Terry Prone: Worldwide emotional support for the Ukraine won't have any effect on Putin

Public expressions of sympathy may also provide the illusion of action 

A carnivalist with a banner reading "Stop Putin — Stop War" follows the traditional Funken bivouac of the carnival Traditionscorps Rote Funken in Cologne, Germany, at the weekend. Picture: Oliver Berg/AP

The editor of this paper tells his columnists to let the paper know in advance what they plan to write about. 

Us columnists, when we remember to obey the rule, don’t assume he’s trying to prevent a “Two Johnnies” outbreak where we line up to quote squalidly anti-female car stickers and laugh reprovingly at them.