PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN IS ONE YEAR IN OFFICE: HURRAY!

ICHEOKU says, must commend the president for standing up for nearly two hours and fielding questions from journalists who were gathered for his press conference to mark his year in office. At his nearly eighty years old age, it was remarkable that he went the full hog without sipping any water or taking a rest break or sitting down. It shows that all the cycling he does with First Lady Dr Jill Biden pays off and that the last medical checkup report was not fishy. Kudos Mr President.

The president also confirmed that he will run for reelection in 2024 and will retain Vice President Kamala Harris as his running mate. It shows that the president is not worried about his state of health affairs, despite what is glaringly obvious However, ICHEOKU will suggest that the president curb his enthusiasm about a 2024 rerun as it is rather too early to take such a firm position now, especially when his current term is still three years to go; and the majority of American people are not feeling the bun of his administration. If the ship of the state is not righted and steered to a correct direction, his own political party might even find the idea of fielding him in 2024 too absurd a position bordering on a political suicide to even contemplate that. 

But be that as it may, he has declared his intention to run for reelection, thereby putting  everyone on notice, including former President Donald John Trump, Hillary Clinton and other members of his party. By declaring now, he has also let members of the Democratic Party that he will be taking very unkindly to any attempt by any of them to challenge him for the party's presidential ticket come 2024. It was the primary reason they tag-teamed former Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo out of the way and out of relevance with all the sexual scandal. 

The former governor was about the only formidable person who would have successfully mounted a challenge and possibly wrestled the ticket out of President Joe Biden. But with him now gone and Vice President Kamala Harris now promised a second vice presidential ticket run, the coast is apparently clear for the president, provided he will be in a good enough state of health, particularly of his mental health.

Anyway, the president said that he did not overpromise Americans during his election campaign in 2020, but he sure was big on promises but very short on delivery, which has put his administration in a pickle and will haunt him through to 2024 unless things dramatically improve for the better. He promised to shut down the coronavirus but the dreadful killer virus is still raging on like Santa Anna wildfire of Southern California, such that today the death toll in America is fast creeping up to the one million number mark. So many unfulfilled promises are now his Achilles heel leading up to the 2022 midterm election and they may linger on to 2024. 

The president promised Build Back Better, but that too is practically gasping for breath. He promised to unify Americans, but Americans are today more divided than they were when he made the promise in 2020. Instead of shutting down the coronavirus as he promised, it is the economy that he is on the cusp of shutting down, such that millions of American people are still unemployed and so many things have also become out of reach for millions of households. Gasoline, groceries, automobiles and other basic essential necessities have almost become practically unaffordable and travel has also seen a rapid cost increase. 

He promised voting rights legislation, but that too has been admitted into an intensive care unit and placed on a life support machine. Nearly every big ticket promise the president made to the American people while campaigning for the office, are comatose and without accomplishing on any of them, he now feels that going to talk to the American people about the failure to deliver, will somehow magically make their problems go away or become accepted as the new normal. So, what exactly is the case which President Joe Biden is going on the road to make to the American people, when they are feeling the pinch themselves from the many failures and unfulfilled promises of his administration. 

Even things Congressman James Clyburn assured to black people in South Carolina that  President Joe Biden's administration was going to make "easy and accessible" have themselves completely disappeared; so, what is the use of a road map when the destination no longer exists. Instead of making things "easy and accessible", the president has completely wiped them off the map. So, what case is he going to make to American people when they are feeling the hole in their pockets, wallets and checkbooks; holes drilled there by inflation from hell, which have caused prices of living essentials to go through the roof of unaffordable. 

A wise person should know when to pull back from an endeavor which is not yielding a desired and anticipated result. But President Joe Biden would rather stay the course, doing the same things he is presently doing or trying to do, and still expecting a different result. Is this how a  school of thought defines insanity? He said that he will not pull back on his many big ticket items which are literally moribund. A matter which his nearly fifty years membership in the Washington swamp could not help give him a leg up or leeway. He thought that his former boss President Barack Obama received the opposition he got because he "ain't white" and believing that as a good ole boy he will be treated differently and that the Republicans will cut him some slack. 

His whispering voice in some responses was rather eerie; and he was sometimes hardly audible enough for people to make out what he was saying. He also said that because of military superiority over Ukraine that Russia will be able to prevail overtime in any resulting war with Ukraine. This begs the question, if hostilities break out, whether NATO will stand idly by and watch as Russia rumbles through into Kiev. What is the point then of all the recent heavy threatening statements if NATO will not man up and face down President Vladimir Putin's aggression on an independent sovereign country. 

Why was Saddam Hussein driven out of Kuwait and why was Adolf Hitler chased out of occupied Europe? What exactly did the president mean by "minor incursion" or does that mean that Russia can seize the entire swathe of Eastern Ukraine or every other land space in Ukraine short of Kiev?  It is definitely a part of the president's conference that needs an urgent clarification and hopefully the White House will send out a fill the gap statement immediately. 

Those 17 economics Nobel laureates who commended the president's economic policies and general direction of the country are only as good as those 250 retired military brass who asked the American people to vote for the president in 2020. It is definitely becoming a question of buyer's remorse for all of them now; and whatever report card the president said will be good for his reelection in 2024 is not going to be based on the current general situation in the country. Unless things turn around for the better, members of his Democratic Party will be soon mouthing "Joe please do not run for a reelection" and before the year runs out. 

The president also claimed that 5 republican senators approve of his administration policies and the trajectory in which the country. is presently in. ICHEOKU says it must be in his head, imagining things which are not there and like Sixth Sense Joel Osment, instead of dead people, the president is seeing five imaginary republican senators, phantoms,

He also claimed that he had the backs of black people throughout his life, the reason he said "you ain't black" if you think outside the box or vote outside the parameters. So, if he has been for blacks throughout his life, why did he wait for fifty years to make voting rights an issue so worthy of his endeavor that casting aspersion on people who disagree with his approach, is now acceptable behavior. He denied calling people who are not down with his agenda George Wallace while choosing to forget that when you say that somebody is on a person's side, it means that they share and support the position of the person. This is the reason MAGA nation proudly identifies with former President Donald John Trump because we agree and share his position on America First. So, how could the president deny calling people he accused of sharing the views of and supporting the position of George Wallace, racists?

The president also said that vice president Kamala Harris is doing a good job which reminds people of former President George W Bush extolling then FEMA director Mike Brown as doing "one heck of a good job" in his handling of Hurricane Katrina. This is a vice president who cannot deliver on immigration run amok; who cannot deliver on voters rights legislation and who cannot deliver on other major assignments given to her by the president, yet she is doing a good job. How exactly does doing a bad job look like, if her inability to deliver on so many assignments is now a definition and benchmark for doing a good job. 

It is also noteworthy that the president attacked the idea of having robust discussions on issues in America, saying that without reaching "consensus" that we cannot sustain our democracy. ICHEOKU says America has been that way for over 200 years of practicing democracy, as issues are not usually rubber-stamped by the American people. But now, President Joe Biden sees things differently and wants to get rid of senate filibuster rule as well as other democracy sustaining tools which were put in place by our founding fathers. The statement is an insight into democrats headstrong on destroying opposing views in America and they are going full throttle to achieve it. But thanks to West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, there is some hope left that President Joe Biden will not be allowed to kill democracy in America.

It is also laughable watching the president say that he will be campaigning with many democrats who will be running for reelection and other offices this year and continuing; and you wonder which democratic candidate will eagerly looking forward or even allow him to come near them, with such a record which he has set in his first year in office, and with an approval rating now hovering in the low 30 percentile. The president also mistakenly claimed that 48 democrat senators support his agenda, but chose to forget that Vermont's Senator Bernie Sanders is an independent and not a democrat. 

