Dear Editor,

The vaudevillian comic duo Olsen and Johnson had a skit that goes like this: Hitler, when asked about Germany's invasion of the neighboring countries and his role in wanting peace said, "I want piece, a piece of Poland, a piece of Austria!"Sadly, history may be repeating itself. What part of Eastern Europe will be next on Putin's agenda? Are we going to be an ostrich again and rationalize that Putin is not a dictator? A former KBG agent who undoubtedly misses the hey-day of the USSR political power and surrounds himself with "yes" men.That so-called election that annexed part of the Ukraine seems to be suspect that the sad days of a totalitarian regime are slowly, quietly and underhandedly coming back.My grandfather immigrated to America in the early 1900s. Fortunately, a Jewish tailor gave "Pop" enough money to escape Lithuania. He and some other young men crossed the Uriel mountains, putting their hands in deer dung to keep them warm.Was the Czarist regime better than Stalin's? Not really. The peasants were treated cruelly under both. As a history professor, P.K. Adams at Bloomsburg State said, "You can beat a man and he will take it; you starve a man's family and you'll have an angry man on your hands." This excellent history professor also said, "You can't kill an idea but you can kill a man with an idea."Putin is no dummy. He knows that a military intervention is highly unlikely. Let us hope and pray that whomever has his finger on the nuclear button is psychologically stable ...on both sides! To think that Russia doesn't have the capability of inundating us is being a super ostrich and not a super power. If you saw the movie, "Planet of the Apes," staring Charlton Heston, recollect the ending?He escapes and says, "Oh, God! They did it" and it shows a bent and ravaged Statue of Liberty.What can we do? We can start by cutting, reducing or eliminating financial aid to countries that thumb their noses at us and still expect more money or the lives of our brave young soldiers. Hasn't the Middle East been killing each other since man has walked upright?Has the U.N. become totally ineffective on the important issues genocide, starving children, refusing to allow relief organizations like the Red Cross enter certain parts of the ravaged nations. President Obama should insist that ALL nations with any guts make the embargo work 100 percent.Despite all our flaws we must be doing something right, otherwise why do so many foreigners struggle to enter America?See you at the primaries and the election.Too lazy to vote ... shame on you! Bet the Ukrainians would be eager to swap places with you, comrade!Joseph P. KubertHometown