One of the Best Things Americans Can do for Ukraine

It's not hard to understand the fact that the world sits on the brink of a danger, of our own creation, that is as great as any we have faced in any other crisis in the nuclear age.  We are watching as an aggressive dictator attacks a country where the people have never really experienced anything like the kind of liberty and freedom that we take for granted in the country, until the last thirty years.  It's modern history is one of being dominated by the Czar's autocratic, feudal empire, then under Soviet communism.  During World War 2, it was right in the path of the German blitzkreig, which operated beautifully on the low, flat plains as long as it was dry and warm.  

It's cities experienced bombing, shelling and destruction as the German advance moved east, along with Stalin's "scorched earth" policy, and then the German retreat brought another "scorched earch" in reverse.  In Kyiv, at a place called Babi Yar, a ravine on the north side of the city, over 100,000 of the city's Jewish residents were murdered by the SS Einstatzgruppen units.  Much of the city was left in ruins, along with Kharkiv, where a massive tank battle was fought.  And when the war was over, the boundaries of Ukraine, a Soviet province at the time, were pushed to the west, taking territory from pre-war Poland, including the city of Lviv.  

Ukraine then endured communist rule once again until the Soviet Union unravelled, and it declared its independence August 24, 1991, followed by a referendum and Presidential election which was held December 1, 1991.  Since then, it has been a sovereign, independent country separated from Russia, but still tied by culture and history.  Yet, in the time since it declared its independence, the Ukrainian people, who, like so many other countries becoming democracies in the past two hundred years, have been looking to develop their fledgling democracy based on the same ideals and values on which our founding fathers built our country.  

Who else does anyone else in the world look up t when they are fighting for independence, freedom and democracy?  

The American Model of Freedom, Independence and Representative Democracy

Who else, indeed?  

And yet, with what has been happening in this country, especially over the previous four years and the attempted subversion of the constitution by the previous president, it seems that it is now the Ukrainians who are showing us what it means to be patriots, and to defend the liberty that comes with a constitutional, representative democracy.  

We have constitutionally guaranteed rights, individual freedom like no other place in the world has it, and in addition to being able to choose our own government leadership, we have virtually unlimited prosperity.  Ukrainians had none of that until 1991.  But they didn't have to re-invent the wheel, they had the United States to look to as a role model, and that's what they chose to do in their first free election.  They set up a representative, constitutional democracy.  And they have kept trying to make it work in spite of situations and circumstances which worked against it, including lack of experience and past history. 

Giving people the right to vote and setting up a constitutional republic doesn't guarantee success.  The Ukrainian government has had its share of corruption, disagreement, uncertainty, all problems that can be expected as something completely different needs to take hold in a country that has not controlled its own sovereignty or destiny, ever, but has always been closely tied to Russian interests.  But then, we also have had problems preserving our constitutional republic and our guarantees of freedom and rights.  

It did not help that an American, who also went to work as the former President's first campaign manager, showed the Ukrainians how to manipulate election results, criminally failed to report those dealings as an American citizen and was sentenced to serve time for his crime, only to have the former President pardon him before leaving office.  Nor did it help that the same former President tried to bribe the new Ukrainian President into lying about his then-election opponent while witholding money Congress had appropriated to help them buy military equipment they needed to defend themselves against the Russians.  Frankly, we showed the Ukrainians our absolute worst side at a time when they were still trying to figure out who to trust.  

And yet, here they are, committed to fighting for their freedom because it is precious to them and they appreciate it.  

We Need to Appreciate our Liberties, our Constitution and our Representative Democracy Like The Ukrainians are Showing the World How They Appreciate Theirs

We are the wealthiest country in the world, and the most powerful politically and militarily.  And while the risks of kicking off a major world war that might include the use of nuclear weapons makes the approach to helping Ukraine precarious and dangerous, and those choices have to be the right ones, there is no limit to the kind of help we can give to the Ukrainians in their time of need.  But the best thing we can give to them, the thing which they will appreciate the most, is the affirmation that what they are fighting for is worth it, because we also think it is worth it.  

We have a house to clean, and doing that and doing it right is one of the best things we can do for the Ukraninans and their morale.  

Democrats Can Take Away Votes From the GOP's Evangelical Right Wing (Part 2)

The Lincoln Project: Twilight, Red Dawn 

These people get it.  

