I wonder, how many Democrats truly approve of dumping hundreds of billions in money, aid, and military gear to Ukraine, with very little oversight, no end in sight, and little true need. For all the attempts to state how much Ukraine means to the U.S. national security, it really doesn’t
A Loud GOP Minority Pledges to Make Trouble on Ukraine Military Aid
A congressional delegation of five Republicans and two Democrats met with representatives of Ukraine’s parliament this month in Poland, where the Ukrainians thanked the delegation for U.S. aid and asked for F-16 fighter jets to help in the war against Russia. Three members of the delegation described the meeting as cordial and informative.
One left the session in a state of indignation.
“I just got back from meeting with the Ukrainian Parliament in Poland, where they demanded F-35s and thought it was an obligation for every American to pay $10 a month to fund their war,” first-term conservative Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., wrote in a heated email to this reporter three days later. Ukrainians are not asking for the more advanced and expensive F-35s, but regardless, Luna said the U.S.’ role in the conflict could “potentially start WWIII.”
Ukraine ranked low on her constituents’ concerns, she added, vowing to brief her colleagues about the encounter.
Luna is among the boisterous proponents in Congress of former President Donald Trump’s “America first” worldview that regards financial commitments overseas with extreme skepticism. Like Trump, they maintain that every dollar spent on Ukraine — and there has been $113 billion for the war so far — is a dubious investment of taxpayer money that could have been better used on domestic priorities, like fighting the spread of fentanyl. Senior Republicans who support the war and maintain the hawkish traditions of the establishment GOP fear the movement will gain momentum as the conflict grinds on and Trump’s candidacy consumes the 2024 spotlight.
Um, yeah. What’s wrong with spending that money here? Helping Americans? Dealing with homelessness?
For the moment, America’s commitment to Ukraine seems resilient. President Joe Biden announced an additional $1.2 billion in military aid last week. Ukraine funding has gone unmentioned in the $4.5 trillion in spending cuts House Republicans are demanding in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. A House resolution introduced in February by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., aimed at halting further aid to Ukraine attracted only Luna and nine other signatories among the chamber’s 222 Republicans.
America’s? No, certain lawmakers in both the GOP and Democratic Party.
But there is evidence to suggest that the anti-Ukraine flank of the Republican Party is playing not to the fringe but to the heart of the party’s base. A survey last month of registered voters by Kristen Soltis Anderson’s Echelon Insights found that 52% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents do not think U.S. interests are at stake in Ukraine. Similarly, a survey in March conducted by Axios/Ipsos found that 57% of Republicans opposed providing weapons and financial support to Ukraine.
This isn’t anti-Ukraine. It’s simply that we really do not care. I’m not anti-soccer and NBA: I just do not care. Most of us would want to see them defeat Russia and kick them out. But, we see no need to to spend the money and potentially start WWIII. And this just keeps going and going and going. Heck, most days the MSM barely covers it, including the NY Times.
Anyhow, it bogs down in all sort of silliness as the Times tries to paint opposition as Something Bad, it’s Isolationist, it’s Trumpian, ending with
So far, defying the Republican base by supporting aid to Ukraine does not appear to be politically detrimental to the party’s incumbents.
“Not at this time,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a vociferous foe of assisting Ukraine and a Trump loyalist. “But I’ll be speaking at many of the Trump rallies, and you can bet that I’ll be heavily messaging against the war in Ukraine and anyone who’s funding it. And I guarantee you that’s going to be moving the needle.”
It’s really not driving votes one way or the other. But, maybe it’s time to be diligant with all the expenditures, and consider what this is really getting us.
Because there’s a Democrat in the White House, the professional media have gone full neocon on fighting Russia. Does anyone here really think that this will end well?
The civilized nations cannot tolerate Russia invading a peaceful neighbor, in violation of international agreements, signed by Russia. Putin surmised, incorrectly, that his overwhelming forces would force a Ukrainian surrender early on. Now his mercenary army is threatening to join the other side!
The alternative is to allow countries like Russia to invade their neighbors at will. According to the FormerNeoCons (MAGAts) it’s now up to the invaded nation to fight off the aggressor; international agreements be damned! Just as Mr Trump wanted to reward Putin by dissolving NATO, no doubt with “assurances” from Putin that they’d respect international boundaries, now MAGAts want the U.S. of A. to stay out of these “border disputes”; international agreements be damned! Ukraine gave up their nukes in exchange for assurances of their sovereignty by Russia, the U.S. and the U.K., as agreed to in the Bucharest Memorandum (1994). One of the worst rogue nations on Earth, duplicitous Russia, helmed by one of the worst rogue leaders, Putin, violated the agreement outright.
This will likely end messily but blame Putin and Russia, not the U.S, the West or Ukraine.
The West cannot allow rogue nations such as Russia to act with impunity.
In general, the Republican Party supports the U.S. support of Ukraine. The opposition movement is Trump, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Paul Gaetz and few other loudmouths.
I am highly amused that Jeff is a neo-con now that the Democratic party told him to be. And he not only sees nothing wrong with it, he strongly defends it.
Dana just wrote about it and Jeff chimed in to defend the position of being at war with Russia with no limits. Why? Because Hitler was bad.
General rule: Killing lots of people on the other side of the planet is probably wrong.
The Pretend Prefessor who whines he wants no discussion with us once again opens the door and stumbles in.
Rather than discuss an issue, The Pretend Prefessor just wants to scratch in the dirt and call people names.
King MAGAt told The Pretend Prefesser all he needs to know about Russia.
Does The Pretend Prefessor believe that Russia has the right to invade and murder at will? Does he not believe that Ukraine has a right to defend themselves against a murderous invader?
Is it just a coincidence that the once proud party of ‘American patriots’ (LOL) became the GOP (Gulag of Pussies) once King MAGAt took over? Trump has always been a cowardly thug and gutless.
Should the world stand idly by as Russia invades Ukraine, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania? When China decides Taiwan is theirs?
We will guess that The Pretend Prefesser supported American military excursions to the Vietnam, Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan etc.