Peaceful Revolution
InaugurationReflecting on Our Past:
Why is this man important to Shenandoah County? Freedom!
Because we often forget that most of the world doesn't enjoy the freedom, and the accompanying wealth, we take for granted.
Just as Shenandoah was the 'breadbasket of the Confederacy', the Ukraine Republic was the 'breadbasket of the Russian Empire'. After the 1917 Communist takeover, persecution, murder and horror became routine. An estimated 10 million Ukrainians were starved to death by the Soviets during the "Holodomor"; almost half of them disposed of in anonymous or unknown graves.
Just in this generation, the negligent operation of the Chernobyl nuclear facility blanketed hundreds of square miles in the Ukraine with poisonous radioactivity, killing untold thousands more.
The photo above is of Victor Yushchenko, now the President of Ukraine. Yushchenko overcame corrupt bureaucracies, vote fraud, slander, libel, telephone taps, and even attempted murder to run for election against a corrupt regime. More accurately, Yushchenko and his Prime Minister Julia Tymoshenko (left) agreed to represent the millions of Ukrainians in their peaceful "Orange Revolution" to obtain freedom, civil rights, and fair elections.
Wear an orange scarf or hat in honor of the Ukrainians' determination to achieve our Western freedoms. Paint your finger purple as a sign of solidarity with new-found Afghan and Iraqi liberties. As we watch people throughout the world take their first faltering and timid steps toward a freedom they never before knew, let us wish them the best.
Let us also count our blessings. Give thanks for the liberties and abundance we enjoy in the United States, in Virginia, and in Shenandoah County. Much of it started right here, and people around the world remind us of how precious it is.
Early History
Virginia Declaration of Rights
Related Links:
Orange Ukraine with many more good links
Color Us Orange, an American overview
Elena's Orange Revolution is an excellent photo-essay, also check out her rides through the Chernobyl "dead zone"