The war in Ukraine has brought to a head another front in the culture war in this country. It is becoming evident as the days go by that there is actually a pro-Putin and pro-Russian war crimes segment in the Republican party. As unthinkable as a statement like this would have been six or seven years ago, it is nevertheless a fact that there are forces in this country, and in this congress, which favor the doings of Vladimir Putin over the interests of the free world. Astonishing, but true.
Here is the latest from this nitwit. She’s too stupid to realize the gravity of what she’s saying.
“The demonization of a demon is appropriate.”
– The Human Race pic.twitter.com/wOiGZYhMnj
— Ron Filipkowski ?? (@RonFilipkowski) April 7, 2022
And take a look at this.
Tell that to all of these other politicians.
WE DON'T BELIEVE YOU!!! pic.twitter.com/8v1XxOta2A
— Anthony (@ChicagoItaliano) April 7, 2022
Just a brief review. Here is what the war looks like, juxtaposed with what Trump, Tucker Carlson and other GOPers have said about it and about Putin. This tells you all you need to know.
Trump and his allies aren’t looking away from this. They’re promoting it.pic.twitter.com/25wmI5dSKd
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) April 7, 2022
And as usual, it gets worse. Intelligencer:
Sixty-three House Republicans voted earlier this week against a resolution expressing support for NATO. That might sound extreme, but a subsequent vote last night exposed a smaller and even more hard-core faction: Six Republicans voted against a bill simply calling on the president to document evidence of Russian war crimes.
This bill does not commit the United States to war with Russia over its war crimes. It does not propose any retaliatory sanctions. It merely requires a report. That even this modest step goes too far reveals the full extent of the far right’s functional support for Russian atrocities. […]
Rather than openly endorsing Putin’s war aims, they focus their criticism on Putin’s targets: NATO, military aid for Ukraine, or the legitimacy of Ukraine’s government itself. Some right-wingers, most notably Tucker Carlson, have spread Russian propaganda about Ukrainian biolabs as a supposed weapons threat.
The deeper source of their animus against Ukraine is the fact the war has brought to the surface a conflict between authoritarianism and democracy. Putin’s goals in destroying Ukrainian sovereignty include destroying a democratic government on his border that might create a counterexample his own people can look to. The invasion has spurred an upsurge in pro-democracy sentiment in the West.
Representative Warren Davidson, an Ohio Republican, cited that very idea this week as the reason he opposed the pro-NATO resolution. His objection, he explained, was to the parts of the resolution highlighting the alliance’s commitment to “democratic principles” and strengthening “democratic institutions.”
After three pages of whereas statements, here is the actual resolution: https://t.co/DNF9Gkh6Qk pic.twitter.com/D07UxXh4u7
— Warren Davidson (@WarrenDavidson) April 6, 2022
This provision would “use NATO to interfere in one another’s domestic politics,” he complained. But Davidson seems to have deeper objections to the resistance to Putin. He has also voted against the war-crimes report, joining Representatives Tom Massie, Scott Perry, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Andy Biggs, and Paul Gosar.
The War Crimes Report is pretty innocuous and voting against it is very telling. The War Crimes Report would simply record the atrocities that are taking place in Ukraine and which the rest of the world freely acknowledges is taking place. They’re recording it. Voting against even recording the information is voting for burying out heads in the sand and refusing to look at what Putin is doing. Obviously, his sycophants are afraid that he won’t pass muster if he’s subjected to the tiniest bit of scrutiny.
This is horrifying, coming out of the House of Representatives of the United States. But it is not unusual. This toxic cocktail of isolationism, mixed with Russian disinformation and topped with the cherry of partisan angst is one that Republicans have been imbibing for some time as they convince themselves that America has no responsibility in the world. Madness. Sheer madness. Here are the pillars of their nutty world view as articulated by Will Saletan at the Bulwark:
America has no responsibilities in the world. “The United States has no legal or moral obligation to come to Ukraine’s aid,” says Rosendale. Biggs and Gosar also oppose America’s commitment to Article 5 of the NATO charter, which obliges each member state to defend the others. Gaetz and Massie oppose financial support, not just military assistance, to Ukraine and other eastern European countries. Gaetz calls these countries “welfare cases.” Massie says we should scrap NATO because “Americans are done subsidizing socialism.”
America should worry about its own borders, not Ukraine’s. This is the most popular theme among the 21 Republican resisters. In mid-February, when Biden sent troops to Europe to protect NATO allies from a possible Russian attack, Miller scoffed: “Biden wants U.S. troops to defend Ukraine’s border instead of our own.” A week later, on the eve of the invasion, Bishop said the U.S. should focus on the Mexican border instead of getting “distracted” and “absorbed in the predicament of Ukraine.”