Republicans have provided some political gifts to the Democrats that, if used properly, will go a long way toward reversing the trend of the party in power losing the mid-term elections and actually expand Democrats influence in Congress.  There's not a lot of time, and the defeatist attitude, and acceptance of the "status quo" has to go.  No turf should be ceded, including rural areas of red states and specifically, the Evangelical right wing.  

You Can't Change the Policy if You Don't Win the Election!

The intellectual war has already been won by Democratic party policy wonks.  The Republicans, frankly, have been heading toward autocracy and have been fighting against representative democracy and government "of, by and for the people" for a long time, even before the beginning of the 21st century.  January 6th was the nail in the coffin of their fight for the American Democratic Republic, the Constitution and American values.  

The American people, specifically the electorate, has shown this.  Nationally, the GOP has won only one Presidential election, in terms of the popular vote, since 2000, and that was George W. Bush's narrow win in 2004, eked out over John Kerry in the aftermath of the Iraq war, before the truth started coming out about how the attack was made on a false pretense.  Democrats have won all the other popular vote totals this century, and the margins keep increasing to the 8 million vote shellacking Biden laid on FP45.  The majority of ballots cast in Congressional elections has also increasingly gone Democratic, though the Republicans have weaponized the failure of the courts to enforce laws against gerrymandering, otherwise the makeup of Congress would reflect the roughly 55-45% split, Democrat over Republican, in the overall vote. 

Being policy wonks hasn't worked as well for Democrats as being election strategists has been for Republicans.  Bjorn Beer, of Christian Democrats of America, calls what's happened to Democrats over the past couple of decades a "Hindenburg disaster," and he is exactly right.  Republicans captured state legislative seats and governorships, the power to appoint or elect judges, and more importantly, the power to manipulate election outcomes by drawing lines on the ground which lump Democratic majorities into single districts, while isolating enough of them elsewhere to have just enough of an edge to elect their candidates.  The courts are reluctant to, or refuse to, acknowledge gerrymandering and enforce the law.  

We Know All That, So Tell Us Something New! 

I like Beer's analogy.  But we now have some political gifts, wrapped up, sitting under the tree, waiting to be opened.  We're not talking some major political shift here.  Every one of these gifts has enough value, in terms of percentage of those who will shift their vote, to win enough elections to matter.

My personal preference is opening up all of the glorious corruption, immorality, cheating, fraudulent business dealings, phony charities and the overall mental instability of FP45, keeping all of that circulating, and watching as it silences some of his former Evangelical cheerleaders.  It is finally starting to sink in among some of them that they are being held accountable, and made to own everything that went along with supporting him.  They're paying for it.  They have the "cover" provided by the pandemic on which to blame steeply declining offerings and contributions and declining church attendance and membership, but there are some who are now openly acknowledging that it's not the pandemic, but the consequences of their support for FP45. 

There's January 6th, which is now moving very well and headed in the right direction.  It will be hard to stand by the former President once the full scope of his intentions are out there for everyone to see.  The arguments that they were just tourists, or that they were patriotic Americans participating in legitimate political debate don't seem to be providing much cover any more.  January 6th actually carries the potential of disqualifying FP45 from running for office, and perhaps even more serious penalties can result.  

The icing on the cake is how deeply involved Trump was with Putin, helping to accomplish his goal of denigrating and neutralizing the NATO alliance.  That's been Putin's goal all along and it's why he didn't go after Ukraine when Trump was in office.  If Trump had succeeded in his attempt to subvert the constitution and the peaceful transfer of power following his election loss, Putin's goals would have been achieved and he would have had little to no opposition to taking over all of the former Soviet republics in Europe, along with the former Soviet satellite states.  

And how involved was Putin in interference with the 2016 election?  One of his spies was working with Paul Manafort, Trump's campaign manager.   Watch this clip from Chris Hayes, "All In" March 4, 2022. 

Why Putin Didn't Attack Ukraine During the Trump Administration

I Love the Lincoln Project!

They're Republicans calling out their fellow Republicans on the selling out of their party's values and ideals for loyalty to a candidate, not a cause.  But loyalty to a person, even a President or former President, is not loyalty to America.  They've got the right idea.  They aren't going to flip the whole party, but they have had a significant impact on elections in multiple locations.  Just a few percentage points on some of those margins makes a big difference.  

