Friday Smiles 464: a smile worthy photo and words about Zellenskyy

 

It's Friday and I'm once again joining Friday Smiles which is hosted by Annie (at A Stitch in Time).   Let's visit her and the other wonderful ladies who also share their smiles each Friday.  This has been another difficult week because I have been experiencing pain from my fall last week.  Seems I am having trouble with my back and hip in addition to my bottom, which I initially thought took the brunt of the fall.  I now have trouble sitting in my computer chair for any length of time.  

I have one smile worthy thing to share this week.

It's my beautiful Bleubeard who actually allowed me to take a photo of him.  He is even sporting his new green and pink cat collar, but you can't see it for all the fur.  If this isn't smile worthy, I don't know what is!

Here's a bit of food for thought:

I call this a lesson in economics.

I think many, if not most of us have a deep respect for Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his bravery.  But are you aware he rose to fame initially as a comedian?

Zelenskyy studied law in Ukraine.  After graduating, instead of practicing law, he decided to go into acting, with comedy as his choice venue.  During the 2010s, he became one of Ukraine’s top entertainers with the TV series “Servant of the People.”

 

The premise behind the series was Zelenskyy was a 30-something high school history teacher named Vasyl Petrovych Goloborodko who lived with his parents.  He became an overnight success after one of his students videotaped one of his wildly profane rants about the corruption in Ukraine (which the rest of the world knew to be true).  When the video went viral on YouTube, Goloborodko's students set up a campaign (against his wishes) to become President of Ukraine.  

 

Through their campaign, the students got Goloborodko elected as President of Ukraine.  

 

At first he resisted, but eventually, he decided to weed out corruption.

If you have Netflix, which I don't, I understand they have brought this comedy back with subtitles.

Fast forward to 2019, like his TV character, Zelenskyy, a comedian with no prior political experience, became president in a landslide democratic election (with 73% of the vote), defeating a billionaire businessman.  Ukrainians voted to make the show a reality, electing Zelenskyy as their actual president. 

 

Now Zelenskyy is president of Ukraine for real.  When former president Donald Trump tried to keep Zelenskyy from getting much needed stinger missiles, Trump was impeached.  Trump blocked payment of a congressionally mandated $400 million military aid package to allegedly obtain "quid pro quo" cooperation from Zelenskyy.  Trump released the aid after learning of a whistleblower complaint.  I remember seeing a reporter ask Zelenskyy what he thought of the situation with Trump.  Zelenskyy, in a perfectly timed response said (words to the effect) "He's your president.  You should ask him."

For those of you who watched the heartbreaking video Zelenskyy showed the U.S. Congress, be aware, he learned these tactics while producing and starring in "Servant of the People."  He knows how to make it feel personal and he does.  I think that will take him far and I applaud him.

That's it for me today.  Thanks for visiting and spending a bit of time with Bleubeard and me this Friday.  Now PLEASE visit Annie and don't forget to say a few prayers for the brave Ukrainians fighting to keep their freedom.