Overall, the press conference was not too bad; at least he stood unaided for the nearly two hours it lasted and he also attempted to answer all the questions that were asked of him. ICHEOKU is not a fan and never was; and campaigned to prevent his election but the deep state military industrial complex and their media minors had the upper hand. He is our president and we expect him to succeed by delivering on his promises to the American people during the campaign. 

ICHEOKU is not disappointed with his failures in office thus far because we did not expect much from his administration. But it shows that Washington DC is a deep swamp for a reason, it does not discriminate as swamp dwellers do not care whether or not you are a member; otherwise a dweller with over 50 years residency would have had a more forgiving acceptance and given a smooth sailing with his presidency. But it does not look like President Joe Biden is enjoying any benefit from his long sojourn in Washington DC and what he fought all his life to get, the presidency. Anyway, congratulations to President Joe Biden on his first full year in office. Let's hope that things will get better going forward, but let nobody bank on it. 

INVADING UKRAINE WILL BE DISASTROUS FOR RUSSIA: A RISK NOT WORTH ITS COST.

ICHEOKU  says Russia might be successful with the first wave of offensive, but what happens in the days, weeks and months following will be utterly different. Adolf Hitler's Germany successfully overran France, Poland, Italy and other countries which it invaded, leading up to the first world war; ditto Saddam Hussein with his invasion of Kuwait. 

But when both dictators' militaries were eventually challenged, allied forces and the coalition of the willing forces were able to drive both occupying armies out of the respective countries. The fallouts from both military misadventures led to the end of the two dictators. Whether a similar fate is now eerily staring Russia's President Vladimir Putin on the face, will be determined by the next step which he takes, ordering Russian troops into Ukraine. The clock is ticking.

Every indication now points to the likelihood that Vladimir Putin will pull the lever and dare NATO and the West to do their worst. If he orders his troops into Ukraine as expected, will the West and NATO be brave and courageous to mount a counter offensive against the invading Russian military and stay the course until they drive them out of Ukraine? Will the history of Germany and Iraq repeat themselves in Russia, and at what cost to both sides, in human and material resources. Will the West be ready to absorb the number of resulting casualties from such war and will the war be quickly over or will it linger on for some time. What will be the level of active participation of European countries or will they, as usual, cunningly shirk their responsibility and compel America to bear the burden of fighting Russia.

ICHEOKU says any resulting war in Ukraine to expel invading Russian forces must be borne largely by countries of Europe, at least 65% of it, with America taking up the remaining 35%. The European Union countries population is nearly 800 million people, which is far more than double the United States of America's 350 million population. Their combined GDP is also close to or even more than the United States of America's GDP, which means that their combined wealth is or could be even greater than America's. America therefore, must not accept to shoulder the burden of fighting Russia alone nor agree to take a huge chunk of it as would adversely impact America's taxpayers and their military. Such a war effort must be fairly distributed among the countries of Europe and their American partner under the auspices of NATO. 

Why President Vladimir Putin is pushing ahead with his plans to invade Ukraine, despite the consequences of any such military adventurism, is beyond ICHEOKU. It does not matter how he chose to calculate his odds in such a war, both in winning it and/or successfully achieving his military objective, corralling Ukraine back to Russia control; such a war will impact him and his country negatively and badly. It is unimaginable that President Vladimir Putin would think that America will allow him to win such a war, and/or permit him to reassert himself over Europe by  putting fear in other former Union of Soviet Socialists Republic countries, that what happened in Ukraine might also become their fate unless they prostrate before Kremlin. 

Invasion of Ukraine is a war which Russia will not win and will not be allowed to win. What happened in Ossetia and Abkhazia as well as in Crimea will not be allowed to repeat itself in Ukraine. It might be very bloody and very costly; but no matter what it takes and regardless of however long it may last, President Vladimir Putin will not be allowed to take a victory lap over Ukraine. Therefore he will be making a big miscalculation by starting a war in Ukraine now that the American military is not presently bogged down anywhere with an endless war. Since America pulled out of Afghanistan, the military industrial complex has been smarting for another conduit pipeline to be opened for them somewhere, where they can continue their trade in weapons and war profiteering business and Russia's invasion of Ukraine might be their answered prayer. 

If President Vladimir Putin takes the bait by invading Ukraine, he might find his military fighting a never ending war both in Ukraine and inside of Russia and which war might outlast the Afghanistan engagements, by both the former Soviet Union and most recently America. Will the Russian economy be able to sustain a twenty years running war and can the Russian military be able to defend all Russian borders from a ferocious NATO multiple counter thrusts. Such a war to repel Russian troops from Ukraine might even, at some point, find the Russian military also defending their Moscow and Saint Petersburg too. Are these costly trade-offs what President Vladimir Putin will be willing to make by invading Ukraine? 

It will be very foolish of President Vladimir Putin to jeopardize his power hold over Russia by risking it all, just for an egoistic invasion of Ukraine. But he is not too foolish to start a war which he cannot win and will not be allowed to win. He said that he is not planning to attack Ukraine, yet he is mobilizing his military forces to Russia's border with Ukraine. Only a foolish Ukraine defense force and their NATO partners will be goaded into a lull of unpreparedness by such a foolish Russian assurance. The same President Vladimir Putin once gave a similar assurance, when automatic rifles wielding and balaclava wearing men were seen in Crimea, that they were not Russian soldiers, and the world has since seen how that assurance panned out. 

This time, the Ukrainian forces must not allow themselves to be caught flat-footed by banking on such assurances, otherwise they will wake up one morning to find Russian troops occupying their presidential palace in Kiev. NATO should also start a counter mobilization of its forces into Ukraine and adjacent countries, ready to engage, as soon as the first Russian tank enters Ukraine. Let nobody be taken by surprise as such might give the invading Russian forces an undue advantage, during which time they would have caused a lot of damage inside Ukraine. It is not if, but when, Russian troops will be ordered to breach the borders of Ukraine and preparations to meet them head-on  should be in high gear right now. 

Saddam Hussein's military was expelled from Kuwait and so should NATO be ready to also expel Russian troops from Ukraine in the event they do the now seemingly inevitable and enter Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin should not and must not be allowed to have his way with Ukraine, because if he succeeds, he will make other demands in the future for other former Soviet Union countries to be handed over. It is about time his Bonaparte's enthusiasm is forcibly curbed and he needs to be reminded that his dictatorship can only be tolerated in Russia but not in any sovereign independent country. It is time to face him down squarely, eyeball to eyeball  and military to military. Russian soldiers are not made of steel and their weapons are not indestructible. Enough of tolerating his shenanigan; if he wants war let his desire be met.

VOTING RIGHTS EFFORT NEEDS A CHANGE OF STRATEGY: MAKE IT A BIPARTISAN ISSUE.

ICHEOKU says the struggle to pass voting rights legislation must be made a bipartisan effort in order to accomplish it.  It is an American question and needs an American solution to it. A more inclusive strategy, which embraces both political parties, is needed otherwise all the speeches, marching and celebration usually marking the birthday of Dr Martin Luther King Jr every January, will remain what they are, mere annual feely-good chattering and commemoration show. 

As Martin Luther King III rightly observed this year, what is needed is legislation and not celebrations; and this should be the cardinal objective and driving shaft of every voting and civil rights movement going forward. The time has come to abandon those flowery loose speeches and symbolic marching that merely pay lip-service to the struggle, as action is required now and no more speeches. This is the only imperative from this year's annual rehash of the now 53 years old effort to fix some loopholes in America's electoral system. Black people, the NAACP and other minority groups and voting and civil rights organizations in America must clutch this imperative and make it the pivoting orbit of the struggle henceforth. 

