No, it wasn’t the Simon & Garfunkel dream about the world agreeing to put an end to war, though I wish it had been, since it might have had a chance of coming true today. Rather, I dreamt that I was riding in an official limousine with some other people when we were caught in a hail of gunfire. We ducked down, hightailed it out of there, and escaped unharmed, except for the dog, who was sadly shot and killed. But we still had to hide from gangs of terrorists who were everywhere . . . though they looked more like street gangs out of West Side Story than 21st-Century international terrorists. Anyway . . .

The other details — which are still incredibly clear in my mind — are not relevant here. The only reason I’m telling you this story is because this morning, when I looked at the news headlines, I saw that Slovakia’s Prime Minister, Robert Fico, had been shot and seriously wounded in “a hail of gunfire.”

Oh! My! God! I’m psychic!

Well, hardly. At least, I don’t think so. It’s just coincidence, right?

But about the Prime Minister. I’ve written about him before, out of concern for his Moscow-leaning form of government; his friendliness toward Viktor Orban, the similarly-inclined Prime Minister of Hungary; and Slovakia’s pulling away from its support of Ukraine — with whom it shares a border, albeit one of just 97 km. (about 60 miles).

I know I have expressed a desire to see both of these men out of office, hopefully to be replaced by more liberal leaders. But I do not — NOT EVER — wish anyone bodily harm. And the news report that just flashed on my screen indicates that, after three hours of surgery, Robert Fico is still fighting for his life, and “the situation is bad.” [BBC, May 15, 2024, 2:50 p.m. EDT.]

I sincerely hope Mr. Fico recovers. Would I like to see him take this attack as a sign that it’s time for him to leave the political arena? Yes, I would. But I also hope that this assassination attempt — which has already been labelled as politically motivated — will have failed. We need Slovakia, Hungary, and all the other Eastern European nations within NATO’s orbit; but not at the cost of people’s lives . . . or the loss of human decency and civilized society.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
5/15/24 – 3:00 p.m. EDT