In Georgia, a state where there are a large number of Evangelicals, that six percent difference in white Evangelical voters supporting Trump, along with a 5% decline in the actual number of Evangelical voters between 2016 and 2020, made the difference, turned Georgia blue, and gave Biden a 50-50 senate, of sorts.  It was also likely the difference in Wisconsin and Michigan.  

It would be worth the small investment it would take for Democrats to have some resources invested in working toward pulling Evangelical voters off the GOP margins.  There are people who know enough about their culture and influences to make this work.

Democrats Can Take Away Votes From the GOP Among the Evangelical Right Wing (Part 1)

Bjorn Phillip Beer of Christian Democrats of America: What's Next for the Religious Left?

Sinclair Lewis said it better than I can: “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross.”  Bjorn Phillip Beer

I grew up in a small church that was affiliated with a major Evangelical denomination.  I know the doctrine and theology, and all of the associated inconsistencies and explanations for them, the terminology, the practices, the values and the culture very well.  I know the structures, tendencies, weaknesses, strengths and all of the other ins and outs that characterize Evangelical churches and Christians, and have shaped them into the branch of Protestant Christianity that they are today.  

And I know the politics. 

That's why I agree with Beer's contention that wedges can be driven into this right wing constituency and separate out enough voters to tip the balance of elections, from the local level right up to the presidential election.  According to exit polls, the percentage of white, Evangelical voters who supported Trump dropped from 81% in 2016 to 75% in 2020.  The overall number of Evangelical voters also dropped by 8%.  If you look at the margins, especially in a state like Georgia, which Biden won and subsequently which elected two Democrats to the Senate, or North Carolina where Biden lost a very narrow race and where Democrats gained state legislative seats and the governor's mansion, you can see that the "wedge" has had an effect. 

"A game-changing shift has happened in the last four years: while 81% of White Evangelicals voted for Trump in 2016, that number decreased to 75% in 2020 , according to exit polls. With the exception of Politico, I’m not finding any coverage of what is one of the more important stories out of the 2020 election. That some shift happened isn’t a surprise to me: organizations like Christian Democrats of America and Vote Common Good have been working incredibly hard at the grassroots to raise the voice of the “Religious Left.” The Religious Left vote was essential in the Georgia Senate races. It was likely pivotal in states flipping Michigan and Georgia towards Biden. You just haven’t heard this story because the mainstream media is stuck with a bogus narrative that Trumpism started in November 2016 out of thin air."

An Oxymoron

Evangelicals are not shy about making the claim that their theology and the way they practice Christianity is superior to other denominations and branches of the church.  This claim is based on their belief that the original manuscripts of the Bible are without error and that their content is infallible in all matters, not just those pertaining to faith and practice.  What that really means in practice, since the originals are no longer available to prove their inerrancy and infallibility, is that the individual interpretations of the pastor or preacher who is delivering the "word" is correct and is the only accurate interpretation of the two-thousand year old text.  

Their "practice" is very heavy on moral behavior.  They are very focused on sexual fidelity, which includes abstinence until marriage and opposition to divorce, abstaining from the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages, literal adherence to the ten commandments and any other directed behavior written into the text by the authors.  Doctrinal fidelity and moral purity are considered to be the measure of the sincerity of one's faith, and dissenters are quickly labelled as trouble-makers.  

So it is ironic that the former President, who built his reputation on what the Bible calls "debauchery" and general moral depravity, specifically having multiple extra-marital affairs on each of his three wives and publicly humiliating them, promoting fraudulent business ventures, failing to pay debts owed, and the pathological lying to cover it up as best as possible, attracted any Evangelicals at all.  But he certainly did, and while many of them tried to justify it with some convoluted verbal and political acrobatics, most of them don't really see the contradiction between claiming to be a Christian with Christ-like behavior and Christian values, and support for Trump.  That's because there's a high degree of "biblical illiteracy" among the faithful, and not many of them read or study the book they claim is the "sole authority for faith and practice," and "inerrant and infallible." 

Those who do take it seriously, who read and study the scripture in its historical and cultural context and the nuances of its original languages, are also more likely to balk at supporting someone the Bible tells them to avoid because of their immorality. 

For his part, Trump has carefully avoided making any kind of "conversion experience" commitment to his Evangelical admirers and supporters.  Instead, he tells them that their values slow them down on the way to success, that turning the other cheek and loving your neighbor are good things to do, but they don't get you to the kind of political success and influence brought by cheating, lying and immoral behavior.  The price he pays for this lavish support is cheap--he threw them a few Supreme Court justices who might, because of previous rulings or conviction, overturn Roe v.  Wade, which, among politically motivated Evangelicals, is enough, regardless of what they have to swallow that comes with it. 

