We Are All Ukrainians

It is impossible to turn away from the news reports of the ongoing war in Ukraine that we see 24/7 on our televisions and computer screens.

To be honest, we’ve had it with all of the other recent political, economic, and COVID-related commentaries that run in an endless loop ad nauseam on the news.

We just tune them out.

But when it comes to the heartbreaking, disturbing, and infuriating coverage of all aspects of the war in Ukraine, we feel almost duty-bound to watch in order to bear witness to the genocide that the sociopath in the Kremlin has wrought upon these poor people.

Yes, perhaps we can identify with what is happening in Ukraine because so much of what we see in their lives and the lives of their children mimics our own. Some of those Ukrainian suburban streets and playgrounds could be Anytown, USA.

The recent events in Ukraine have brought to mind the occasion when President John F. Kennedy spoke in front of the Berlin Wall in 1963 and concluded his speech with the famous and inspiring words, “Ich bin ein Berliner!” — “I am a Berliner!”

Today, peace-loving people (who presumably are all of us) across the country and the globe feel the same way about Ukraine. Hopefully, we will have the fortitude to remain resolute in our support for Ukraine and its innocent people and be willing to accept some degree of sacrifice (such as higher prices) in our personal lives in order to thwart the genocidal maniac who is destroying their country and uprooting their lives.

To paraphrase what JFK might say today: “All free people, wherever they may live, are citizens of Ukraine.”

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