The new meaning of bad-ass

Could we possibly follow suit?

I remain moved by the valor of the Ukrainian people who, in the face of a vicious Russian invasion, are getting shit done. The video above is a neighborhood party where citizens are making Molotov cocktails (more on those here). These are not military operatives. They are teachers and bus drivers and waiters and they learned to make bombs by consulting Google.

TikTok users are carefully charting the movement of Russian troops. I have watched videos of bombs dropping, and the gentle hands of mothers trying to soothe their frightened children in Kyiv shelters. They are removing street signs so the invaders will get lost, and replacing those signs with “Good Luck.” So let me amend my earlier statement: These people are getting shit done with bombs dropping all around them.

I just wrote something about this for Hearst (a piece from which the capable editing process removed the words “fuck” and “teeny-weeny-peeny parade,” the faux truck convoy) which I won’t link here because it’s behind a paywall and I’m assuming not all of you are subscribers, and no, I don’t have a way around the paywall.

By comparison, stateside skirmishes are petty and sad. I’m going to assume that not everyone in the video above likes one other, but here they are, united in a common goal (turning back the Russians, as we should have been united in turning back COVID).

This isn’t even a metaphor for which you must search. This is a lantern lighting the way. Treat the world as you would if you were the target of a military invasion. Or, more colloquially, treat it as you would if a tornado has passed through. It doesn’t matter if you like the guy whose house just got blown to thunder. A guy’s house got blown to thunder and he needs your help. Talk politics later. Do what needs to be done now.