American Evangelicals Do Not Share a Monolithic Perspective

White Christian Nationalism has always had a following among some Evangelicals, particularly those who are on the fringes and extremes of Pentecostalism and Fundamentalism.  I'd say those churches and denominations make up slightly more than half of all of those who are identified as white Evangelicals, which is why they have such a large influence.  Most of those who went charging into the Capitol building on January 6th were from those kinds of groups.  They tend to look down on seminary training of pastors and church leaders and while they will claim to believe the Bible is without error and is infallible, interpret it by pointing to single verses lifted out of their context and claim that they are still "writing scripture" via direct revelation from God.  

These are the people who follow personalities like Greg Locke, the Tennessee tent-church preacher who threatens mask wearers and vaccinated people and who claims that God tells him secrets about who the enemies are in his church, or Paula White, the prosperity gospel "Prophetess" whom former President 45 considers his "spiritual advisor."  Birds of a feather, I suppose, she's a money worshipper just like he is.  But there are plenty of Evangelicals who consider those people nut jobs, false prophets (Deuteronomy 18:22) and profiteers.

After January 6th, on my twitter and Facebook, I witnessed an observable shift among my friends and connections who identify as "Evangelical" and expressions of everything from muted disappointment at the visible images of the Jesus T-shirts, crosses and banners heading into the Capitol with the rest of the insurrectionists, to some who were clearly shocked, horrified and who saw the potential damage to the church's testimony and witness.  There are a couple of on-line Evangelical media sources I read regularly that also mirror this same shift.  I think that January 6th really was a wake up call for many Evangelical pastors and church leaders and ultimately, may have more than a single-digit percentage effect at the ballot box, especially if it is well-cultivated.

A Place to be Pro-Active

The Democratic Party needs to have some resources in place to help candidates figure out how to navigate through all of the possibilities.  I tend to think that it is more likely to pick up voters out of this constituency by connecting conservative politicians to events like January 6th, or to white supremacist events and persons, or to previous remarks that put them among the "Vlad the Great" crowd.  It would be a relatively small cost with a high yield.  With the polarization we are now seeing in this country, flipping 5% of the Evangelical vote, helping another 3% or 4% vote for a third-party candidate, and getting another 2% or 3% to stay home will be decisive.  It could help Democrats like Raphael Warnock hold his seat in Georgia, and pick up seats in Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Florida.  

Plan ahead and make this kind of agenda part of the 2024 Presidential campaign.  Republicans are constantly working to make inroads into Democratic constituencies, and it worked for them in 2016, when the lower turnout of African American voters for Hillary Clinton made a huge difference.  This kind of strategy could also affect multiple local elections where, as Beer says in his piece, the politics have been "like the Hindenburg landing."  

 

How Democrats Can Win on the Margins and Split Off Some "Religious Right" Voters From the GOP

Christian Democrats: What's Next for the Religious Left?

"Democrats need to embrace a bold politics of persuasion. A politics that abandons the project of persuasion is a vessel without a sail, floating aimlessly in the sea of social media rectitude. Politics is not about being right: it’s about building coalitions on the ground so that those who are wrong don’t end up in power. While Democrats’ most active supporters focus on achieving the self comforting utopia of thought-purity to distract themselves from the Hindenburg disaster at the local level, it’s time to drive wedges at the candidate level by calling out “Christian” politicians in red and purple states when they espouse explicitly un-Christ-like policies. (As someone who has been testing out this framing in red states for years, I assure you it can cleave off a sufficient percentage of persuadable voters). If a progressive candidate is a person of faith, they must clearly articulate why the Religious Right and Christian Nationalism are not the only game in town any more. They must articulate why they should occupy the high ground. Let’s get a “Christian” hypocrite on the defensive for once!

What do we have to gain in the voter’s eye? Authenticity.

What’s do we have to lose? Democracy."

