FACES AND PLACES: My greatest orange moment (02/06/05)

FACES AND PLACES

by Myron B. Kuropas

My greatest orange moment

Like most Ukrainians I've had many orange moments during the past two months. They began with the orange tent city. Then there was the orange Supreme Court declaring the first election fraudulent. Next came the orange call for a new election. Finally there was the second election ending in the orange victory of Viktor Yushchenko.

My greatest orange moment, however, was in Kyiv. I sat in the parliament gallery as Mr. Yushchenko was sworn in as Ukraine's third president. Later, I was in a VIP section on the maidan listening to Ukraine's new president addressing the people of Ukraine, thanking "God who gave us faith, hope and love. We won a great victory with these gifts," he said, "I am praying that we will always treasure them in our hearts."

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians stood in the square and listened as President Yushchenko thanked them for the great trust they had placed in him. It was a spiritual moment for all of us. We stood there, listening, barely moving. We were solemn, almost as if we were in church. Some of us were crying, tears of joy. Hope was in the air.

Earlier, as the American ambassador's car went by, one could hear shouts of "USA, USA." We were in the new Europe. Truly.

Much of the credit for the Orange Revolution, of course, belongs to the Bush administration. The United States pumped some $58 million into Ukraine during the past two years. The money was well spent. Quietly and without a lot of fanfare, the money went to democracy-building organizations which spent it well. Enough said.

What happened in Independence Square was not a spontaneous event. It was planned and orchestrated long before the November election. Pora had worked out the logistics. The tents were ready to go. Everything fell into place like clockwork, surprising and throwing the old guard off balance. Before the bad guys could react, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians were in the square.

Vladimir Putin fumed. Leonid Kuchma flew to Moscow for advice. Some thought was given to creating another Tiananmen Square, but that idea fizzled quickly when it became apparent that the Ukrainian police and military were not prepared to shoot their own people.

During the return flight I had an opportunity to talk with Secretary of State Colin Powell. He came to the front of the plane, all smiles, clapped me on the back and said, "Did we put on a show or what, professor?"

We chatted a while and then I asked, "Will the U.S. continue to support Ukraine?"

"Absolutely" was the answer. "But as I'm sure you know," he added, "there's only so much we can do. Success in the end will depend on the Ukrainian people themselves." Right.

"Ukraine will be a reliable partner in the fight against old and new threats: tyranny, war, poverty, natural disasters and terrorism," President Yushchenko declared during his remarks. "We set before us ambitious tasks. I am fully convinced in the very fiber of my being that soon they will be turned into glorious deeds ... This square is the symbol of a free nation that believes in its power and creates its future on its own." Amen.

Standing there on the maidan I was proud. Proud of being of Ukrainian descent. Proud of being an American, a citizen of the greatest nation in the world. Proud of President Bush who in his inaugural address re-committed our country to spreading democracy throughout the world. "The survival of liberty in our land," said President Bush, "increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands." Ukraine is on its way. Iraq's recent election suggests that Baghdad is as well.

As many Ukrainians know by now, some malcontents decided to rain on my orange moment. Ukrainophobes and their Ukrainian fellow-travelers attempted to smear my integrity and character. Shame on Bush for sending an "anti-Semite" to Kyiv, they said. The White House, they argued in effect, had not vetted the American delegation. This entire tawdry affair had one purpose: smear President Bush.

One Ukrainian, demonstrating "political brilliance" of a rare variety, wrote that according to his "grapevine," two Democrats were scheduled to go on the trip, not two Republicans. Wow! No grapevine here. Just sour grapes.

I was soaked by the downpour but not drowned. Many Ukrainians called or sent me e-mails, expressing their support. No words can adequately express my gratitude.

When two Jewish Democratic congressmen (one from California, for Pete's sake) went to the press and demanded that the president of Northern Illinois University fire me for being an anti-Semite, the president refused. That took incredible courage.

Am I wounded? Probably. Am I dead? No. Will the calumny stop? No. Bullies are still out there. Those who thrive on hate will continue their evil work, but they won't triumph.

Myron Kuropas's e-mail address is: [email protected].

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