To the Editor:
In the movie “The Big Lebowski,” “The Dude” tells the rich tyrant, “This aggression will not stand, Man.” That is what I will repeat to the Russian leaders. We cannot accept what Russia is doing to Ukraine in the 21st Century.

The United States and all other nations should be combining our armies to stop Russia. That means boots on the ground.

War, what is it good for?

Absolutely nothing, except it is necessary to stop an evil maniac who fakes his christianity on Easter while sacrificing the lives of his nation and murders the people of Ukraine all under the stupid notion of recreating a Soviet Union that ultimately disolved because its citizens were sick of that style of leadership.

Vladimir Putin says he doesn’t want the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on his doorstep as the nations west of there are part of NATO. That should be proof he will attack those countries in the future because he doesn't want NATO on his doorstep. Putin is not crazy, he is evil! He is a bully!

We teach our children that bullying is wrong and to not submit to a bully. We, the United States and other significant nations, will not put boots on the ground because of fear. The fear that it will start World War III and nuclear war. Especially since Putin has said so! He is taking advantage of our fear.

Yes, we should be afraid. But we cannot let that fear keep us from driving him out of Ukraine, using all forms of conventional warfare while making it clear we have no interest in invading Russia.

Nobody wants Russia and its problems.

Make clear NATO is a defensive posture against the type of aggression that Russia is currently demonstrating. NATO is not an offensive entity.

When I was a boy, I was bullied by boys two years older than I and they were much more powerful. I finally decided I would confront their bullying because I couldn't take it anymore.

I thought I would take them on in a fight even if I lost. I fought them and took down the smaller guy but the bigger one got me in a choke hold and, just as I was about to pass out, he let me go.

After that, I got respect from the older boys and word got around that I was not a pushover. I no longer was in fear of bullies.

I also experienced fear from three new dogs in the neighborhood and could no longer ride my bike past that house.

The dogs would come running at me, nipping at my heels and gnashing their teeth while barking and growling. I finally determined that they also could not be allowed to bully me. I went back to that house on my bike with a hefty stick and when the dogs came after me I threw down the bike and swung at them. They ran away and never chased me again.

They did, however, stay at the side of the road which was their home and bark at me. 

Now, I know, these examples are not like staring down the barrel of a possible nuclear war! But it makes me sick to watch Putin getting away with mass murder. He knows if he uses a nuclear weapon, he will receive one back.

It would be suicidal for him. You know, a true hero is someone who risks their own life to save another when the odds are against them and they risk dying. That is where the world is right now. The world needs to fight Putin and the Russian Army with everything conventional we have, to drive them back into their own country!

Yes, it’s a big risk, but let’s not allow Russia to control us with fear. We must show them that we are not afraid to retaliate against injustice, against all odds.

My father taught me to use good judgment and be careful taking risks, but wouldn’t you rather respond to adversity like a lion and not a sheep? In the fight for our own nation’s independence from England, many of our own fellow citizens feared breaking ties with the king and proclaiming our own government by the people.

But many became patriots of this new nation and many died just as they feared they might. But they did it with just cause! If we succumb to the possibility of a leader rattling a nuclear saber everytime he wants his way, he will use that tool more often and tread on the rights of any nation and its citizens.

Leaders like Vladimir Putin and the facist autocrats like him will rob nations of the self-evident truths that we put forth in our Declaration of Independence, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

The whole world and humankind must recognize that this should apply to everyone. 

When will we achieve this? Can we achieve this?

Give Putin his place in Hell as he is deserving.

Timothy J. Albright

Meadowdale