Outward Bound, an original acrylic painting
28" X 22", on stretched canvas
( click on image to enlarge )
As I am writing this, over five hundred thousand refugees have fled from Ukraine, and
the ongoing flood of people trying to get over the borders makes it likely that that number
will soon pass the million mark. Families are being torn apart as they flee, in hopes of
finding safety from the Russian's attacks and bombings. They separate at the borders;
the women and children don't know where they will be going, as the men stay behind to
try and defend their country. Nearly five hundred men, women and children have
already been killed, in addition to the thousands who have been injured.
What great sin have the people of Ukraine committed to deserve such an assault from
their brutal neighbor? They have planted a tree of democratic freedom, and they have
been enjoying its fruitful rewards. That has angered Vladimir Putin, who, like a vengeful,
supreme deity, seems determined to eliminate all such subversive knowledge from the
country, before freedom should possibly drift over the border and take root in Russia.
This kind of behavior is par for the course, for a sociopathic, murderous thug like
the ex-KGB agent Putin. He has enriched himself more than the fabled wealth of royal
Czars, all at the expense of the Russian people, while as he was murdering anyone who
opposed him. He is always quick to take advantage of those who are weak and
defenseless, and he sticks his knife into any conflict around the globe, anytime he can
profit from other people's tragedies. He is the reincarnation of Joseph Stalin in every
way, except for the black mustache.
At this point in time, it should be perfectly clear to everyone, that Putin is the true
personification of a thoroughly evil, human being. However, that does not take into
account Putin's fellow sociopaths, such as Donald Trump, who, as his family has
warned us, is someone who thinks only of himself. When Putin and Trump had their
summit talks, the photographs showed them smiling at each other like a pair of Mafia,
crime bosses, having a meeting to divide territories. And now, even in the face of the
fact that Putin is blatantly committing war crimes, and causing the loss of lives and
untold suffering, Trump is still calling Putin very smart, savvy and a genius!
Wouldn't it be nice if Trump could be trapped in Ukraine right now, with the
encircling army, firing closer to him with every passing minute? What would he be
saying about his pal Putin then?
The painting was a recent commission which vaguely fit in with today's posting,
perhaps symbolizing the way people have always had to flee from persecutions of
all kinds, by any means possible, often by ship, across the oceans, to an unknown
land and an unknown fate.
Eugene P. McNerney
