This week, Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin demanded the rest of the world accept his annexation of the parts of east Ukraine that he hasn’t lost yet. He claimed that these oblasts were part of Russia “forever” (WaPo [1]), even as Ukraine was liberating them.
He also made sure to give a shout-out to his American fifth column:
“Do we want things that lead to degradation and extinction to be imposed on children from elementary school?” he asked. “Do we want them to be taught that instead of men and women, there are supposedly some other genders and to be offered sex-change surgeries? This is unacceptable to us.”
The targeting of the LGBTQ+ community is no accident. Putin knows his friends in the West: people who have lost sight of the importance of freedom and democracy. Those blinded by hate to see Ukraine as it really is are growing like a cancer, especially in the conservative movement. Its bizarre love for Vladimir Putin grows and metastasizes; “America First” is transforming into Blame America First; and KGBob is among them, as always. We’ll get to him later.
More than a few readers will find my verbiage overblown, despite the evidence [2] we’ve seen since the year began. This week, however, it became much more obvious. When the Nordstream pipelines were sabotaged, Tucker Carlson said this…….
Tucker: When the pipelines blew up, he wrote thank you USA. Did the Biden Administration really do this? pic.twitter.com/6pFgjggLoW [3]
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 28, 2022 [4]
… and Charlie Kirk joined in.
Calling the leaks in the Nord Stream pipelines "a potential midterm election operation," Charlie Kirk says US intelligence agencies are "guilty until proven innocent in this situation. They're going to have to prove to us it wasn't them" pic.twitter.com/xLBJamldNp [5]
— Jason S. Campbell (@JasonSCampbell) September 28, 2022 [6]
As if that wasn’t enough, CPAC responded to Putin’s blathering by declaring the real estate he couldn’t seize as “Ukraine-occupied.” Seriously.
Meanwhile, Congress enacted another continuing resolution to keep the government from shutting down. One can argue the wisdom of Congress taking so long to get its appropriation bills in order. Well, actually no one can argue that it was wise. That said, in addition to keeping the lights on, the bill also included additional funding for Ukraine’s self-defense against Putin’s invasion.
Four months ago, 57 House Republicans [7] opposed aid to Ukraine. This time, it was much, much worse. Republicans in the Senate [7] voted 25-22 against; in the House [8] it was 201-10 against. It should surprise no one that KGBob was among the No votes.
This is why Putin took time away from his bloodthirsty rant to announce common cause with America’s White Christian Nationalists. He knows his best chance of winning is if the West turns away from Ukraine …
… and his best chance of that is the ascendance of “conservative” Republicans.
If they win, the tyrants win. It’s as simple as that.