“We’re Republicans standing for Ukrainian freedom,” the Republicans for Ukraine website declares. “We are amplifying the voices of Republicans who believe that the United States should be a steadfast friend to democracies like Ukraine and a fearsome enemy to aggressive dictatorships like Russia.”
It’s a divisive issue. Seeing a larger nation, and one that has traditionally been a communist tyranny and enemy of the United States, invade a smaller neighbor and wreak mass death and destruction produces a visceral reaction of horror, especially with the near-universal support for widening American provisioning and involvement from the legacy media. On the other hand, George Washington’s “Farewell Address” admonition that “It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world” drives hesitation among Constitutionalists to exercise caution against provoking escalation.
It’s true that Ukraine arming its citizens was an inspiring move and a great way to point out the cognitive dissonance of Democrats cheering that on while imposing disarmament edicts on their own constituents at home. It’s also true that the cognitive dissonance extended to some on the right, quick to parrot the Russian line while ignoring one of the greatest examples of why a populace should own military weapons. And it was forehead-slapping disappointing to see the government reverse course and order the Ukrainian Territorial Defense to turn in weapons “for storage.”
It’s a mess, no doubt. Factor in credible evidence of Ukrainian corruption going all the way to the top (of which the Hunter and Joe Biden-Burisma scandal is just a small part), Russia being increasingly hemmed in by NATO (recalling the U.S. reaction in the Cuban Missile Crisis), charges of Naziism, demands for territorial self-determination in sectors with dominant Russian populations, and ceaseless pleas for more American dollars and military equipment at the risk of widening the war, and it’s not unfair to wonder if there might be a better way to cool things down and reach peaceful agreements than the present course of engagement escalation.
Republicans for Ukraine make it clear which course they choose, and they even give Republican representatives grades based on how they voted on appropriations. Without doing a detailed analysis of the entire document, it’s nonetheless curious that Second Amendment stalwarts like Thomas Massie and Chip Roy are rated “Very Poor” while Biden Bipartisan Gun Bill backer Dave Joyce and Giffords endorsee Brian Fitzpatrick are both rated “Excellent.”
That makes fair the question of those funding the Republicans for Ukraine website: “Who are these guys?”
You can’t tell from a Who.Is search—the domain is privately registered to a proxy. But a footer at the bottom of the website tells us all we need to know:
“Defending Democracy Together,” eh?
That’s the project headed by noted anti-gunners William Kristol, Mona Charen, Linda Chavez, and Christine Todd Whitman, among others.
Looking at “new” Democrat Bill Kristol alone:
- Bill Kristol Says ‘Lazy’ White Working Class Should Be Replaced By ‘New Americans’
- Never Trump’ Conservative Bill Kristol Donated to Ralph Northam’s Campaign
- Bill Kristol … advocates … amnesty to illegal aliens and ending the country caps in the U.S. legal immigration system
Charen says “Limit Some Guns for Cosmetic Reasons,” among the other infringements she endorses.
Democrat/Republican/Independent (those are some political convictions!) Chavez wails, “Why Won’t Politicians Consider Sensible Gun Restrictions?”
And Whitman says, “I support 2nd Amendment, but it’s time to look at our gun laws,” with such “commonsense” demands like:
“From what we know now, the shooter had acquired his automatic weapon legally just days before the shooting. Who, besides law enforcement and the military, really needs a weapon designed for the battlefied [sic]? Really. It is time we look [sic] a hard look at our gun laws. We can protect the Second Amendment, which I wholeheartedly support, and the right to bear arms in a sane and balanced way.”
It’s fair to ask, “With Republicans like these, who needs Democrats?”
It’s also fair to ask, “If this is the best they can do with ‘standing for freedom’ in this country, why should we trust their judgment on what America’s involvement should be in Ukraine?”
And it’s especially fair to wonder what the useful idiots who lent their names and faces to this Astroturf effort are really about (116 Facebook followers and they’ve got money for ads? Really? And not one of them looks like he’ll take part in any resulting fighting?).
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
I see the Fascist right against Freedom is commenting on here in support of the russia they love led by Comrade Cordera
why are we even funding a corrupt dictator in ukraine?
could not those tens of billions of dollars been better spent here in America, like fixing our railroad system? and how much of that money has this dictator squirreled away for himself and his family?
i trust no one in government, especially if they are not willing to put their lives on the line to fight battles.
Years ago a young woman from east Asia observed to me that fighting a war in your own country is really bad. Her dad was a general who fought the invading Japanese on his home turf. I think WW2 offers lotsa reasons why arming Ukraine to fight off Putin’s “special military operation” is a far better strategy than letting Russia’s invasion succeed. We should all remenber the poor decisions Britain made when Hitler invaded his neighbors. We don’t want to defend US soil here! We want the ordinance exchange to remain between Russia and Ukraine.
The F-16 is no longer even our second tier fighter having been replaced by the F-22 which is being replaced by the F-35. If Ukraine can make use of our old jets from the boneyard, why not give them away to someone who can get good use from them instead of cutting them up for scrap? The Air Force says they have no further use for the A-10, an excellent tank killer. Ukraine has a problen with Russian tanks inside their borders. Give them the A-10s rather than selling them off as scrap. But run up more federal debt, much… Read more »
Wag the Dog War, Nothing More.
As usual, Mr. Codrea is dead on the target.
“Democrat/Republican/Independent (those are some political convictions!)”
The only convictions in DC today are the desire to please their masters at all costs, no matter which letters they have printed after their name(s). They all need to have it be an “S”, for “Scumbag”!
“Whitman says, “I support 2nd Amendment, but” … There’s the “BUT”. Maybe it should be a “B” for butter” instead.