--Bjorn Phillip Beer, Christian Democrats of America Blog

I have said, in personal discussions and on this blog, multiple times, that anyone who is a sincere Christian, and who holds to the core theological doctrines of what has become known as "Evangelical Christianity" in the United States, could not possibly cast a ballot for former President 45 without compromising or abandoning some of those core doctrines.  Starting with Matthew's gospel, chapter 5 and the passage known as "The Beatitudes," citing multiple references to the words of Christ himself, and those of the apostles and writers of the New Testament in their historical and theological context, the same case that is made for building the character of someone who is converted to faith in Christ can be made for discerning good from evil in order to avoid the influences of evil. 

The Apostle Paul calls the characteristics of evil out, in several of his church and pastoral epistles, and contrasts them with the characteristics of good, which he calls "The fruit of the Spirit," (Galatians 5:22-26) and then, writing to the Christians in the Church at Ephesus, (Ephesians 5:3-15) he calls them out again, pretty clearly, saying that things like fornication, impurity and greed must not even be mentioned among the church, that the wrath of God comes on those who are disobedient, and therefore, do not be associated with them.  I have a whole rationale laid out on this, supported by the words of the Bible, and you can find a lot of what I've written in other places on The Signal Press.

Convincing Some Christians to Avoid Casting a Ballot For Evil 

Conversations that lay out the reasons not to cast a ballot for former President 45 generally go in a circle.  Some Christians will agree that, yes, FP45 (I'll use this abbreviation from here on out) is evil, and no, he does not exhibit the kind of character they want to see in a leader.  But...  They're not electing a pastor-in-chief, they're electing a commander-in-chief.  The other guy is worse so I'm voting for the lesser of two evils.  He's against abortion and that's really all I care about.  Well, the only sinless person who ever existed isn't running for President.  I prayed about who to vote for and God told me to vote for FP45.  I don't care how bad he is, he's Republican and his values are my values.  

I have heard every single one of these arguments.  And every single one of them goes against Christian theology and doctrine, and is completely inconsistent with what is now called a "Christian Worldview."  Every single one of them.  

The person you will be most able to convince to at least give this some thought, and possibly change their mind, is actually the person who is the most sincere when it comes to their Christian faith.  People who aren't willing to consider anything except what they want to believe are not really Christians and they haven't really had a conversion experience.  They're going on feeling, and on what they've read or heard from a favorite source or a favorite preacher, and they're not willing to be converted.  They wear their faith on their sleeve, not in their soul.  And they neither read nor study the Bible, though on occasion, when they want to make a point, they can find a good prooftext.   

There are two political goals here in making this argument.  One is to split religious righters off from the GOP vote.  OK, so maybe they can't be convinced to vote Democrat.  But they might be talked into not voting Republican, either.  That's still a win.  It's also the most likely outcome.   

It's more difficult to convince someone to vote for a Democrat.  Abortion is the big obstacle that gets in the way and there's an all-or-nothing approach to it in spite of the fact that there is a huge moral difference between actions and simply being a legislator who thinks the government shouldn't make that choice for someone.  Conservative Christians are huge on personal responsibility, unless they can hypocritically hold someone whose politics they disagree with accountable for the choices that other people make.  

But, using their argument, they open the door to being seen as endorsing Trump's immoral behavior.  It's the same principle.  And I can tell you, from experience, no Christian in a political discussion wants to be seen as endorsing or approving of Trump's immorality.  Whether that changes anyone's mind or not, it certainly wins the point.  The thought clearly causes discomfort.  If a Democrat is a baby killer for voting for his party's candidates, it stands to reason that a Republican is an adulterous, sexually abusive, lying cheating scumbag for voting for Trump.  

The hypocrisy of their caustic criticism of Bill Clinton for his behavior but failure to hold Trump to the same standard is icing on the cake, at least as far as the argument itself is concerned.  People who genuinely take their faith seriously will give this consideration.  Which sin is worse?  In conservative Christianity, all sin is equal.  And from their soteriological perspective, which is the bail-out for excusing any bad behavior in a politician Evangelicals want to endorse and support, there's far more evidence of Clinton's repentance and restoration than there is for Trump, who denies he's done anything requiring forgiveness and is obviously and verbally unrepentant.  Debauchery and irreverance is his reputation and it's the character he wants you to see.

Lowering the Vote Totals

I agree with Beer's premise that the exposure of what he calls "explicitly un-Christian" policies, and politicians for that matter, will pull voters out of the GOP.  Democrats consistently focus on policy and ideology while the right depends on social posturing and claiming superior morals and values, except when they need to win an election.  Then, as they say, "we're not electing a pastor-in-chief, we're electing a commander-in-chief."  That's pure hypocrisy and it needs to be called out, directly and along with all of the other inconsistency on the social agenda.  

