Russian President Vladimir Putin is stuck, humiliated and probably mentally ill. That makes for scary times ahead. Are Western democracies tough enough for the threats of 2022? So far, so good.

Russia’s aggression underlines the potential of the U.S. having to fight simultaneous wars in Europe and Asia, to defend NATO and to stave off a China attack on Taiwan or elsewhere, when our forces currently may not be adequate to winning one fight.

Whatever your view of it, town meeting time often brings out a few national media types who tromp through the snow to a meeting somewhere in Maine, New Hampshire or Vermont, sit for a few minutes of debate about, say, buying radios for the fire company, shoot some film and file a story about crusty old New Englanders governing themselves.

At an exigent moment, when they were given a chance to vindicate that humanity, guardians of Ukraine’s border stomped it instead. Make no mistake: The hearts of all good people are with the citizens of Ukraine. They’ve shown beyond doubt that they have courage enough to fight for their country. But let them also have courage enough to be a country worth fighting for.

Argue, yes, but don’t demean the humanity or patriotism of someone with whom you disagree. Bob always urged people to sit down and listen to someone who belongs to a different political party, a different religion, a different ethnic or cultural group. You might not end up agreeing with each other, he said, but you will better understand the other person.

The Russian tanks may roll into Kyiv, but Russia won’t ultimately triumph over Ukrainian nationalism.

Erdogan knows from recent memory the pain Turkey feels when economic ties with Russia are hindered. The last time trade between the two countries was severely constrained was in 2015: Then, the restraints were imposed by Putin, in retaliation for Turkey’s shooting down a Russian military jet. The number of Russian visitors plummeted, and the Turkish leader was obliged to apologize.

The rise in violent crime is a clear and present danger to the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, and progressive prosecutors allied with Black Lives Matter who have pursued soft-on-crimes policies in the midst of a crime wave are under fire, facing either recalls or heavy criticism.

Moving the world away from fossil fuels would erase Russian President Vladimir Putin’s biggest nonnuclear weapon. After all, oil and gas accounted for 39% of Russia’s budget revenue and 60% of its exports in 2019.