Virginia Republicans Do the Kremlin’s Bidding
Monday afternoon, the House of Representatives voted on H.R. 1130, a resolution expressing support for Sweden and Finland joining NATO and calling for swift ratification of same. The vote was nearly unanimous.
Nearly.
Eighteen Republicans decided the wills of the Swedish and Finnish peoples were less important than keeping Vladimir Putin happy. They included the usual suspects: Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Madison Cawthorne, Lauren Boebert …
… and KGBob Good.
But he wasn’t alone among the Virginia Republicans in Congress. Ben Cline and Morgan Griffith joined him in choosing the Kremlin’s wishes over two Scandinavian democracies.
As a result, Virginia had the dubious honor of hosting the most opposition to NATO expansion. North Carolina and Texas both had two Nays, but only Virginia had three. On top of that, only one state had a GOP caucus more pro-Moscow than the Commonwealth. That was Montana, where the lone Republican representative also voted No.
I’ve written repeatedly about the dangerous rise of a pro-Putin Republican caucus, but Virginia’s problem is far more acute than in the rest of the union. Cline has become such as consistent anti-NATO vote that I’m forced call him KGBen. Griffith has not been as consistent, but this isn’t his first vote against NATO.
What’s the motivation here? Their votes against allowing Sweden and Finland into NATO makes one wonder. Do they think the western part of Virginia is a Russian oblast? Would this map be helpful to them?
All kidding aside, Virginians – and especially Virginians in these districts – need to take these votes into account. Do they really want their representatives to pick the despot of Moscow over the democracies of the world?