Of Hummingbirds And Switchblades March 17, 2022March 19, 2022 Biden Answered The 3AM Call . . . It’s a quietly bravura performance—and it’s hard to imagine that any of Biden’s rivals from the last election, not just Donald Trump but also the Democrats, could have come close to matching it. If anything, it is reminiscent of how George H. W. Bush led the world through the end of the Cold War, a similarly chaotic moment that could have easily exploded into nuclear conflict. In the middle of Joe Biden’s 3 a.m. call, I find myself grateful that he’s the one answering the phone. Me, too. Former G.O.P. Chair on His Party’s Leader . . . I’m certain that remaining silent is the wrong course for me, and for all of my fellow citizens regardless of political party. And so he speaks out, in a most compelling way. I own half of a “boutique digital agency” in Kyiv. (Long story.) Last month, my co-owner arranged for a safe house out in the countryside. Last week, I offered to put up employees here. I’ve passed on your offer. Believe me, if there were no obstacles you’d have almost everyone (and their extended families) at your door tomorrow. But — all of our male employees are between 18-60 and therefore not allowed to leave the country. Of our four female employees, one can’t leave Kyiv because she has so many pets. The others have moved to Budapest, Poland and Romania. On top of that, there’s no functioning U.S. consulate in Ukraine to grant visas. And although Europe has accepted close to three million Ukrainians, the U.S. has taken in fewer than 1,000. Some are even showing up at the Mexican border. The good news is that our project manager was able to leave Mariupol yesterday in a humanitarian convoy. His apartment was hit earlier in the fighting and he spent the last 10 days in the basement of his apartment building while the city was encircled and bombed. He texted us that us he would have been shot of he went outside. Bodies of civilians and soldiers lay in the streets. And he kept a machete to defend his food supply. He can’t travel to our safe house but is on his way to Odessa to stay with a friend. As a company, we are still functioning and covering our costs, but the work is slower and has more errors than usual. I saw a hummingbird outside my house on the weekend. Took that as a good omen. Between that hummingbird, my happy gene, Switchblades, and common sense (including the common sense one hopes China will display), I like to think a negotiated settlement could be near. Ukraine does seem to be sort of winning — if such a nightmare can in any sense be called a win. It can’t hurt to hope. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!