There is a pathway to peace in Ukraine that the United States should broker, and support wholeheartedly. It's not the one being pushed by Trump and his sycophants in the state department, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Here's the simple version. Russia gets out. Withdraws. Signs a treaty with Ukraine, verified by the UN to never attack militarily again, and pays for the damage. Ukraine then is free to do as it pleases as it continues to develop into a constitutional democracy. If it wants to join NATO, it can. If it wants to continue to be Russia's chief food supplier, so be it.

Ukraine and its people have a long history about which most Americans are completely uninformed. The fact that it has finally come out from the oppression of Russia, in several different forms from Czarist monarchy to communism to current fascist oligarchy is remarkable. It's the kind of "nation building" that hard line conservative Americans have supported since the Second World War, and of which we got a small taste and experience in Korea and Vietnam.

I am continuously writing to my Democratic house and senate members to encourage their full support for Ukraine, and their willingness to stop any negotiations or treaties which do not achieve this objective. I encourage readers to do the same. Call your senator today, and find out if the Democrats have the backbone and fortitude to stand against what Trump is trying to do to help his good buddy Vladimir Putin.