OPINION:
As terrible as the invasion of Ukraine is, it’s ridiculous to respond by renaming Russian drinks or pouring away Russian vodka (“Bars and restaurants renaming ’Moscow Mule,’” Web, March 4).
As well as being simply wasteful, as a protest it’s self-defeating. Vladimir Putin is effectively striking an economic blow against the United States when American barmen dump unsold millions of dollars’ worth of product for which they’ve already paid.
More than that, though, is the fact that erasing all reference to Russia from shop shelves is illiterate. Russia is bigger than Mr. Putin, as seen in the thousands defying him in anti-war protests in Moscow, and Russia is steeped in history and culture that goes back long before even the Soviet Union. One should be able to appreciate the music of Tchaikovsky or the literature of Tolstoy — or, indeed, a shot of vodka — without being denounced as a Putinista.
ROBERT FRAZER
Lancashire, United Kingdom
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