Today is Thursday, March 10, 2022. Even though the war in Ukraine is in the third week of operation, it is very clear to anyone in the know that Russia has suffered very significant casualties since the invasion began. More Russian troops were killed in Ukraine in two weeks than U.S. troops in the entire Iraq War, U.S. officials estimate. Few military experts think the war is actually going well for Russia. These facts are mentioned in an article for my online smartphone edition of The Week written by Peter Weber entitled “More Russian troops were killed in Ukraine in 2 weeks than U.S. troops in entire Iraq War, U.S. estimates.”

Even though Russian forces are making inroads in southern Ukraine, they are still suffering significant losses at the hands of the brave Ukrainians. The United States estimates between 5,000 and 6,000 Russian troops killed in action, which is comparable to losses in World War II battles, the U.S. official said. The losses also compare to the number of Americans killed during the Iraq War.

Ukrainian forces continue to destroy a stalled 40-mile-long Russian military convoy north of Kyiv, and the “unexpected effectiveness” of Ukraine’s air defenses has curtailed Russian air activity, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said early today, in its latest public intelligence assessment.

It is evident from how the war has been waged these 15 days that Vladimir Putin did not foresee the ferocity of the Ukrainian people in fighting his forces. Ukrainian diplomat Volodymyr Shalkivskyi said, “Putin truly believed people would greet (Russians) with flowers. Instead, they were met with Molotov cocktails.” This Ukrainian diplomat indicated that Russian soldiers did not have extra ammo or food in their packs. These Russian soldiers, however, did have a parade uniform for a Russian victory parade through Kyiv, he added. They did not count on the Ukrainians fighting so aggressively in order to maintain freedom at all costs.

Here in America, Putin’s “useful Republican idiots” are still sowing anti-Ukrainian fervor among their gullible base, with one in particular, Representative Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina who has been slammed in a video in which the young Trumpist is heard calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “thug” and his government “evil.” In the video, this evil young man tells his ignorant supporters that “Remember that Zelensky is a thug.” He goes on to repeat a Putin trope, saying, “the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt and is incredibly evil and has been pushing woke ideologies.”

Castigating the young representative for his out-of-touch sentiments, California Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell tweeted that “100 percent of Democrats are Zelensky Democrats. 50 percent of Republicans are Putin Republicans.”

The young Cawthorn is running – God forbid – for reelection in his western North Carolina district. One of his opponents, Michele Woodhouse, told WRAL, a CNN-affiliate television station in Raleigh, that aired Cawthorn’s original remarks, that her opponent’s comments were “boorish,” and “out of touch,” and calling Zelensky a “hero,” definitely not a “thug.”

The former White House Director of Strategic Communications under former president Dumpf, Alyssa Farah Griffin, shied away from criticizing the young lawmaker but did characterize the situation as “disgraceful” and “not how a sitting lawmaker should speak about a U.S. ally.” She then says that Cawthorn “is echoing Russian propaganda.”

Voicing stronger condemnation against Cawthorn, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Jaimie Harrison, tweeted that it was “yet another ‘dim-witted’ statement from the delinquents that run the GOP aka the Party of Putin. Zelensky is fighting for freedom and the lives of his people and this guy is driving around with a revoked license and beating up dead trees.” Harrison is referring here to an earlier incident with Cawthorn who has been charged recently with driving with a revoked license.

This is a first: Republicans in Cawthorn’s own party have come out swinging against his stupid comments. Iowa Senator Joni Ernst said, “To my colleague in the House, I would push back and say it’s not Ukraine that is invading Russia. It is Russia invading Ukraine.”

Another North Carolina House Republican candidate for Cawthorn’s office, state Senator Chuck Edwards said, “Let’s be clear. The thug is Vladimir Putin. We must unite as a nation to pray for President Zelensky and the brave people of Ukraine who are fighting for their lives and their freedom. Anything less is counter to everything we stand for in America.”

In defense of his ghastly pro-Putin comments, Cawthorn did try to clarify his views of the conflict on Twitter. He does say, “The actions of Putin and Russia are disgusting.” Here he finally recognizes the danger of Putin toward an independent country but then he adds, inexplicably, “But leaders, including Zelensky, should NOT push misinformation on America.” Maybe this young asshole should have directed this last statement to his own Orange Blob who has invested an inordinate amount of time in pushing lies and misinformation onto Americans all throughout the election of 2020 and afterward! Of course, Cawthorn will never acknowledge how dangerous Dumpf is to this country at this moment. Because he’s part of the problem!

Before I leave you tonight, I just saw this great posting on an anti-Trump Facebook page, so here it goes:

Q: What’s the difference between a Ukrainian and a Republican?

A: Ukrainians DEFEND their capital.

Don’t you love it? I think this distinction is so true of one of our major political parties today. It’s pathetic and so sad. Who ever thought we’d have a minority in that party supporting our Cold War adversary. Ronald Reagan would be turning in his grave if he knew how some in the Republican Party now view Russia in the midst of a war against a democratic republic in eastern Europe.

So tomorrow is Friday, the eighteenth day of renovation in our kitchen. Today I participated, in a very small way, in putting our granite countertop into position. Our contractor had the custodian help him lift the heavy slab. I just helped Chris lift one side of the countertop to put it into position. So there is some progress made here. The sink was also put in today. Tomorrow the kitchen faucet will be put in. Elliot and I have to actually return the faucet that we picked up in Home Depot last week with Cameron since he realized the height of the spout is too high; it will not fit into the space between the counter and the bottom of the cabinet. Oh well, it’s back to the drawing board then. We have nothing pressing to do tomorrow anyway.

So have a Good Friday.

Stay safe and be well.