LilliPutin Joins The List

History has a long list of diminutive despots and tiny tyrants infamous for their atrocities against humanity. It appears that Putin is bent on joining that list if he hasn't already done so. From his time in the KGB to his decade of autocratic rule and hired assassins, it is difficult to determine the number of deaths resulting from his policies. As I type this, he is adding to his number in Ukraine and, of course, lying about how many innocent people are dying, including women, children, and babies.

Why tiny tyrants or diminutive despots and dictators? History has been replete with small men (mostly men) with outsized egos and visions of greatness, resulting in the senseless deaths of millions of people, as the chart below shows. To be sure, there have been average-to-large size dictators who have committed mass murder, but the little guys seem to specialize in this behavior. Admittedly, LilliPutin is in the upper quartile of little people, but then it would not surprise me to find that he uses lifts in his shoes, given his narcissism.

I often wonder why so many little men have this complex about being short; maybe it's caused by having to look up all the time, causing a painful pinched nerve in the neck that makes them angry. 😁 I should point out here that I am 5' 5" (that used to be 6"), and I feel that I have a license to poke fun at little people.

I think I had a real sense of my shortness in high school when it came to sports, but it became apparent to me when I went to the Marines, and they organized our platoon of eighty men according to height. The shortest eight of us were in what the Drill Instructor called "The Little People's Squad." That first day, as I looked down the ranks to the other end where the 6' 6" Texan Right Guide stood, was when I realized I was probably in the shorts ten percent of the men in the world. It was not a thing for me; it was simply an interesting statistic. I found I could compete equally with the big boys, and in some events like climbing a rope or doing push-ups, I could beat them handily because I was only pulling this small 140-pound body up a rope while they had to haul 220 pounds. They appointed me the Squad Leader, resulting in a few humorous incidents discussed in my autobiography, Almost An Orphan.

I write this with an element of humor, but there is nothing funny about the atrocities resulting from Putin's murderous and misguided decisions regarding Ukraine. Yes, the two nations, Ukraine is a nation whether Putin wants to admit it or not, have a long history. Here's is an excerpt from The Times Of India that is a good summary of the situation:

"Russia and Ukraine have shared a troubled past that stretches all the way back to the 10th century. Both Russia and Ukraine share the same cultural roots. However, over the course of time, both the countries developed different cultural and political identities. While Kyiv has resisted Moscow's attempts to impose its supremacy over Ukraine, the latter has always insisted that Ukraine has always been a part of Russia."

I intentionally picked The Times Of India for this historical perspective so that no one could suggest that I was cherry-picking what Putin likes to call "U.S. propaganda." I suggest you follow the link in this paragraph to understand the issues better.

Whether you come down on the side of Ukraine or Russia in this debate, one fact is irrefutable, Putin/Russia is wrong in militarily attacking Ukraine. Neither the reward nor price they will pay over the next decades will ever justify the destruction and killing their decision has wrought. The world has a process for settling these disputes without bombs, missiles, tanks, and the needless slaughter of innocent civilians; the United Nations Security Council. That is where these two nations should arbitrate their dispute, and a solution found; not in the smoke and ruin of hospitals and apartment buildings across the country of Ukraine.

Putin still has a tiny window to do the right thing, in my opinion, by calling an immediate truce. Allow the world to come to the aid of Ukraine and its people, then take this dispute to mediation in the U.N. The quagmire Putin finds himself in will only grow worse until, in all likelihood, Putin will find himself out of a job; the Russian people will only put up with so much.

Note: I use Grammarly, a grammar and writing assist tool. They have set up links to help the people of Ukraine in many ways - it's your choice. I hope you will look and perhaps donate at least a little to help these people. https://www.grammarly.com/stand-with-ukraine