Picayune Extra: Ukraine holds on for a hero

Let's hope the besieged country doesn't end up with a martyr instead

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Like most of you, I’m guessing, I didn’t know anything about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy until his name surfaced as the target of former President Donald Trump’s transparent effort in July, 2019 to link U.S. military aid to an investigation of Hunter Biden. Zelenskyy — sometimes spelled Zelensky — was the “you” in “I would like you to do us a favor though…”

The then-newly elected Zelenskyy came across as an oleaginous supplicant in the transcript of the phone call that got Trump impeached for the first time. But in recent days he has shown such courage in the face of the Russian invasion of his nation that he’s given the quislings and autocrats of the world a brisk lesson in both heroism and patriotism. This along with his now-famous declaration, “I need ammunition, not a ride” ought to endear him to every freedom loving person on the planet.

Social media screen grab that, yes, shows an old photo of Zelensky.

Ought to, but alas. The support for Russian despot Vladimir Putin on America’s putatively “law and order” right is discouraging and disgusting. Trump’s giddy enthusiasm for Putin coupled with his failure to say what, if anything, he would be doing differently than the Biden administration right now ought to infuriate traditional Republicans who fancy themselves at the forefront of the global battle for liberty. But only a few are breaking ranks. The rest are opportunists and hypocrites, every bit as greasy and spineless as Zelenskyy sounded in that phone call.

We too promiscuously throw around the word “hero” to describe accomplished athletes and other very successful people, leaving us without a word to distinguish those who exhibit the unusual and often necessary combination of courage, sacrifice, determination and integrity that comprises real heroism. The humility and selflessness Zelenskyy expressed in his inaugural address (see the tweet at the top of this page) is what we ought to look for and so seldom get in our political leaders.

In my regular Monday conversation on WGN-AM 720 with John Williams yesterday I asked who qualifies these days as a hero. Many first responders and medical personnel, of course, particularly during the pandemic. But I also nominated three Republicans who have put their careers and their futures on the line to stand up to Trump’s raging bully tactics and the millions of poltroons in his ranks.

Enter your nominees in comments.

Don’t play ball!

Whatever the outcome of the current talks between the Major League Baseball and the players’ union is OK with me if it serves to shorten the excruciatingly long season filled with often excruciatingly long games.

I’d be fine with a season that started in mid May and wrapped up in early October — around 100 games plus playoffs — and I’d be thrilled if officials could institute drastic rule changes to shorten games so they last closer to two hours than the current average of a little more than three hours.

As the billionaires fight with the millionaires over how best to divvy up the money that ticket buyers and subscription TV viewers are willing to fork over to enjoy their product, let me ask you — in comments or in this click poll: How long do you think the baseball season should be?

‘Local newsrooms strained by budget-slashing financial firms’

CBS screen grab

My former colleagues Gary Marx and David Jackson were featured prominently in a “60 Minutes” report Sunday on how Alden Global Capital and similar investors are eviscerating local journalism.

Jackson: We've always been aware that we're doing journalism in a capitalist democracy. And we've always embraced that. But we felt that Alden didn't recognize the civic trust that's embedded in this profit-making machine.

The villains of the piece once again did not consent to being interviewed. How to support their victims without also supporting them is an increasingly vexing conundrum.

Notes and comments from readers —lightly edited —- along with my responses

Some of these letters are in reference items in last Thursday’s Picayune Sentinel.

Steve H. — Regarding the 10th anniversary of the killing of Trayvon Martin on Feb. 26, you wrote that the timeline of events “makes it clear that Martin, who could have easily made it safely home, doubled back to confront George Zimmerman and beat him up, presumably for profiling and following him."

But what evidence is there that Martin intended to beat up Zimmerman? Perhaps Martin confronted Zimmerman, who pulled out the gun and threatened Martin with it. And Martin attempted to defend himself. Perhaps Martin was worried that Zimmerman intended to follow him home and kill him and his family and he didn't go home because he didn't want to lead a potentially dangerous man, who was acting suspiciously, to his home.

I was surprised to get so little pushback on the revival of my contention that most people have a significant misunderstanding of events in Sanford, Fla. that night and that the media narrative to this day borders on the irresponsible.

There is plenty of evidence I didn’t bother to mention that supports the idea that Martin was the aggressor. For instance, text message and other evidence that he was very fond of mixed martial arts-style fighting and bragged of having won some schoolyard fights. Then there is the trial testimony of eyewitness John Good when he described what he saw of the altercation prior to Zimmerman firing his gun.

Defense attorney Mark O'Mara: The person who you now know to be Trayvon Martin was on top correct?

Good: Correct

O’Mara: And he was the one raining blows down on the person on the bottom, George Zimmerman?

Good: Right. That's what it looked like.

And there is the evidence that, when police first played the 911 audio on which you could overhear one of the combatants shrieking for help, Martin’s own father said the voice was not his son’s.

Steve H. is not the first to attempt to put forth the contradictory notion that Martin was at once so terrified that Zimmerman was out to kill him and perhaps his family that he was too scared even to go home (where a locked door would provide significant protection), and so brave that he circled back to attack this dangerous, potentially armed person rather than calling 911 and trying to hide.

But even after going to this absurd length to rehabilitate the tattered tale of victimhood, he’s still left with Martin beating the crap out of Zimmerman for no good reason. Zimmerman was not following or chasing Martin. No evidence supports that theory. He was standing near a light waiting for the police to arrive. He was not breaking the law, he was not threatening anyone.

Police investigators knew this, and they brought charges well after the fact only because of massive protests. The filing of charges certainly made many people feel good but was an example of attempted mob justice that should give everyone pause. The police were right the first time. If this fatal interaction had involved two people of the same race or ethnicity, no charges would have been filed and the charade of the trial would never have happened.

My friends on the left ought to realize that it’s unbecoming to complain about the distortions and manipulations of Fox News if your own commitment to the truth is flabby and opportunistic.

Ya gotta see these tweets!

I often run across tweets that are too visual in nature to include in the Tweet of the Week contest (the template for the poll does not allow the use of images). Here are a few good ones I’ve come across recently:

Uncle Duke@UncleDuke1969

plagiarism can be dangerous

3:36 AM · Feb 27, 2022

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108 Reposts · 389 Likes

There’s still time to vote in the conventional Tweet of the Week poll!

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