What worked in the past is no longer effective as a different breed of Americans are now on both sides of the debate. Therefore, it is about time to reinvent and re-strategize in order to add value to the struggle and make it relevant today as it was back in the days that typified the voting rights movement. Even the option of ending the annual ritual commemorating the birthday should be considered, because, refusing to march or sit through politicians' boring, generic speeches, about their "love and affection" for Martin Luther King Jr, might be a more effective weapon to be deployed in the effort to force the issue. A sort of silent sit at home protest, observed on the day, will definitely reverberate more than all the empty speeches and marching which take place. 

If these politicians love MLK, why then has the voting rights legislation not been passed since the 53 years following his assassination. It is akin to black people and the Democratic Party, which only needs them during voting, but never does anything for them nor ever fulfills campaign promises made to them. The zeal around voting rights, civil rights and even Martin Luther King Jr national holiday celebration is steadily waning as people are increasingly feeling despondent and asking themselves what is the point in still coming out to march for these issues, when nothing meaningful ever comes out from such time-wasting endeavors as they once did and should be expected. 

These voting and civil rights actions worked in the past, which helped to bring about some changes in the country, but seemingly not as effective as they once were. Those good old days are since gone and they were the glorious days of the movement, when a huge majority embraced it and usually came out in very large numbers to participate in their activities. They were able to put fear of God in white people due to their "threatening" numbers and it eventually forced out the notable changes recorded, which were primarily conceded out of fear of the consequences of doing nothing about the situation. 

Those were the days of respected and altruistic indefatigable civil rights movement leaders who commanded larger than life presence and were highly revered. Which present civil rights leader can mobilize one million people to the Mall of Washington or bring out a huge number of people on a bridge in Selma or anywhere else. To make matters worse for the movement, the present crop of leaderships no longer possess the gravitas and resolve as their counterparts of yore once did. A dying species, the last notable of which is the now weary and ailing Reverend Jesse Jackson and you wonder why they don't make them like them anymore. 

Even Reverend Al Sharpton is no longer as strong as he used to be, admitted he is a sort of straggler and hustler of the movement compared to the real activists of the past. Also, he has since gone too far to the left that his words no longer carry much weight as a civil rights leader whose words meant something and who can mobilize to push the voting rights legislation. He has since become a hack democrat partisan. The Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan belongs to that fiery and feared band of past activists, admitted that his fixated distaste of the Jews have sort of pigeonholed his activism into an anti-semitic, Israel hating radicalized bigot. He too is no longer young nor vibrant as before and is equally speeding on the fast lane of exit.

So the virus afflicting the voting rights and other civil rights movements in America have morphed into many variants: including lack of very energetic and charismatic leaders who the people can rally around. The movements have also lost their gravitational compass as a one-stop center for just civil and voting rights issues only. They have largely become glorified Democratic Party's institutions and the majority of American people, including politicians on the other aisle, now see them as just an extended arm of the Democratic Party. So, why should they listen to them or be interested in what they are talking about concerning voting or civil rights issues when they are seen as the biblical voice of Jacob and hand of Esau of the Democratic Party.

A matter not helped when some faces of the civil rights movement, including the son of late Martin Luther King Jr, continuously lambasts the Republican Party, their governors and Congressional delegates as demonic each time he talks about voting and civil rights legislation. How does such a man expect to achieve the desired voting rights legislation when he is antagonizing the Republican Party politicians, aware that Democratic Party politicians cannot legislate it alone. How can any reasonably sensible advocate for a cause be antagonizing the same people he needs in order to get something done. It smacks of foolishness and crass impetuous unthinking.

Civil rights issues including voting rights in America used to be a bipartisan issue because as the name states, it is the civil rights issue of the American people that is at stake, the nucleus of the existence of such organizations involved in it. They were never a partisan or a one political party issue requiring a specific affiliation to the party. But these later day woke-leaders have politicized the movements so much that it no longer appeals to non-partisan people and politicians on the other side, the reason it has become such a difficult knot to untie. There is no way in hell these later day civil rights leaders can claim that every person in America with civil rights concerns is a democrat. So, why did they make the struggle a Democratic Party issue and at the same time, expecting Republicans to support it.  

The 1965 Voting Rights Act was passed through a bipartisan effort and so have all the other legislations since then, including the recent John Lewis Act. Why then the demonization of Republicans as anti black people and against voting and civil rights in America when they know that they need their votes and support to pass the legislation. There is also no way all the 34 laws so far passed to fix noticed flaws in electoral laws in 19 states could have been made with just black people in mind; or to make it only harder for black people to vote. 

Also to call Georgia's electoral reform law "draconian" is rather offensive, as handing food and water to voters is akin to soliciting their vote and bribing them for it. Voters can and are allowed under the law to bring their own water and food if they want, just like we all bring our own lunch to our workplaces. Further, waiting in lines to vote on Election Day is not required of only black people; so, what is the fuss really about over the electoral law or are black people so debilitated and too weak to stand in lines to vote on Election Day just like their counterparts in other racial groups. 

One thing Martin Luther King III got right though is the fact that the forces which schemed to oppress black and brown Americans when his dad was around, leading up to his assassination, were all democrats. George Wallace who introduced the Jim Crow law was a democrat; and so also were all those batons wielding and dogs unleashing police officers of Selma bridge. It is also noteworthy that democrats controlled the good ole South which waged a civil war against the Yankees which consumed over 700,000 American lives, in their attempt to keep slavery alive and going. All appendages of slavery such as poll tax, literacy test and lynching were also the handwork of democrats. So, what exactly did the Republicans do to black people that should warrant all these venomous attacks on them by these present day civil rights leaders and their pretend-activist cohorts? 

It is wrong and condemnable and it cannot get them their desired voting rights legislation. Real justice and equality is conforming voting practices and making them apply uniformly across the board of every racial group in America. Black people are not disparately impacted by those reforms nor are they required to do something which other racial groups in America are not required to do before they can vote in elections. It is only when such occurs that a violation of their voting rights could be triggered. But as long as every American citizen is placed on the same footing during elections, all these cry-baby hogwash will not bring about any different outcome, because to do so will be to give blacks and other minorities undue advantage over other racial groups.

Democrats have used the filibuster to their own advantage on numerous occasions in the past; but if they now want to get rid of it just to score some cheap political brownie points, they should remember that they cannot and will not remain in power forever. The late democrat Senator Harry Reid deployed a filibuster busting tactic to get two Supreme Court Justices confirmed not knowing that someday Republicans would use the same unleashed tool to get three Supreme Court Justices confirmed. So, those democrats clamoring for a Senate rule change should be wary and very careful of what they wish because they might get it, only to someday regret that it came back to bite them. 

The states are by constitution quasi independent and retain every power which they did not expressly give up for the union. America is not a unitary federation, it is a union of the willing 50 states and they came together with expressly stated agreements. We cannot unify every aspect of our life as a nation including our election laws, otherwise staying together might become suffocating and to the extent that breakaway agitations might erupt. Instead of early voting which is even alien to America or needless over-spreading of voting stations, holding national elections on a Saturday or a declared national election holiday should be considered. And of course purging voters list of dead people and voters who have moved away and no longer reside in their previous voting districts should be made a routine task, to be carried out every four years.

 

Passing a voting rights legislation which will be geared towards encouraging respective states to fix noticeable lapses in their electoral laws is worthy of pursuing in the Congress. But this can only be achieved in an atmosphere of cordial respect to both aisles, but never on a crass partisan pillorying of one of the parties. The leadership of NAACP and other civil rights movements and groups pursuing the voting rights legislation, must change their strategy. They must reinvent themselves, re-tailor their talking points, divorce themselves from their acute partisanship and stop haranguing Republicans. They should instead lobby Republicans instead of putting them off  as the enemy or the Grinch who stole their voting rights. Voting rights is a national issue and it will need a united national front to get it passed. This is a fact of consequences in passing the legislation and the earlier these black civil rights leaders realize it, the sooner their chances of getting it passed. 