Democrats have never really been good at doing this kind of thing, because they are inclusive by nature, and hard lines don't sit well with them.  But this mid-term will be a "do whatever it takes to win" scenario, and Republicans are handing them several gift-wrapped packages with "this plays well in Peoria" written all over them.  There's everything associated with January 6th, including images of people in "Jesus" T-shirts and with crosses and Christian symbols on flags and banners joining a mob attacking the US Capitol and giving their endorsement and support to a seditious insurrection.  Now, there's Ukraine and Trump's whole sad record of supporting Putin against the fledgling democracy.  

You'll see this kind of content regularly on this blog, so keep following it.  

Thanks to Bjorn Beer and Christian Democrats for the inspiration.  Here's their website.  

Christian Democrats of America

  

Republicans Are On the Horns of a Dilemma

"And as you say, just a reminder for folks of who that first impeachment was about--first of all, it is important for people to recognize that Ukraine has been at war with Russia for a long time.  Back during that impeachment, there were Ukrainians fighting and dying every week at the hands of Russians and Russian-backed separatists.  Donald Trump was holding back military aid to Ukraine to extort Zelinsky of Ukraine to help him smear his opponent, Joe Biden.  

He cared that little about the future of democracy to use that country, withhold its military support, to get political help.  And so if he were president today, you known, again, he would view Ukraine as something--simply a disposable tool in his hand to better himself with Putin who he so admires.  He would be calling Putin a genius as he is today.  God help the people of Ukraine if he were the President right now. "  California Congressman Adam Schiff on MSNBC with Jonathan Capehart, Sunday, February 27. 

The Ukraine invasion has put January 6th committee news on the back burner for a while, but it's still there.  With former President 45 lauding Putin's genius and his strategy in preparing for war against his neighbor, it's become pretty obvious that the Republican party is up the proverbial creek without a paddle.  It's their own fault.  That's the consequence of nominating a demented, insane, unstable, immoral, unethical abusive cheat, liar and con artist for President.  Not that everyone in the world couldn't see who the guy was before he got the nomination, because he bragged about, and celebrated, getting his success in the most worldly way possible.  But four years in the White House exposed it all.  

Ukraine was at the center of former President 45's first impeachment.  How soon we forget?  Americans, for the most part, are bored with geography, politics and history.  That's why our constitutional principles are slipping out of our hands.  Former President 45 withheld money appropriated by Congress for Ukraine's defense against Russian aggression to bribe President Zelensky into helping him dig up dirt on Joe Biden.  There was no dirt, as was discovered in the investigation, but the illegal act of withholding money appropriated by Congress was a crime for which Forty-Five was impeached, and should have been convicted.  

It has turned out to be a much bigger crime, with much more dire consequences, that it appeared to be at the time.  

Public support for Ukraine, its President and its people, has welled up over the past few days as a result of the invasion and the war news.  A lot of Americans are fickle, they aren't deep thinkers and they have no idea of the inconsistency that exists when they wave yellow and blue Ukrainian flags, while continuing to wear MAGA hats.  Most of those kinds of people would never realize that by supporting Ukraine, they are undermining the MAGA position.  I've seen some genuinely incredible social media posts from people who have been shrieking and flapping their lips that they would rather be Russian than Democrat, but now they simply ignore all of that, or stupidly don't really see the connection while claiming to support Ukraine.  I wonder who they think is invading?  The Vatican, maybe?  I asked one whom I know really well, if he would now rather be a Democrat than a Russian, since the Democrats appeared to be heart and soul behind Ukraine.  I got unfriended. 

The best thing in the world would be for there not to be an invasion of Ukraine.  This is not merely a "political" issue, and using it that way belittles what's happening there.  The Ukrainian people are defending a fledgling democracy just a little over 30 years old.  They have adopted a form of government and are building a nation on the same principles our country did when it was founded.  They've had some bumps along the way, in part due to American interference by manipulative con artists like Paul Manafort, who used them to profit himself.  And so did former President 45.  

So the Republicans are also now caught between a swell of public opinion on the side of Ukraine and against Russia, whose dictator has been lauded and praised by none other than President Pushover himself, former 45.  What they are hoping is that a majority of Americans are ignorant, uneducated, and have very short memories and will forget that former President 45 has been a frequent contributor to Ukraine's woes, and is a supporter of the dictator, and his values, that is now attacking them without provocation.  

