I appreciate the thinking here. I am not a proponent of sanctions.

I do think, though, that Putin cares even less about the people of Russia than the Bolsheviks did--realizing how much that is saying. His is a personal dictatorship, not a Party dictatorship. His own personal well-being is all he cares about as he seeks, whyever he does, to outlive democracy's existence anywhere on the planet. I am convinced that there is no leverage that can be used to get him to alter his actions as the ruler of Russia. Either he will prevail or he will die while trying, whatever the cost to however many others.

For Ukraine, the only options are military victory or defeat. I am for giving Ukraine all the suppoprt we can, but I do agree that sanctions are largely counterproductive.