NOVAK DJOKOVIC IS THE ARCHITECT OF HIS DEPORTATION: DESERVES NO SYMPATHY.

ICHEOKU says the choice was his to make and he chose to be deported rather than conform to the laws of an independent, sovereign nation. He should have complied with the immigration laws of Australia by not lying on his visa application as required of any visiting foreign national. He should have also complied with a valid existing law on health and good order, which requires everyone entering Australia to get vaccinated against the coronavirus pandemic disease. But he held out and such obstinacy posed a health risk to Australian society and also had the potential of energizing anti vaccination protesters, especially among his fans and supporters alike.  

Novak Djokovic is just one individual, regardless of his fame and fortune, and therefore cannot be allowed to impose his selfish wishes on the government and people of Australia. Nobody asked him to come or not to come to Australia to participate in a tennis championship being held in the city of Melbourne. It was entirely his decision and he made it without regard to what is in the best health interest of Australians, who their government is trying to protect from the coronavirus pandemic with necessary vaccination requirement law. The law says if you must come to Australia, you must be vaccinated and he was not vaccinated and still refuses to be vaccinated 

Rules are rules; and the law on vaccination was not made specifically with him in mind or in anticipation that he will some day, after the law has come into force, decide to fly to Australia to participate in the Australian Open tennis tournament as a defending champion. He chose not to conform to existing laws and therefore deserves what he got, the removal. It is possible that the Serbian deliberately orchestrated the outcome; therefore nobody should feel pity for him or chest-beat that he was treated unfairly; or as some propagandists have since stretched it, that it was political. 

The Australian government only ensured that everybody entering into Australia conformed to their existing laws because nobody is above the law. If even a prime minister could be held to account, who then is a tennis player to demand or covet a differential treatment from the law. Good enough, he exhausted all available legal recourse in such a situation and was determined violative of existing laws by a court of competent jurisdiction before he was finally removed from the country. None of his rights as an illegal visitor to Australia were denied him and he was afforded due process by the justice system. 

He has now been deported and hopefully the dust which he tried to raise, with his ridiculous demand that he be treated differently, will now begin to settle; so that the Australian Open will begin. A new champion will definitely emerge and if Novak Djokovic feels like it, he can still challenge the new champion in a future Australian Open. But he is out of this 2022 championship for good and it was totally by his own making. It is possible too that he was not fully prepared to defend his championship and concocted the ruse to deflect from his real state of affair. ICHEOKU supports the Australian government's handling of the issue and says kudos to them for not yielding to the noisy pressure, mounted by a very few but very vocal apologists, to place Novak Djokovic above the law.

JANUARY 6TH INVESTIGATION: A GREAT WITCH HUNT AND DEMOCRATS POWER SHOW.

ICHEOKU says suddenly it is now ok in America for a political party in power to go after it's opponents. This is contrary to what they told us a few short years back, when the demand to "LOCK HER UP" was fever-pitch, that political opponents are not victimized in America. ICHEOKU says what changed as the count is beginning to mount. Steve Bannon is a political opponent; former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is a political opponent; minority leader of the House of Representative Kevin McCarthy is a political opponent; former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany is a political opponent and of course those rancorous Capitol building stormers of January 6th 2021 are all political opponents. 

Without a doubt, the coveted trophy of this ongoing political harpooning, the person they are plowing through all these soft targets to reach, is none other than the former president of the United States of America Donald John Trump. All these other persons are but preliminary  stumps which they must get out of the way prelude to eventually netting their prized target. They have assessed the political atmosphere in the country leading up to the midterm election and eventually to 2024, and understands that they do not stand a chance at retaining the White House, if not also losing the two Houses of Congress as well, with the former president in contention. So, they made a calculated decision to handicap him now and render him politically less viable rather than risk the consequences of his second coming to the White House. 

Although the former president is not a witch nor a wizard, but for the purposes of achieving their objective, they have branded him one and are using the subterfuge of a January 6th investigation to hunt him down, with fervor and every fiber of their congressional power and authority fully deployed. They are pulling every stop to accomplish this objective, of taking former president Donald John Trump down and out of the 2024 presidential calculation, just like they did to former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo with trumped up sexual crimes which they later refused to prosecute. They will stop at nothing as the alternative is a nightmare which they would rather contemplate than live through. They know what his second time in the White House will do to their woke destructive agenda and would rather it never came to that by preempting it.

So, yes, former President Donald John Trump is the reason for the investigation and not that some exuberant and rambunctious Americans, in their overheated moment of excitement, badged into the Capitol. Unless they are telegraphing the message that some animals are more equal than others and that members of Congress are better than other Americans, it really defiles every logic of fairness that those Black Lives Matter and ANTIFA collaborators walked away free from their own badging into American cities and homes, with its destructive consequences while those nut job Save America rally attendees who went on a frolic into the Capitol building are being punished for their own rascality. 

ICHEOKU is not by this piece holding brief for those January 6th "storm-troopers" nor in any way justifying what they did as imitable or holding up their uncontrolled misbehavior as worthy; but that fairness demanded that they were handled with the understanding that they were just some overzealous Americans who thought that they were doing the right thing for their version of democracy by taking back their peoples house that "democracy" will go on and not be hijacked by people who "stole" an election. Their intent was misguided as it was based on wrong suppositions including their conviction that their cause was right and that they are justified in doing something about it. 

But be that as it may, the course of the justice system has since been activated against them; many have been convicted, some have been sentenced to various prison terms and many more are still under the microscope of Lady Justice and many more might be convicted and sentenced. But how do we move forward as a united country when millions of people strongly believe that they are being victimized simply because of their political affiliation, particularly after watching rioters and vandals with opposite political affiliation go scot-free from their own disturbances of the American society. 

It is this failure or inability to reconcile the two "similar" situations that is keeping the wedge in America in place and will most likely remain affixed until a convincing revolution is reached. If not, a day shall come when the Republicans will take back the White House and possibly the two Houses of Congress and there will be a demand by party loyalists for a payback. It is finding ourselves in such an outcome as a society that needs to be prevented now when it is still possible in order to preempt a vicious circle of retribution and normalizing in America the practice of a political party in power leveraging the levers of justice to punish its opponents. 

It is a river which America as a society must not cross because it leads to a one way highway to hell. It will be sad the day Americans will start punishing each other because of their political beliefs and associations. Therefore, the ongoing wasteful January 6th investigations including the Congressional committee hearings should be rested and every "convicted" offender pardoned with a reprimand. It will go a long way in fostering unity among America's divided society; let bygones remain where they belong, in the rearview mirrors so that America can begin to honestly heal from the past overheated politics of prelude to the last election. 

ICHEOKU strongly believes that had those January 6th Capitol building stormers known that what they were doing was against the law, many of them would not have dared. Many of them sincerely and honestly believed that they had the right to "reclaim" their democracy which they were persuaded was being "stolen" from them. It was an honest mistake and it was political and America's party in power usually does not victimize their opponents and we must not start now by setting a precedent which is capable of hounding us all. If Queen Crooked Hillary Clinton was not LOCKED UP, why the current attempt to lock up former president Donald John Trump and at worst, destroy him politically. Enough of the witch hunt as MAGA nation will not allow their own "witch" to be hunted down. 

VOTING RIGHTS AND PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN'S SUDDEN EPIPHANY: SIMPLY LAUGHABLE.

