Op-Ed: A Room with a View
Editor Eileen Austen debuts with her thoughts on the global War Against Democracy
March 11, 2022
It seems impossible. Our East Valley Indivisible group, a small group of progressive activists, should begin its first blog with what’s happening continents away, in the beleaguered towns and cities of Ukraine. Unfortunately it’s all too logical, given that democracies around the world are under attack - including our own. As I write this in the quiet of my office, Ukraine is being illegally invaded under the terms of the Geneva Convention, the Russian authorities have arrested thousands of dissidents in hundreds of cities who may or may not be seen or heard from again, scores of Russian soldiers have died in a war that they thought was to be a training exercise. War crimes are being committed against the citizens of Ukraine; men, women and Ukrainian children are dying as you read this. Why? Because they had the gall to want to govern themselves; because they were building a free, democratic country instead of a puppet government ruled by a tyrant.
It’s ironic then, witnessing the possible demise of Ukraine from the comfort of our couches, that here at home some of our wealthiest citizens and most powerful office holders, are obsessed with destroying our own electoral system. There are any number of places to take off with this but I’ll start with what came across my desk this week. Russia has oligarchs - we have billionaires. On the radar screen now is billionaire Richard Uihlein, CEO of Wisconsin based Uline packaging supply company and creator/donor of a very healthy Super PAC. It appears that funds from his Super Pac are being directed to The Voter Reference Foundation, a group dedicated to putting the nation’s voter rolls on-line so everyone can conclude, as they have, that every American election is fraught with fraud.
To date they claim to show that Nevada’s election was hi-jacked, as were those in the battle-ground states of Michigan, Georgia, Ohio and Wisconsin. Under the auspices of Gina Swoboda, a high ranking official in the Arizona Republican Party, 18 additional states have been analyzed and found corrupted, despite the “official” election officials finding nothing wrong.
Perhaps this wouldn’t be so newsworthy if the people in Ukraine weren’t dying on TV, right in front of us, dying to maintain their democracy and the right to vote.
So what can we do? Write, call or visit your representatives in Congress with these messages:
1. Continue the ban on imports from Russia, especially oil
2. Demand that Russia be formally sanctioned for war crimes
3. Demand that we make it possible for Poland to give jets to Ukraine
4. Call for banks worldwide to seize assets of Russian oligarchs
5. Demand that children of oligarchs in American Universities be sent home NOW
Give:
1. International Red Cross - redcross.org
2. International Rescue Committee - rescue.org
3. Save the Children - Ukraine Relief Fund - savethechildren.org