Russia is powerful, so America should retreat. The resisters fret that Putin would punish the West’s sanctions with “drastic measures,” that America should accept Russia’s domination of its neighbors, that we shouldn’t send “money and weaponry to Ukraine to fight a war they cannot possibly win,” and that instead we should “take NATO membership for Ukraine off the table” to appease the Kremlin.
The invasion was provoked. Some of the resisters blame Ukraine for the war. “Ukraine just kept poking the bear and poking the bear . . . and Russia invaded,” says Greene. Others blame NATO. “We’re jabbing and have been jabbing Russia in the eye by expanding NATO,” says Massie. “They feel threatened.”
Sanctions on Russia are a Democratic plot to hurt Americans. Many Republican lawmakers agree with Donald Trump that domestic liberals, not foreign tyrants, are America’s real enemies. Roy says he voted against banning Russian oil and gas because the ban was “designed purposefully to depress American oil and gas production” and “advance their [Democrats’] radical climate agenda.” He says Ukraine is just a cover story: “They WANT your gas to cost more. This is why Democrats jumped on the opportunity to ban Russian oil.”
Sanctions on Russia are part of the gay agenda. Grothman said he voted against sanctions on March 17 because the bill would “leave open the possibility of the U.S. government weaponizing our vast financial wealth to threaten foreign officials that hold traditional views on life or marriage.” He specifically cited concerns about gay and transgender rights. Gosar retweeted a similar argument: “Do you really want gay pride parades in Kieve [sic] so badly that you’ll get into a nuclear confrontation with Russia?”
Ukraine is a tool of the Biden family and the Democratic party. Trump’s propaganda about the Russia investigation and the Ukraine impeachment has saturated his party. Cawthorn calls Ukraine “incredibly evil”; Gaetz calls it “the third-most corrupt country in the world”; Greene says it was “the Number 1 donor to Hillary Clinton.” (It wasn’t.)
These views aren’t confined to the fringe. Other Republicans have also insinuated that Biden is defending Ukraine for corrupt reasons. Weber calls Putin’s invasion “an attack on Hunter Biden’s income.” Miller complains: “After Hunter Biden made millions in Ukraine and held ‘10% for the Big Guy,’ Joe Biden is now making the United States responsible for Ukraine’s border.” (Even if you buy the “10% for the Big Guy” story, it was supposedly a deal Hunter Biden was trying to make in China, not Ukraine.)
There’s more to this nuttiness, but this is the kernel of it. You can see where the logic goes straight into QAnon drivel. This is actually a handy roadmap to consult the next time you wonder how conservative ideas got bastardized into deranged conspiracy theory.
The political situation in this country is on life support right now, with only one functioning political organ while the other one is diseased and crippled. Democracy needs two functioning parties to make it work. The GOP needs to have some major surgery. It needs to cut out the tumors in its body politic and purge itself of the dogma which has poisoned it and see if it can be restored to health.
I never thought the day would come when the GOP — or at least a significant part of it — would become the tool of a butchering Russian dictator but here we are. Here we are. I have no doubt that both Eisenhower and Reagan are spinning in their graves watching this unfold.
They need to move to Russia, where they can enjoy all the fruits of adoring Putin.
These people are by statute TRAITORS and should be treated as such! They should be tried for treason, and if convicted, HANGED!!
She keeps harping about grains and fertilizer. Yes, Russia is a top exporter of fertilizer but the European Union operates collectively and exports more. For that matter WE export quite a bit. Not as much as Russia (or China) but plenty so that shouldn’t be a cause for concern. We make enough here to take care of our own needs.
As for grains, it’s a bit more complicated because “grains” is a helluva lot more than the wheat people often think of when they think “grains.” Yes, Russia is among the top exporters of wheat, but again we grow more than enough of our own and other countries besides China (which has improved its capability to feed its own massive population since they are also the largest rice producer) are in the mix of leading exporters as are we. However, when you dig into agriculture and the totality of grain (which again goes far beyond wheat) Russia is well down the list. China is at the top, closely followed by the U.S. By comparison Russia produces about a quarter of what either the U.S. or China does!
So once again MTG is blowing smoke. Or perhaps more accurately spouting bullshit. She certainly pours enough out of her stupid mouth to more than make up for any losses of fertilizer from Russia on the world markets!
She can take her “thoughts and prayers” for the people of Ukraine and stick them where the sun doesn’t shine.
Its a good thing that the doj is involved with investigating the Jan. 6 riot. I am sure that they will do as good of a job as they did figuring out who killed the Kennedy’s. (The gop)…..
By the way, why is the butcher of vietnam still walking around free?