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Polar bear with carrot

Monday, February 6, 2023

GOP back the predators

I was talking to a Republican friend at coffee this morning who says he has never believed in war and wants to pull the plug on aid to Ukraine. There's a good article today behind the paywall at the Washington Post. I guess my friend is not alone in his sentiments. Many GOPers are evidently willing to pull the plug and let Russia devour its neighbors.

GOP base warms to giving Russia some of Ukraine’s territory

When President Biden on Tuesday night delivers his second State of the Union address, one of the major orders of business is likely to be Ukraine — particularly in light of flagging GOP support for funding its defense against Russia’s invasion.

We’ve written about this shift in opinion before, including as recently as a month ago. The December speech before Congress by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky doesn’t appear to have moved the needle much, with half or more of Republicans now saying either that we’re doing too much to help Ukraine or that we should stop funding its defense, period....Republicans appear even more open to Russia keeping some territory. A November poll for the Chicago Council on Global Affairs posed a somewhat similar dilemma: between supporting Ukraine for “as long as it takes” even if it means higher domestic gas and food prices, or negotiating a settlement “even if that means that Ukraine will lose some territory.” Republicans had been split on the same question in the summer of 2022, but by November they chose the quicker settlement by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, 63-33. Democrats were essentially flipped, siding 61-36 in favor of “as long as it takes.”...Perhaps most striking, though, is a the GOP’s willingness to cede Ukraine’s territory in the name of ending the war.

A new Gallup poll gave people a binary choice between supporting Ukraine’s efforts to reclaim its territory, and ending the war quickly — even if it meant Russia was allowed to keep conquered territory. A slight majority of Republicans picked the former, but 41 percent were willing to countenance Russia keeping the territory in the name of ending the war. That’s compared to just 16 percent of Democrats who believed the same.

By all means lets reward them for invading their neighbor in the hopes of restoring their historical kingdom from a thousand years ago. First Ukraine, then Moldova and Belarus and perhaps then the Poles and the Czechs. Hungary, Albania might also be fair game. It worked so well before, remember Dubcek in 1968 or Hungary in 1948?

By the same rationale, Mexico should be able to declare war on the United States to get back its lost territory, would that be okay too? Just give them Arizona... With friends and allies like the Republicans, who needs enemies? I would say that somebody will have Ukrainian blood on their hands but that would require a conscience, wouldn't it?

6 comments:

Sanoguy said...

Russia invading Ukraine reminds me of Hitler invading Poland in 1939. The west did nothing at that time. WW II
soon resulted. If Ukraine is lost, will Putin stop? Do we want to take the risk of a much wider war by allowing the Russkies to overrun the Ukraine?

Anonymous said...

Spot on, Robert! Thank you for declaring this.

Kent said...

I think the probability of a successful outcome for Ukraine is low. Certainly Russia is not giving up. Tell me how this ends.

Blue Heron said...

Top Putin Ally Says He ‘Will Not Hide’ Intention to Invade Poland Anymore - https://www.thedailybeast.com/top-putin-ally-ramzan-kadyrov-says-he-will-not-hide-intention-to-invade-poland-anymore

Anonymous said...

Putin is Hungry for more. I say it's a worthy war to fight. Republicans are pals with the oligarchs, so they will vote funding down if they can.

Sanoguy said...

As I said earlier, shades of early WW II.