This one won't get walked back.

Ukraine's Freedom Has Not Perished, Nor Has Her Glory

Stand for Freedom, Democracy and the Constitution of the United States In No Uncertain Terms

The contrast between reality and facts and what the right wing media and extremist conspiracy theorists attempt to report as reality has always been visible.  It gets worse when their favored politicians are not in office, and the obfuscation, distortion of truth and outright lying has been as bad as it ever was since Biden was overwhelmingly elected, legitimately and fairly drumming Trump into the ground in November of 2020.  But Putin's threats against Ukraine, and the unprovoked and misguided attack that has been launched this week is putting an awful lot of pressure on the extremists in right wing media as people turn to more credible sources to get information, and as their reporting of unfolding events fails to match what is actually happening.  

Their theme, since well before the 2020 election, was that Joe Biden suffers from dementia because of his age.  They have a few, selective little clips of video here and there, edited and played out of context, to "prove" their claim.  I have yet to see footage that shows Biden giving a long speech, stumbling over words, mispronouncing and misusing terminology, incoherently babbling and losing his train of thought with the pinched lips and blank stares like many of Trump's rally speeches, and several of his State of the Union addresses, but those are facts, and facts never deter the extremist right from their agenda. 

The country is economically sound, unemployment is dropping like a stone in a well, trade and economic growth is up, recovery from COVID is happening on all fronts, and several major pieces of signature legislation have been passed even with resistance from a couple of Democratic senators playing the role of "maverick."  Those are not signs of a bumbling, demented, incompetent Presidency.  The US response to the Ukrainian crisis has been nothing short of remarkable in its organization, its effectiveness in unfying world opinion and in restoring the confidence of the free world in the United States and its leadership.  

We have a real President who knows what he is doing and has the experience to do it right.  Unlike his predecessor, he does not make himself the source of all authority and declare that he is "the only one" who can do something.  He finds the best advisors and associates, those with experience, education and common sense, gives them a job and lets them do it.  Gathering intelligence on what was happening, and then letting everyone know exactly what was happening was brilliant, and the fact that everything they were saying was accurate and trustworthy was a key factor in uniting NATO and the free world against an autocratic dictator's unprovoked and evil attack on an emerging democratic state.  

And I see a few signs of frustration coming out of the extremists on the right.  Even some of Trump's more dishonest advisors are trying to damp down his praise and adoration of Putin.  Is being oblivious to reality a sign of dementia?  If it is, Trump is demented because he doesn't seem to see what's been happening since Putin's attack on Ukraine.  But then, this is a guy who still thinks he won the election and keeps saying so, and that's behavior which is a clear sign of insanity.  

Some of his more obnoxious apologists have wisely decided to lay low and adopt a posture of silence being better than speaking out.  A few others now seem to be regretting their previous words and are playing a game of "how far can I walk this back until I get caught?"  Some of the establishment Republicans who obviously loathe Trump and wish he would go away and leave the party alone, like Mitch McConnell and the cringing sneak, Lindsey Graham, now wait to see which way the cat jumps before they open their pie hole.  I don't think either of them care whether the United States is a democracy or an autocracy as long as they can keep their money, luxuries and their power.  

I expect nothing to change in the extremist right wing media.  These are people without a conscience or a soul.  But I hope that some of their audience, and some of the politicians who frequently march to their drumbeat, actually do develop some sympathy for the Ukrainian people.  They followed our example in building their nation, they wanted what we have when it comes to our freedom and our opportunities.  They are having that taken away from them by a brutal dictator who doesn't want that forhis people and who is trying to destroy what they have because they happen to be right next door.  We need to get on their side and support them in every way possible and that means leaving the politics in the dust.  

One of the ways we can help others in the world who look up to our country and see the freedom we enjoy, the opportunities we have, and the rights for which we fight is to make sure we elect politicians who are committed to keeping our democracy strong.  Those who are identifying themselves by their words of admiration and praise for Putin are telling us, in no uncertain terms, that they do not support American ideals and values, that they support someone who is committed to keeping his own people from freedom and to taking it away from his neighbors who also have it.  

That is a point that needs to be driven home with clarity and resolve on election day, November 2022, in no uncertain terms.