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War is in the Air

March 09, 2022 - 00:00
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Opinion column: The opinions expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions and viewpoints of The Examiner.

War is definitely in the air. Can you smell it? As I am writing this, Russia is on the attack in Ukraine. Ukraine is, of course, a former member of the USSR until their breakup in 1991.

In an area of the world that is replete with wars, Russia has had a role in many of them. Hardly a year goes by that Russia doesn’t find itself in at least one conflict somewhere in the world. Military experts are quick to point out that this may be just a first step in a new Russian land grab. Apparently, over the past few years, Russia’s current president, Mr. Putin, started to wax nostalgic for the “good old days” and yearned for a return to the old USSR. I can almost hear him thinking out loud: “Hey man, we’re getting the band back together!” And so they went into Ukraine to create a Soviet Reunion, so to speak.

What is surprising to me is how long it has taken for Russia to get a foothold and occupy its neighbor. Not that I was expecting an 18-minute “San Jacinto Battlefield” type of battle, but come on... This invasion has taken much longer than I would’ve guessed. It appears Ukraine is not as interested in reforming the band as Putin is.

According to news reports, the attack has been slowed because someone forgot to pack lunches, and possibly gasoline too. Add to that the reports of homesick Russian soldiers who don’t have the heart to wage a battle with their neighbors, and you wind up with a turtle-paced incursion.

I’ve heard some folks make a comparison of this current Ukraine situation to that of the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. But that is hardly a like comparison, is it? At that time, having Soviet missiles located in Cuba, just a few miles off our coastline, was viewed an immediate threat to the survival of our country. The U.S. response back then had to be different than now.

Unlike 1962, in current day America we live under a constant threat of nuclear attack. Not to mention, this current situation (a) is not anywhere as close to the US border, and (b) involves two countries with a long love-hate history. So, no, I can’t see any direct parallel between the two events and the way our country should or would respond.

If war is truly in our future, why not consider China and/or Japan? If our growing national debt ever has a chance of being erased, war is probably the answer. And since Japan and China own, respectively, the largest foreign-owned chunks of our debt, well, one could argue that they are a debt threat. Win the war, debt ignore. OR, we could simply stop running up our national debt. We’re talking about the smell of war here, and that course of action would make the most scents.

On the more peaceful side of the news, my nextdoor neighbor and I became good friends and decided to share our water supply. We got a long well.

The column represents the thoughts and opinions of Johnny McNally. Opinion columns are NOT the opinion of the Navasota Examiner. Johnny McNally is Grimes County’s Best Dressed Businessman advocating for Grimes County and writes a bi-weekly column for the Navasota Examiner.