ICHEOKU says anyone who listened to or heard President Joe Biden's speech last Tuesday at the Atlanta University Center Consortium, the oldest and largest association of historically Black colleges and universities, to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's birthday, would think that the struggling United States of America president just landed from Mars or became a politician a few moons ago. Suddenly there is now an urgency of time for him to "pass it now" and to have the courage to stand up to "protect the right to vote." He even went to the extent of threatening a change in the Senate rules to get rid of the filibuster just for "this".

This is a guy who has been in politics for fifty years, majority of which he spent in the Senate and had every opportunity to do right by and for "voting rights" in America, but did not. He was also Vice President to a black president Barack Obama for 8 years with a democrats controlled House of Representative and Senate, yet he did nothing. Suddenly, he woke up from his good ole boy's racially induced convenient coma, to the fact that voting rights in America has been abridged and needs to be urgently and speedily fixed now; and that centuries old Senate rules should be broken if that is what it will take to make his wish a fait accompli. 

Why did President Joe Biden not fix the voting rights problem when he was a Senator of the United States of America from Delaware? Why did he not fix the voting rights issue when he was the Vice President of the United States of America? Why did he not fix the voting rights question when his party had both houses of Congress with a black president Barack Obama in the White House? Whose voter in America is still being denied voting privileges during elections? Whose voter's right is it anyway that is still being infringed upon which Joe Biden wants to desperately fix such that he decided to throw caution to the wind by demanding that the Senate do away with its rules which have been in place for centuries in the interest of a stable union. 

If Joe Biden is suddenly tired of being quiet, how much ruckus did he raise about it when he was still a young and vibrant politician, when his energy would have possibly seen the bill through. But no, he did not do the needful then when it would have been fruitful, only to now be feeding some black folks gathered in Atlanta this bull-crap simply because he generally looks down on black people and sincerely doubts their intelligence quotient and capacity of cerebral recollection. ICHEOKU says which other ethnic or racial group in America would Joe Biden have had the shameless impetus to so barefaced to say what he said in Atlanta, after spending half a century in Washington DC and doing nothing about the issue of voting rights. 

But it was a black audience and he felt that soundbites will be sufficient to appease them just like the doses of it which they get each Sunday from their black pastors in their black churches. So he said "Pass it now" and you ask yourself why didn't he "Pass it then" when he could have easily done it? So, he said the Senate should have the courage to change Senate rules and you ask why didn't Joe Biden have the courage and changed the same Senate rules then when he could have easily done it? Who exactly is the president fooling with such vacuous speech when most people who listened to it or heard it knew that nothing will become or ever come out of it.  

New Georgia Project's CEO Nse` Ufot was right that giving dozens of speeches for Build Back Better did not get them Build Back Better and that it is not crazy nor unreasonable to ask how a speech on voting rights is going to get them voting rights. Georgia's elected but not serving governor Stacy Abrahams, who boycotted Joe Biden's speech event, followed suit by stating that it is just speeches and that Joe Biden is so full of it, all talks and no walking of his talk. NAACP president Derrick Johnson added his own frustration, saying that it is time Joe Biden's administration matched their words with actions. Martin Luther King Jr admitted that attending the speech event was a very difficult decision and that he shares the frustrations of black community over the all talks and no action of the Joe Biden administration.

Such reactions are a definite statement that the scales are beginning to fall off the eyes of many black people and they are realizing that they are only good and used for their votes every four years by the Democratic Party. Like Bob Nestor Marley said, you can fool some people some time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. So, President Joe Biden has been put on notice that his comical bag of tricks have been opened for all to see and there is nothing in it for black people. Therefore, whatever role he may think that he is playing in "protecting the right to vote" fades in comparison to the role he failed to play to protect the same when he could have, during the past fifty years of his extensive political sojourn in Washington DC. 

How much did he actually stand up for democracy then and when exactly did he finally switch sides from George Wallace to now Dr King; and when was the moment of truth that did it for him? CHEOKU says the only possible explanation for what black people do, listening to the likes of Joe Biden and following the Democratic Party, is that they are simply too forgiving. They cannot possibly be suffering from dyslexia and retentive memory deficiency, otherwise no black person will ever be listening to what President Joe Biden had to say about the exigency of voting rights reformation in America, his lengthy swampy dwelling in Washington DC considered.

 
ICHEOKU says enough of the pandering and always invoking some electoral reforms in some Republican controlled states as a testament that the voting rights of black people are being restricted. It is simply idiotic and simplistic to try to pigeonhole such a broad electoral legislations as targeted only against black people because they are not. They are broad laws meant to fix existing loopholes in the electoral process and they apply to everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender and religion. So why try to pass it off as if they are only black people specific, targeted at them when they are not; or are white people and other races exempted from those laws?

There is no reason for black people to be parceled out by Democrats as invalids and handicaps who cannot do what other racial groups do in America, including voting. Black people can secure a driver's license and have identification cards. Black people can register to vote early enough too. Black people can also withstand the rigors of waiting in line, without being given food and water, to vote on Election Day. If other races in America can do these things before they vote, so can black people as well. So, enough of the condescending treatment of black people as if they are Americans with special needs, who must be assisted specifically in order to enable them to vote in elections. 

It is very demeaning and very insulting of President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party to be singly treating black people in this manner. It is about time they see and treat black people as very competent and very capable Americans, who are equal in every facet with their counterparts of other races. President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party should be ashamed of the psychological warfare which they waging on black Americans by continuously making them to feel and believe that they are incapacitated and not at par with other Americans. This has to stop and needs to stop now. They must stop making voting rights in America a black people's sole problem because it is not. 

QUEEN ELIZABETH THROWS HER SON UNDER THE BUS: STRIPS HIM OF ALL TITLES.

ICHEOKU says what misery a few minutes of pleasure could wrought, that a prince of the British monarchy has now been practically downgraded to a mere commoner. With his magisterial title "His Royal Highness" removed and his other military honorariums/titles also stripped off, Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, is as good as completely banished from the monarchy. Put in other words, Prince Andrew has been disowned by his own mother, Queen Elizabeth, and is now an ordinary Brit. He was once an unapologetic international playboy and had unlimited fun in company of disgraced late Jeffrey Epstein and their convicted Lolita Madam, Ghislaine Maxwell. 

While the party lasted, the prince never knew that a day would come when he will be called to render account for his participation in the illicit sexual escapades with underage girls. The three musketeers' case was one which the passing of time could not and did not consume as the slow turning wheel of justice finally caught up with them and now is his own time to face lady justice, the other two's matter having been concluded. 

As the travails of his co-travelers in the illegality was going on, the now fallen from grace Prince of York, had carried on as if his royal status would shield and protect him from justice. He was so cocky about it that in one BBC television news interview, he brazenly denied knowledge of  photographic evidence of his close acquaintance with his accuser, despite holding her on her waist. If not for his arrogance and royalty induced stupidity, the prince would have simply owned up the dalliance by acknowledging the photograph as true; and then apologized for his "youthful" indiscretion. People would have understood, forgiven him and moved on. 

But no, instead, he damned everybody as unthinking fools who are incapable of understanding the photograph, and also believing that  his royal pedigree will provide him immunity from the long reach of the law. Today, everything has come crashing down on his disgraced shoulders as his mother, the Queen, has stripped him bare of both his royal title and honorary membership in the British military. What a disgraceful backbreaking downfall from his once epochal royal perch.

ICHEOKU is not passing judgment on the prince nor relishing the ill fate which had befallen the Duke of York, hope that title was not also yanked away; but says it is a strong affirmation that no one is really above the law and that when a prince breaks the law he too shall be held to account, regardless. 

The move by the monarchy to strip Prince Andrew of all his titles could not possibly have been made out of the altruistic desire by the monarchy to see that justice is done for victims of his sexual pervasion. In all likelihood, it was a deft tactical move by the monarchy to insulate the institution from the scandal by creating a buffer zone, pawning up their once most favorite beloved prince. They offered him as a sacrifice to inoculate the monarchy from any possible resulting fallout. But no matter how they try, Prince Andrew was sired by the monarchy and like his nephew Prince Harry, he was just another royal who loved to party and partied too hard, and now lost it all due to some old romp which has come back to haunt him. 

