Thank you for writing this post. I sit in my cozy house in the USA with tears streaming down my face. My husband spent time in Kiev and Zaporizhzia in 2002 in an exchange with the National Press Association to help Ukraine set up a free press. I am so sad to think about what may have happened to the wonderful people who visited us here and who welcomed us to their beautiful country❤️
I’m listening and they say there is an eerie deafening silence in Kyiv and a reporter sees a lone person walking down the street as the Russians are tearing their way into the capital. How can it happen so quickly….
So unbelievable and depressing…. 😞 the poor people who are hiding from what is to come….
Well put. But, the ugly truth that almost is never ever voiced in US mainstream media or political discussions is that, since the end of the Nuremberg Trials, the Bonhoeffer's of the world have been effectively locked out of any meaningful action. There was a window of time following WWII when the US could have used its position to help create a global judicial system capable of actually punishing major powers for wrongful geo-political behavior. We could have established a global police capability with real teeth. But that would have meant such a system would have been capable of reigning in US bad behavior as well, and THAT was never even thinkable to the US political class, regardless of who was in power. It can be argued that perhaps one US president, Carter, would have pushed for this but was never allowed to. The truth, rather obvious from anywhere outside the US — it is the US itself that has worked tirelessly to stop real freedom from blossoming anywhere that it could not control. The only people on the planet who fail to see this are mainstream Americans (right, center or even left.) Britain shared this affliction during its own turn as Emperor. It is a blindness common to all empire states. I say this as an American who fought my entire life to change that reality but failed. The truth is, we were the ones who chose the current world order. And now our turn at the top of the heap is coming to an end.
Feb 28, 2022·edited Feb 28, 2022Liked by Nancy Whiteman
Governments dither while the Ukraine burns...
A bright surprise is Anonomous resurfacing and doing what needs to be done now. They frightened me a little when I first heard about them, but now that I know they attack bullies like the KKK, and Putin's gang, I'm in!
Nancy, thanks so much for writing this piece. I too love your writing, your perspective and most of all your heart.
Al and I are both offspring of Ukrainian and Romanian parents. Their stories are now visual for us as we watch the horrors of what they lived through repeating in present time.
And now I ask, what can I do for these brave people under attack. but pray for them?
My son sent me a video of what is happening outside his window downtown Calgary. The trucks are blaring their horns in response to the mandate that truckers must be vaccinated. However the next text from both my daughter and son said music to their ears compared to what's happening in Ukraine. This is so sad, Peace and Love
I've been looking for reactions from Americans in Portugal, so thank you for your post. May I ask, given the current situation, do you wish you'd stayed in the US, or do you feel more comfortable being in Portugal?
As a child refugee in the US after a revolution, I grew up amazed at the majority of USamericans’s ignorance and disconnection to the realities of a war at home. This is to be understood, for it is not in the social body collective memory of the country, as the last time a war was fought at “home” was the Civil War. We might might ask ourselves this morning:
how different is the Putin invasion of Ukraine to the Bush the Second invasion of Iraq?
Fulfilling a 20-year old heart directive to leave an imploding nation, my family and I moved to Portugal seven months ago. With friends from Ukraine in our lives, we have closely followed for months what is now unfolding only 37 hours driving distance to Kyiv. And as a devoted student of history, I am also reminded of three Wake Up calls: that the average age of empires is under 300 years; that the United States will reach 250 years in 2026; and the most important one, that in a 100 years, most of us alive today will no longer be here on Planet Earth!
Nancy, you say “ I suspect, if I still lived in the United States, I would feel that way now. But I don’t and this feels different.”……. Feel what way? What are you implying, that you will only feel it if you lost someone or if it’s on you soil?
Hmmm, I do not subscribe to this line of thinking.
"War happens in the distance … it is an ocean away. I suspect, if I still lived in the United States, I would feel that way now. But I don’t and this feels different." As someone in the US who recently applied for a visa to live in Portugal, I am struck with fear and confusion regarding the future. I want to move to Portugal in order to remove myself from what I see as a dire political future. Of course, we are all inter-connected and the world is small, so war anywhere affects everyone but deliberately relocating to a continent experiencing war does seem counter-intuitive to me and I am already dug in quite deep with the relocation process. Having said this, I am deeply grateful for your post as I was recently excoriated on a facebook page for asking about the perceived threat of this war by folks in Portugal. I hope you will keep us up to date on this with your more enlightened perspective from where you sit. Namaste
My undergraduate degree was also in religion. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was the epitome of an ethical thinker.
I like the way you think. Your posts are always poignant, insightful and interesting, and I enjoy following your journey. Last summer I spent two weeks on Portugal and I loved it- all but the food. It has to be a very strange and different feeling living on the western edge of a continent where war is now a reality. Keep safe and well.
Thank you for organizing my thoughts. I was already in the air on 9-11, and having my thoughts/feelings from that day brought forward to this current world-changing event is powerful. Heartbroken then and now.
