PUTIN—THE BASS WHO TRIED TO SWALLOW UKRAINE

Vladimir Putin is like a largemouth bass trying to swallow his smaller neighbor—which reminds me of a story. Years ago my friend John and I were fishing for largemouth bass. They are impressive fish, whose hinged jaws open wide enough to allow them to swallow a victim nearly half their size. They don’t just bite their prey—they inhale it. I was using a lure. But John was using a method that was new to me. He was hooking medium sized bluegills by the tail, dangling them from a hook and bobber and catching more bass than I. Why was he fishing this way?

The Ukrainians are simply too hard to swallow

He explained: “If you hook the bluegill by the tail the bass will swallow the baitfish head first and suck it into its gullet. The victim easily goes in head first and so do the pectoral fins. However, once in the gullet it cannot be spit out easily because the sharp needle like spines of the bluegill’s pectoral fins open up when pulled backwards, stick in the throat, and you have a better chance of landing the bass. Put simply it is easier to take in the bait and much more difficult to dislodge it. Once you swallow it, it is harder to spit it out. It can even choke a bass that attacks more than it can swallow.” ….which reminds me of Putin. Putin--the largemouth bass who tried to inhale Ukraine--has swallowed more than he bargained for. And what he has swallowed he finds distasteful. He would like to spit it out. But just as the spines of the bluegill make it hard for the bass to expel the intended victim, Putin faces an impossible choice: he cannot keep taking in the smaller prey as it might well choke him, yet he cannot expel it either. Either way it is going to be painful for the predator and he is going to lose. The Ukrainians are simply too hard to swallow.

William Kevin Stoos——Bio and Archives

Copyright © 2020 William Kevin Stoos
William Kevin Stoos (aka Hugh Betcha) is a writer, book reviewer, and attorney, whose feature and cover articles have appeared in the Liguorian, Carmelite Digest, Catholic Digest, Catholic Medical Association Ethics Journal, Nature Conservancy Magazine, Liberty Magazine, Social Justice Review, Wall Street Journal Online and other secular and religious publications.  He is a regular contributing author for The Bread of Life Magazine in Canada. His review of Shadow World, by COL. Robert Chandler, propelled that book to best seller status. His book, The Woodcarver (]And Other Stories of Faith and Inspiration) © 2009, William Kevin Stoos (Strategic Publishing Company)—a collection of feature and cover stories on matters of faith—was released in July of 2009. It can be purchased though many internet booksellers including Amazon, Tower, Barnes and Noble and others. Royalties from his writings go to support the Carmelites. He resides in Wynstone, South Dakota.

“His newest book, The Wind and the Spirit (Stories of Faith and Inspiration)” was released in 2011 with all the author’s royalties go to support the Carmelite sisters.”