The only question now is whether the Duke of York will take the Jeffrey Epstein highway and get it over quickly and save himself from further odium, ridicule and shame; or he will just remain  another stiff upper lip British and tough it out. His fellow Brit Ghislaine Maxwell damned the consequences and stayed the course to its final resolution. At this stage there is no good that will come out of even settling the case because it will not give him back all the lost goodwill as well as make recompense for his damaged reputation. So, he will have to decide whether his quandary ends quickly or be long drawn out. But many brave and courageous people would say what use is prolonging the agony and opt for Jeffrey Epstein's solution and get it over quickly, and sooner than later. 

Anyway, while suicide is not good and ICHEOKU is not advocating here for Prince Andrew to "suicide himself", but all the circumstances considered, many in his shoes would ask themselves, what is the purpose of still hanging around and holding on. The Duke of York Prince Andrew is the last of the three publicly implicated persons in the Jeffrey Epstein's sexual exploitations of minors scandal to be served justice. He can decide today how he wants the final and last chapter of the scandal to be written; either concluded on his own terms or indulge the justice system with the privilege of doing the honors. What a fall from grace and it was with a deafening thunderous thud. A shame of British monarchy.

AUF WIEDERSEHEN ANGELA MERKLE: IS EUROPEAN UNION DOOMED WITHOUT THEIR MATRON?

ICHEOKU says she was one hell of a seasoned administrator and leader extraordinaire, and every fiber of her being was encoded with the right leadership DNA. She possessed the aura, stature, poise, presence, equanimity and brain of a well rounded off leader. She exudes such confidence and assuredness that she is the calmness in the face of a storm personified. With her around everyone had the confidence that no matter the tempest that everything will be alright. 

Simply put, she was such an exceptional leader that so many countries would, in a heartbeat, rather chosen to have as their own leader. It explains why Germans kept her in office for as long as they did and would have continued to retain her had she not decided to bow out. In short, the world has not seen a leader like the former Chancellor of Germany Madam Angela Merkel, at least not in the recent past. The fact that she is a scientist actually begs the question, whether the arts-background leaders should yield leadership positions in every country for their science-background counterparts? 

Germany and the world at large will miss her "things are under control" countenance, her calm demeanor and her overall very assuring presence. Her departure will surely cast a pall of anxiety  over the European Union as many people are wondering whether the boyish French President Emmanuel Macro can do it alone. He doesn't have that "IT FACTOR" nor commanding presence of a leader, especially after he was slapped by that French fella during a campaign stop; and then the humiliation France received being excluded in AUKUS. The two incidents drastically reduced his ability to project power and strength; and with it, comes his ineffectiveness to drive the European Union agenda. 

The impact of Angela Merkel's departure will be far reaching. She did brilliantly so very well for Germany and also for the European Union that it will be difficult to successfully fill her oversized shoes. She also stayed for a very long time in office, 16 years, that she and Germany literally became two sides of the same coin as so many Germans grew up only knowing her as their leader. It will be difficult if not impossible to ever find another one like her. She was such a good leader that left for Germans, her tenure would have lasted forever. But in life, everything always, eventually, comes to an end and so was her tenure as Germany's longest serving Chancellor; and she left on her own accord, not forced out by electoral defeat, scandal or all health. 

She was loved by her German people and admired internationally as a mother figure, who cared and nurtured. She was globally well respected by her contemporaries. She possessed everything which Hillary Clinton lacked, the charm, the warmth, the carriage, the personality, the calmness in the face of storm, the sense of sincerity, assuredness, trustworthiness, aura of everything is and will be alright. She does not look sneaky or treacherous. Her stellar qualities  are such that were she an American, she would have so easily broken the proverbial marble ceiling of the White House, in being overwhelmingly elected a female president. She is loved by her German people unlike our own Nurse Ratched who is largely despised and rubs many American people the wrong way. 

ICHEOKU says had Angela Merkel still been in power, it is most likely that Vladimir Putin would not be lashing out again over Ukraine as she would have pressured him to cut it off. Germans miss their matron, the European Union misses their assured foot and the world misses a leader who calms global storms. Hopefully someday, she will come back from her retirement to once again continue to provide Germany with her stellar leadership for which she became world famous and adorable and the envy of the world. May the good Lord give Germans the strength to accept a Germany without Angela Merkel. Hopefully the new guy will build on Merkel's legacy and continue moving Germany forward. ICHEOKU wishes Chancellor Angela Merkel a happy, healthy and joyful life in retirement. Auf weidersehen Angela.

UKRAINE BORDER DEBACLE: IT'S TIME TO DARE VLADIMIR PUTIN TO A WAR.

ICHEOKU has for a long time been a disciple of do no harm and do not make Vladimir Putin madder than he already is, forcing him to snap. But it seems that the Russian sit-tight dictator is increasingly feeling too emboldened and now strongly believes that the West is afraid of engaging Russia in a kinetic fiery war. This is the only plausible reason he every so often, makes threats and amasses troops on Russia's border with Ukraine, daring the West and setting certain ridiculous redlines. 

In April last year the world witnessed the same drama which nearly reached the blink until the former German Chancellor Angela Merkel put her matron-weight on and leaned on Vladimir Putin to ratchet down his threats and withdraw his troops from the border. Less than one year later, the petit tsar of Russia is back at his game again and this time, more emphatic that only an iron-clad security guarantee from the West that Ukraine MUST NOT EVER be allowed to join NATO will starve off an assured invasion of the country. According to his warped narrative, allowing Ukraine to join NATO will be having NATO in Russia's immediate backyard and that is not acceptable to him due to Russia's security interest. 

ICHEOKU says it is the lamest argument the little man can make because there are other countries which share border with Russia that are members of NATO including Estonia and Latvia, as well as the United States of America and Turkey, which each has a maritime border with Russia in the Bering Sea and the Black Sea respectively. So the argument is self defeating, otherwise why does Vladimir Putin not also feel that Russia's security interest is similarly being threatened by these other four countries' membership of NATO. 

The fact of the matter is that Russia's President Vladimir Putin is acting like a dog in the manger, reminiscing of the good old days when the Union of Socialist Soviet Republic existed and rues for it. He is trying everything he can to resurrect it and the West must stand their ground and not ever allow such a compelled co-existence of the unwilling to ever take root again. Even the distance from Latvia and Estonia to Saint Petersburg and Moscow are nearer than from Ukraine to those two Russian biggest cities. So, what exactly is Vladimir Putin talking about in pushing the narrative of security concerns with Ukraine membership of NATO since NATO can also bomb Russia from the four countries should it ever come to that. 

A matter made even more laughable in these days of advanced military warfare when military conquest no longer necessarily depends largely on the infantry as they once did. With long range missiles and bombers as well as drones and rockets, which can pierce through borders and penetrate other defenses, who needs a land border to attack and defeat a country's army. NATO must not therefore yield an inch in the latest face-off with Russia and should as a matter of actionable necessity, encourage Ukraine and Finland and Sweden and any other country that wants to become a member of NATO to apply for its membership and quickly admit them forthwith. 

Enough of the deference to Vladimir Putin's threats as it is now getting into his head that the West is afraid of fighting Russia. If he wants war let him have war; and if he defeats NATO and conquers the West, we shall be ready to learn Russian and enjoy drinking vodka and eating caviar and whatever delicacies that make Russians Russians. But whatever happens before then, his bluff should be called off now and let him do his worst. As Fela Anikulapo Kuti would put it, it is "unnecessary begging for area", trying to pacify Vladimir Putin or persuade him not to invade Ukraine each time he amasses his army at their border. 

