do you see this conflict in a different light
now?
It is only our Cold
War worldview which discounts Ukraine
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