I have submitted and had published a number of letters in The Fountain Hill Times Opinion section, and I am grateful to the paper and Ryan Winslett for the opportunity. To this point, the letters have mostly been non-political; however, I can no longer remain silent.

I am a 60- year-old Republican and 13-year Independent, with a Ukrainian roommate. We have been glued to the TV reporting and I am extremely disappointed in the world powers, including the EU, United States and NATO, for slowly allowing Putin to invade Ukraine! Didn’t we learn anything from Hitler?

I do not think Putin wants to rule the world, but he appears to want to regain the countries which broke off at the fall of the Soviet Union. However, it is also possible he may not stop there. We seem to want to play by “the rules” with someone who has complete disregard for those rules. My informed opinion is that Russian and Ukrainian people in the current embattled areas get along well with each other, except for the minority radicals.

I have little respect for our former president and those who appear in support of Putin and call him a “genius.” They, and the minority radicals in our country, are as much a threat to our democracy as Putin is to Ukraine.

I was going to wait to until closer to the elections to voice my opinion, but time is of the essence, and I can no longer wait. We need to vote out those self-centered, egotistical persons who have such an addiction for power at the expense of others and our democracy! It is not a matter of Democrat vs. Republican; it is a matter of democracy or dictatorship.