Scott. I'm going to bring back my time in Czechoslovakia shortly after communism fell. There was big highway interchange on the south side of Brno. Near one of the off ramps was a tower that looked over that interchange. The tower had steps to its high platform. I asked my Czech girlfriend what was that tower for. She said that during communist times, a Russian soldier or two would occupy that tower most of the day, watching traffic.

In my mind, the main purpose of that tower was to remind the Czech citizens that the Russians were not that far away. And they had guns.

Later I moved to Trnava, a Slovak city of about 80.000 people. I observed an inner city complex that was undergoing repairs. I asked my friend what was it before. My friend said it used to belong to the Catholic Church who used it for schools and hospitals in pre-industrial times. The Russians confiscated the building after WW2 and used to as barracks for 50 or so Russian soldiers, who were just wandering around Trnava with their uniforms and rifles.

Every city in eastern Europe had these Russian garrisons.

Ukrainians do not want Russian occupation. They are willing to go through a lot of crap not to have this situation again.

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There is an American analogy that is shaping up similar to the occupation of Czechoslovakia. I--and more than a few other writers--are seeing the possibility of the Republican Party eventually taking total control of the USA. Here is my recent article on this matter:

https://medium.com/politically-speaking/the-trump-decline-bf2dea968164

If this takeover happens, would you sue for "less war" at the expense of having thugs in uniforms with rifles strolling around your town? If so, then should we not expect high-ranking Republicans to be making arbitrary laws?