Thank you for writing this post. I sit in my cozy house in the USA with tears streaming down my face. My husband spent time in Kiev and Zaporizhzia in 2002 in an exchange with the National Press Association to help Ukraine set up a free press. I am so sad to think about what may have happened to the wonderful people who visited us here and who welcomed us to their beautiful country❤️
I’m listening and they say there is an eerie deafening silence in Kyiv and a reporter sees a lone person walking down the street as the Russians are tearing their way into the capital. How can it happen so quickly….
So unbelievable and depressing…. 😞 the poor people who are hiding from what is to come….
Well put. But, the ugly truth that almost is never ever voiced in US mainstream media or political discussions is that, since the end of the Nuremberg Trials, the Bonhoeffer's of the world have been effectively locked out of any meaningful action. There was a window of time following WWII when the US could have used its position to help create a global judicial system capable of actually punishing major powers for wrongful geo-political behavior. We could have established a global police capability with real teeth. But that would have meant such a system would have been capable of reigning in US bad behavior as well, and THAT was never even thinkable to the US political class, regardless of who was in power. It can be argued that perhaps one US president, Carter, would have pushed for this but was never allowed to. The truth, rather obvious from anywhere outside the US — it is the US itself that has worked tirelessly to stop real freedom from blossoming anywhere that it could not control. The only people on the planet who fail to see this are mainstream Americans (right, center or even left.) Britain shared this affliction during its own turn as Emperor. It is a blindness common to all empire states. I say this as an American who fought my entire life to change that reality but failed. The truth is, we were the ones who chose the current world order. And now our turn at the top of the heap is coming to an end.
Governments dither while the Ukraine burns...
A bright surprise is Anonomous resurfacing and doing what needs to be done now. They frightened me a little when I first heard about them, but now that I know they attack bullies like the KKK, and Putin's gang, I'm in!
Thank you for writing this.
Nancy, thanks so much for writing this piece. I too love your writing, your perspective and most of all your heart.
Al and I are both offspring of Ukrainian and Romanian parents. Their stories are now visual for us as we watch the horrors of what they lived through repeating in present time.
And now I ask, what can I do for these brave people under attack. but pray for them?
My son sent me a video of what is happening outside his window downtown Calgary. The trucks are blaring their horns in response to the mandate that truckers must be vaccinated. However the next text from both my daughter and son said music to their ears compared to what's happening in Ukraine. This is so sad, Peace and Love
Thank you for writing this post Nancy.
I've been looking for reactions from Americans in Portugal, so thank you for your post. May I ask, given the current situation, do you wish you'd stayed in the US, or do you feel more comfortable being in Portugal?
Both Kimberly & Franklyn have spoken for me.
As a child refugee in the US after a revolution, I grew up amazed at the majority of USamericans’s ignorance and disconnection to the realities of a war at home. This is to be understood, for it is not in the social body collective memory of the country, as the last time a war was fought at “home” was the Civil War. We might might ask ourselves this morning:
how different is the Putin invasion of Ukraine to the Bush the Second invasion of Iraq?
Fulfilling a 20-year old heart directive to leave an imploding nation, my family and I moved to Portugal seven months ago. With friends from Ukraine in our lives, we have closely followed for months what is now unfolding only 37 hours driving distance to Kyiv. And as a devoted student of history, I am also reminded of three Wake Up calls: that the average age of empires is under 300 years; that the United States will reach 250 years in 2026; and the most important one, that in a 100 years, most of us alive today will no longer be here on Planet Earth!
It is sickening even here in the US. Your pic of the injured woman needs to be on TV here because Trump, Pompeo and Tucker are on TV promoting Putin.
Nancy, you say “ I suspect, if I still lived in the United States, I would feel that way now. But I don’t and this feels different.”……. Feel what way? What are you implying, that you will only feel it if you lost someone or if it’s on you soil?
Hmmm, I do not subscribe to this line of thinking.
"War happens in the distance … it is an ocean away. I suspect, if I still lived in the United States, I would feel that way now. But I don’t and this feels different." As someone in the US who recently applied for a visa to live in Portugal, I am struck with fear and confusion regarding the future. I want to move to Portugal in order to remove myself from what I see as a dire political future. Of course, we are all inter-connected and the world is small, so war anywhere affects everyone but deliberately relocating to a continent experiencing war does seem counter-intuitive to me and I am already dug in quite deep with the relocation process. Having said this, I am deeply grateful for your post as I was recently excoriated on a facebook page for asking about the perceived threat of this war by folks in Portugal. I hope you will keep us up to date on this with your more enlightened perspective from where you sit. Namaste
Tr
My undergraduate degree was also in religion. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was the epitome of an ethical thinker.
I like the way you think. Your posts are always poignant, insightful and interesting, and I enjoy following your journey. Last summer I spent two weeks on Portugal and I loved it- all but the food. It has to be a very strange and different feeling living on the western edge of a continent where war is now a reality. Keep safe and well.
Thank you for organizing my thoughts. I was already in the air on 9-11, and having my thoughts/feelings from that day brought forward to this current world-changing event is powerful. Heartbroken then and now.