Saddam Hussein was not begged over Kuwait but he was eventually forced out of the country, which eventually led to his demise. President Vladimir Putin is not any different from Saddam Hussein except that he has some nuclear weapons, but he is not the only one with access to the atomic destroyer. If he is tired of living or remaining a dictator or imposed leader of Russians, let the West grant him his wish and facilitate his quick exit. But in any other event, the West must refuse to be dictated to by Vladimir Putin and his intermittent mood swings that fuels his threats to invade Ukraine.

ICHEOKU used to sometimes defend him and have on some other occasions, pleaded for cutting him some slacks, but he is stretching his luck too far such  that it is now bordering on hostage taking. How can he be dictating to a sovereign independent country which organization to join and/or which countries to make diplomatic friends with. It is what comes with staying in power for too long, such that he is now seeing himself as invincible and untouchable; and that he can do whatever the heck he wants. But in his foolish arrogance, he has forgotten that the West is not Russian people, who he has completely emasculated and currently sitting on their collective heads, with their destiny totally atrophied by his very myopic and clueless understanding of the new world order where liberty nurtures enterprise and leadership is no longer a one-man knows-it-all affair. 

The other time he boasted that if Russia had sunk a British naval ship that nothing would have happened because the West knows that they cannot emerge victorious in a confrontation with Russia. He also bragged that Russia's response to any provocation will be asymmetrical, rapid and harsh; and that the West dare not cross his set deadline which he has now identified as Ukraine being admitted to NATO. ICHEOKU says unless NATO and the West has been intimidated by his fiery rhetorics, now is the time to permanently shut up Vladimir Putin and dare him to do his worst by crossing his redline, by admitting Ukraine into NATO. 

This is the only way to permanently solve the Putin problem because if the current impasse is resolved in his favor, he will up the ante the next time by demanding that every former Soviet country be handed back to Russia. He is testing the waters of resolve of the West and NATO to see what he can get away with; and it is about time he is cut to his size and told to take a hike on a lonely highway to hell and stay there until it freezes over. He is no longer behaving well and no more bone of sanction relief should be thrown to him, not this time; only a scorched earth approach should be deployed in order to force out a good behavior from him. 

It is doubtful that Russian soldiers and military equipments have become so good that they will make a mincemeat of NATO. They bleed and die just like any other soldiers and their weapons are also destructible as well. If millions perish in the process, so be it; but Vladimir Putin needs to be stopped now to end his petulance. He got away with South Ossetia and Abkhazia as well as Crimea and Donbas, and is now coveting a bigger prize, the entire Ukraine. He only became brazen because he was not confronted when he took these territories, but it is not too late to stop him and put an end to these despotic adventurism across Russia borders. Marriage is not by force and for a divorcee, it sounds rather contradictory that he is insisting that Ukraine cannot free itself from Russia's tentacles. 

It is very rude and overbearing of him to think that sequel to dictating for Russian people and micromanaging their lives in every minutia, that he can now freely export his dictatorship to other neighboring countries of Russia. Just one little man who has completely turned Russia into a laughable third world country-like place, believing that he alone knows what is best for Russians, having been glued to power for over 23 years now, since 1999. It is time to check his arrogance and force him to curb his Bonaparte syndrome's excessive enthusiasm. Let the West admit Ukraine into NATO now and let Vladimir Putin do his worst. Enough of his petulance.

OMICRON IS JUST A VARIANT: NO MORE SHUTDOWNS AND/OR LOCKDOWNS.

ICHEOKU says Omicron is fundamentally the same coronavirus which we have learnt how to cope with. It should not be singled out, made out and propagandized into something so eerily monstrous that civilization should be deathly afraid of it. So, it does not matter the name given to it, whether Omarosa variant or Omokri variant or Omicron variant, it is simply just another variation of the same virus. As a result, what worked on its other sister-variants such as the Delta variant and their mother-coronavirus herself, will also do the same number against the Omicron variant. They are all branches of the same tree and share the same genetic code which has already been cracked and for which effective palliatives now exist. 

Therefore, it does not warrant locking down of society or shutting down of the economy or any aspect of either as society can cope with the newest variant without being adversely affected and not halted. The lingering effect of the devastation of the nearly two years long shutdown and lockdown is still being felt and there should not be any more of such self inflicted hurt, never again. White House Press Secretary Jenifer Rene Psaki rightly articulated this position when she said that everyone is tired of the coronavirus and Vice President Kamala Harris also reiterated it, saying that Americans are suffering from coronavirus malaise. ICHEOKU agrees with both women and adds that not hurting the society and/or economy again will also help alleviate the lingering dark cloud over our general psyche. 

The generated hysteria over the Omicron variant by lobbyists of pharmaceutical industry and their media talking heads lackeys and accomplices, in their quest to continue bilking the government with their overpriced vaccines, is therefore not called for and must not be allowed any further oxygen. These profiteers are wreaking havoc on our civilization with their influenced  frequent shutdowns and suspension of living activities. It is not good for society's overall well being because a society in constant or permanent comatose is a society that will not be viable for a continuum existence and survival. We must therefore adapt to a new order, a manageable co-existence with the coronavirus until such a time a silver bullet panacea is finally found that will get rid of the virus for good. 

There should be no more shutdowns or further disruptions of our society, especially its economic activities. We should endeavor to end the panicky, knee-jerk reactions of locking down society and shutting down the economy each time the coronavirus morphs or mutates into some variant. Such reactions cause more harm to society's overall wellbeing and most times fall drastically  short of the expected reprieve that necessitated it. Such measures are therefore not worth the real cost of imposing them and it is about time they are ended. As a society, we should collectively say enough, no more and not anymore shall we hurt ourselves in this manner just because of a virus and its mutants. 

The worst of the coronavirus is definitely behind us, we have conquered the initial fear of not knowing what it was about. We also suffered untoward losses in human and capital because of it and now that we have found some protections against it, it is time we called its bluff and refuse to be dictated by it on how we go forward as a society. Although millions of people died from it globally, including over 800,000 Americans; but we should not forget too that billions of people also survived it, including more than 350 million Americans. We should therefore not live our lives in doom and gloom or act as if the coronavirus won because it did not as billions of people are still here and will continue to be for many moons to come, if not forever.

Humanity have accepted the incontrovertible fact that coronavirus is very deadly and may be here to stay, but they have also chosen to continue living their lives to the fullest and refuse to be held hostage by it or start live fearfully under a permanent cocoon of its overshadowing threat of death. Society has found some tools to help them navigate through living with the virus including vaccination, mask wearing and practicing some other hygienic imperatives which will help keep the virus at bay and/or render it less potent if contracted. Society will therefore continue living without being needlessly yoked down by a virus, afterall there are so many other things which regularly kill people and society does not shut down as a result.

We must therefore not allow ourselves to be completely emasculated by fear of the coronavirus or have our lives dictated and tossed around by its variants. As has been established, the coronavirus cannot and will never have the capacity to kill off everybody on earth. By the same token, locking down society and shutting down the economy cannot and will never protect everybody from getting the virus and/or possibly succumbing to it. There is no need putting the heart rates of everybody on a permanent rollercoaster, constantly racing exceedingly too high and worrying about what comes with every new variant. Many are still dealing with resuscitating and resurrecting businesses from the nearly two years lockdown and should not be burdened any further with thinking about the next hit. 

