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Hey, this is Trey. Thank you for joining us for another Tuesday's with Trey. There's a lot going on in the country and the world. And when there's a lot going on, it's the perfect

time to think and analyze and ask questions starting with ourselves. The answers, I think, will eventually come or partial answers will eventually come if we do spend enough time reflecting and analyzing and posing the right questions to those

in positions of power and also to ourselves. So we'll start with what's been on my mind, which is that Russia invaded a sovereign neighboring country. And civilians are being killed, Russian and Ukrainian civilians are bearing the cost of wars waged by a Russian despot, which should lead us to wonder why there has been any

equivocation by some in this country on the nature and intentions of Vladimir Putin. Some in the media and in positions of power seem frankly enamored with Putin. Looking at the images of dead Ukrainian children should settle the question of who Putin is once and for all. It's not something I've wondered about, but it is apparently something that others have wondered about.

And it does beg the question of what some people are drawn to. Some people seem drawn to wealth. Some people seem drawn to power. Some people seem drawn to influence. But I think there are more people who are drawn to justice and fairness. And I think that's why you see such widespread condemnation for what Russia is doing.

And the countries not always known for their toughness are sending weapons to Ukraine. Countries in the past known for their neutrality are abandoning their neutrality. There are countries imposing serious and meaningful sanctions on Russia.

And it seems to have found something that it can unite and condemnation of. And that is the reckless use of power for the sake of aggression. The US is still for now the most powerful country on earth. And there is still a broad streak of justice that runs through this country.

And the action is powerful and it is just it should lead. I don't know the full panoply of sanctions. The US is imposed on Russia. I wouldn't know. I couldn't know.

But it's fair to ask where they tough enough and where they timely enough and where they intended to deter or punish. And is there a meaningful distinction between deterrence and punishment.

And here people talk about deterrence and punishment. As if their apples and airplanes like their two entirely different things. And I think they're more closely aligned. The purpose is to correct behavior.

Before hand during or afterward. And between the three we should want to correct the bad behavior as soon as possible. Like before the children are killed before the country is ruined by an invading force. I mean, we would want to get tougher sooner, right?

And when you see the tanks massing at the border, when you see war games in a neighboring country like Belarus, why not start the process of punishment then?

I mean, one of the limitations of our own criminal justice system is that it is necessarily reactive. Someone does something wrong and we react. We investigate, we arrest, we indict, we prosecute, we sentence. But if you ask most of us, we would like to have avoided the crime altogether.

So how do we act in time before the wrong has been committed punishment does not just belong to government. We can do it too.

So for those in the media and in government who complimented Putin who wondered why we would side with a democracy like Ukraine rather than a despot who poisons and kills his political opponents. What will be the consequences? What will be our form of punishment for those who provided verbal air cover for a man who wage war on a weaker neighbor while some in this country talked about old and gas and a desire to be friends.

With an immoral bully. So while we're reflecting this week, you know, could the war in Ukraine have been avoided? How? When? By whom?

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