The Bulwark’s Cathy Young Autopsies the MAGA Hissy Fit Over Zelenskyy’s Visit

As much as we may disagree with some of the political stances, former and present, of The Bulwark creators and staff, I think we should occasionally allow ourselves the pleasure of appreciating the unabashed zeal with which the online journal regularly dismantles the drumpf loving apostles of the MAGA cult – and the very often good writing they employ in pursuit of this admirable purpose.

A case in point would be yesterday’s submission by columnist Cathy Young who examines the opposition of the MAGA cultists to the State visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House and his speech on Capitol Hill, which more than half of House Republicans boycotted to demonstrate solidarity with their Putin loving constituents.

For an overview of Zelenskyy’s speech and it’s historical significance I refer you to a post by our own Murfster who summarizes it nicely.

But back to Ms. Young, she begins her piece by pointing out some of the more prominent yellow dwarfs of the MAGA cosmos and their bleatings about Zelenskyy’s visit, starting with the least among them, TFG’s idiot progeny:

Zelensky is basically an ungrateful international welfare queen. https://t.co/WclnckMoCj

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) December 21, 2022

Not that the alleged drug-addled spawn of a sniveling traitor deserves a reasoned response, but since he put this out there I would point out that, as President Zelenskyy stated last night, our continued support of Ukraine is not charity, but a significant investment in our (and our NATO Allies’) collective security as Ukraine has chewed up the once vaunted Russian war machine to the point that Putin had to go personally, hat in hand, to military colossus Belarus for help in subduing them.

And to Byron York I would reply that what we allotted from our defense budget for Ukraine’s fight for the last fiscal year is not enough… which is why Congress proposes roughly the same for the next, which, thanks to a lingering Democratic Majority in the House and roughly twenty GOP Senators rallied by Mitch McConnell to join Democrats to obliterate the filibuster and fund the government until next fall, we will appropriate.

Here, I would like to credit McConnell, which I rarely, rarely have the opportunity to do, who joined Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Schumer to escort Zelenskyy (and add a semblance of bipartisanship) to last evening’s proceedings, despite an apparently painful limp:

Top congressional leaders @SpeakerPelosi @SenSchumer @LeaderMcConnell with Ukraine’s President ZELENSKYY on CAPITOL HILL pic.twitter.com/BtV3dlEMeO

— Lauren Peller (@lauren_peller) December 21, 2022

Good on ya, Mitch, thumbing both Kevin McCarthy and Trump in the eye on the same day. You can now go back to being the regularly scheduled jerk always are…

Ms. Young next takes on the editorial staff at Newsweek who have been dragging that once respectable weekly to the right since their elevation in 2020:

Raise your hand if you are personally DONE with the Ukraine gravy train.

🙋‍♂️

— Josh Hammer (@josh_hammer) December 21, 2022

Not done yet, Josh, maybe you should commiserate with DT Junior.

It is possible to admire President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people's bravery, resilience, and fortitude in the face of a malevolent, godless foe while also recognizing that his interests are not our interests, his fight is not our fight, and his requests should not be granted.

— Batya Ungar-Sargon (@bungarsargon) December 22, 2022

Nice try Batya, but why would we admire the abandon them? Make up your mind.

There are more examples listed by Ms. Young, but it is a very good column which you might wish to read for yourself.

Or it is possible you don’t give a rip about what Charlie Kirk has to say, an entirely understandable position.

Be that as it may, the centerpiece and crown jewel of Ms. Young’s column, and the words that compelled me to write, was the following assessment of MAGA world’s hatred of Ukraine and all they stand for, and why we on the left stand with them:

“The question of why the Trumpian populist right is so consumed with hatred for Ukraine—a hatred that clearly goes beyond concerns about U.S. spending, a very small portion of our military budget, or about the nonexistent involvement of American troops—doesn’t have a simple answer. Partly, it’s simply partisanship: If the libs are for it, we’re against it, and the more offensively the better. (And if the pre-Trump Republican establishment is also for it, then we’re even more against it.) Partly, it’s the belief that Ukrainian democracy is a Biden/Obama/Hillary Clinton/”Deep State” project, all the more suspect because it’s related to Trump’s first impeachment. Partly, it’s the “national conservative” distaste for liberalism—not only in its American progressive iteration, but in the more fundamental sense that includes conservatives like Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher: the outlook based on individual freedom and personal autonomy, equality before the law, limited government, and an international order rooted in those values. Many NatCons are far more sympathetic to Russia’s crusade against secular liberalism than to Ukraine’s desire for integration into liberal, secular Europe.”

From Iran, to Ukraine, to South America, to Alabama and Florida, what Ms. Young rightly describes as an animus to secular liberalism by theocrats and despots is the great battle which our, and the next generation, are unfortunately called to prevail, or perish in…

Zelenskyy’s speech and Biden’s budget were not insignificant victories in that war, which we won yesterday.

But we cannot rest on our laurels.

The bastards will be back with their lies tomorrow.