We should make an informed decision that the coronavirus is here to stay and that we have to be smart in making necessary adjustments accordingly towards sharing our planet with it, but not to completely surrender and succumb to its dictates. Going forward, pharmaceutical companies should be nudged into doubling their efforts and not to relax in trying to find a permanent fix to the virus. The only crux here is whether they still have any incentive to work harder towards this objective since they are already making out like bandits, raking in billions of dollars from their already overpriced existing vaccines and other medicines. But that notwithstanding, we should always give them the benefit of the doubt that they are not such Shylocks and vultures cashing in on human sufferings and that they will not relent in their effort to do right by and for society, and will some day, find a riddance to the rubbish.

Anyway, we must say no to a permanent surrender of our lives to the coronavirus by rejecting any future attempt at locking-down our society and shutting-down the economy. Everyone now practically understands the coronavirus, the chances of contracting the virus and the inherent risks of not being vaccinated against it. Those who are still obstinately holding out from getting vaccinated for whatever reason and despite all the currently available information on  coronavirus vaccines' safety and efficacy, should be left on their own devices, and if they get the virus and/or even die as a result, so be it. 

If families continue to allow unvaccinated members to be in their midst, that is a voluntary risk and they should be allowed to stew in their decisions and whatever resulting consequences. If a vaccinated person is reinfected as a result, it is a tolerable risk as being alive has its attendant risks; but with presently available medicines, the outcome will not be too devastating. As a society, we can also consider allowing the filing of lawsuits against and in a clearly established infection by an unvaccinated person. 

But as the cajoling, persuasion, messaging and campaign for the unvaccinated to get vaccinated continue, we should also take into consideration that the risks of infections and even possible deaths from the virus are no longer as high as they once were. The risks no longer outweigh the damage inflicted on society by shutdowns and economic atrophy hence the scale weighs heavily in favor of keeping the society and the economy open. There should be no more shutdowns or lockdowns; and anyone infected should be treated and managed until they either recover or die. The other good news however is that the Omicron variant is not as severe nor as deadly as initially hyped or compared to its other sister variants such as the Delta variant or even their mother coronavirus herself. #SayNoToShutdownsAndLockdowns.

WE ARE BACK: HELLO, WELCOME 2022.

ICHEOKU says while we were away for the holidays, a lot happened domestically and internationally, including the deaths of so many renowned and notable people. We hope that your holidays were as restful and less stressful as ours was and that normal activities have since returned in your lives. Please welcome back to our resumed time together on this forum, in this new year 2022, which is already ten days gone. 

Although it is always better late than never, admitted that never late is always better, so, still happy new year to you ICHEOKU's readers and viewers alike. We look forward to continuing holding conversations with you, the reason we reach out to you on this platform. We appreciate you bountifully for considering this forum worthy of the time which you generously spend on it. Thank you. We pray that you continue to find our insights engaging enough to elicit and warrant your time. Now, some of the developments:- 

The apartment fires in Philadelphia and New York City, nearly five days apart, which claimed the lives of 12 and 19 people respectively, were indeed terrifying and very horrific indeed. May their souls now rest. It is also noteworthy that many Americans are still dying from the Chinese ghoulish gift to the world, the dreadful coronavirus. ICHEOKU says is hopeful that the world will finally see the light at the end of the tunnel of the scourge this year so that life as we once knew it should finally return to its fullest. May the souls of the coronavirus killed continue to rest and those currently afflicted, find some respite through a speedy recovery. 

Interestingly enough, none of those notable departed persons fell victim to the coronavirus pandemic. They lived their lives fully to well wiped old ages and transited on their own accord, dying from old age related infirmities. Many of them died but we will mention here only those incredibly eventful ones, including Hollywood great Sidney Poitier at 94 years; Queen of infectious smile and another Hollywood great Betty White at 99 years; activist archbishop extraordinaire Desmond Tutu at 90 years; political heavyweight Senator Harry Reid at 82 and NFL great and wonderful coach John Madden at 85. May their souls now rest.

It is also noteworthy that the disgraced former governor of New York, the elder Cuomo of the two Cuomo Brothers CNN Comedy group will not be prosecuted for the crimes which forced him out of office. While it is a piece of good news for the embattled Cuomo family, those #MeToo trouble makers who lined up to point their accusing fingers are not finding it funny; otherwise why did they bother showing their faces. Anyway, ICHEOKU has always believed that the whole exercise  was meant to neuter him and render him politically impotent in 2024 so that he will not mount a challenge for President Joe Biden's second term. They succeeded and now have no more use of furthering the conspiracy against him.

The other development worth mentioning was the decision not to prosecute those two guards at New York Metropolitan Correctional Center who were on duty the night Jeffrey Epson "conveniently" decided to suicide himself. Anyone with the faintest idea about situational awareness relative to the security of very important prisoners or detained persons, knows that Jeffrey Epson did not kill himself and especially not in the manner they sold the public. Those two guards knew exactly what truly happened to Jeffrey Epson that fateful night; and the only way their lawyers would not have forced the issue out is to not prosecute them, period. Jeffrey Epson is gone; his guards will not be prosecuted and his Lolita Express madam Christine Ghislaine is convicted and soon going to prison, his issue has come a full circle, case closed.

What a huge relief it is that the worst mayor in America, Bill de Blasio, is finally out from office and that New York will now look forward to recovering from his mismanagement. ICHEOKU says provided Black Lives Matter anarchists will give the new black Mayor of New York Eric Adam a breathing space, we are hopeful that he will succeed once he puts into action the things he promised during his campaign for the office. We wish him well. On this same tangent, we appreciate the governor of Colorado for bringing reason into the conviction of the truck driver by commuting his 110 years prison sentence to 10 years. It was the right and correct decision as the crime was excessively over punished with the earlier sentence. 

ICHEOKU says Congresswoman Liz Cheney is suddenly realizing how lonesome and loathsome it could be being politically leprous as she is now completely deserted and isolated and flying solo in her anti party activism. It was so bad for her that she had to dredge up her tired and ailing old father, Darth Vader Dick Cheney to accompany her to the infamous January 6th anniversary celebration in Washington DC. What happened to her other fellow co-travelers in the ill-advised rebellion against the Republican Party, the 64 million strong MAGA family and their affable leader former President Donald John Trump. They rudely found out how small and inconsequential they are and they are paying a hefty price for their rudeness.

We will not end this article without mentioning the development in Kazakhstan where a president decided to rather kill his protesting citizens than listen to them and figure out how best to improve the conditions for which they came out on the streets in protest. Fortunately for him, Vladimir Putin has been looking to send his soldiers somewhere and his invitation was more than a welcome relief from the stalemated Ukrainian border adventure. Anyway, we shall see how many of his country's people he can shed their blood no matter the nomenclature he labeled them with including "foreign terrorists". It is a sad and primitive way of resolving an internal citizens protest, shooting and killing your own country men and women at sight.

It is also heart warming to note that those coronavirus profiteers were hugely disappointed when the Omicron variant which they had hyped and frightened people with did not pack the advertised punch and has now nearly fizzled out. It is a good thing to happen especially in a society where people are over-traumatized and dead tired of the coronavirus. Also, in ten days time President Joe Biden would have been in the White House for one full year and you ask yourself, judging from the way things are since he came on board, when Americans will finally apologize to the former President Donald John Trump for the hand which they dealt him on November 3rd, 2020.

Anyway, let's see what 2022 has in stock for the world and be hopeful that it will be an improvement from what 2021 came and went with. Like Sidney Poitier said, hope is the only tool in the survival kit of life, so we must have it in order to stand a chance at fighting through life. Reverend Jesse Jackson also implored us to keep hope alive and provided it is not the type of Barack Obama's styled hope and change, it is something worth trying in order to avert despondency and silly thoughts. We should therefore be grateful that we made it through yet another year and be optimistic that we shall improve our odds in the new year in every aspect of our lives as we desire and as shall only increase us and not diminish us in every way. God bless and once again, happy new year fellas.