Blank Check? Nah, That's What's Gone Up Donald Trump, Jr.'s Nose
Ukraine is more than worthy of our support as they fight Russian aggression
It is only because of their stupidity that they are able to be so sure of themselves.
Franz Kafka
It seems almost redundant to discuss Donald Trump, Jr. and rampant, willful ignorance in the same sentence. Yet, as a poster child for the Dunning-Kruger Effect, Junior believes himself to have something to offer America when that something is unintentional comedy.
His knowledge of policy issues is redolent of Pee Wee Herman’s familiarity with laws regarding public masturbation. He might know they exist, but he’s wholly ignorant of them. Moreover, even if he did know the details, he’s dumb enough to think he’s above the law.
So we’re $130B into the war in Ukraine? Since when does America not stand up as an ally against Russian aggression? Yes, I realize that America standing up over the years has been highly selective, but Ukraine occupies a highly sensitive place in European realpolitik. That’s something that Junior would be dispositionally incapable of understanding.
(Note- If you want to help Ukraine, you can start by going here.)
Our assistance to Ukraine has been in the form of war materiel, not boots on the ground. Nevertheless, America has the wherewithal to supply some of the most highly sophisticated weaponry to a nation that desperately needs them to fend off a corrupt Russian government intent on destroying Ukraine.
Europe also has an interest in ensuring that Russia doesn’t steamroll Ukraine and once again end up on its doorstep.
Assisting Ukraine has also helped to expose the once-vaunted Russian army as a paper tiger. Russian forces may have the advantage in numbers, but that’s all they have going for them. As a result, their army has little incentive to fight, morale is at rock bottom, and the war is increasingly unpopular back home.
Russian war-fighting technology has been exposed as largely obsolete and poorly designed. Their strategy and tactics are outdated, and their unit security and communications are so poor that many thousands of Russian soldiers have been needly lost. Moreover, Ukrainian units have routinely been able to monitor unsecured Russian communications at all field command levels. This has led to the location and killing of several Russian generals and many other high-level field officers.
The Russian army has also been exposed as a savage force that shows no respect for the internationally accepted laws of war. They’ve killed many civilians, used rape as a weapon of war, laid waste to entire cities and villages, and forcibly transported thousands of Ukrainian civilians to Russia.
Has all of the $130B gone to its intended purpose? Perhaps. Perhaps not. I suspect the Biden Administration has done its level best to account for the money and war materiel sent to the Ukrainians. Of course, Ukraine has had a not-undeserved reputation for corruption, one that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has worked hard to combat. Not 100% of the aid may have reached its intended destination, but the American government has done its best to get resources to where they need to be.
In the eleven months since the Russians launched their war against Ukraine, it’s gone from what appeared to be a soon-to-be Russian walkover to Ukraine being able to envision eventual victory. The conflict is a long way from being over, but Ukrainians are fighting- and winning- the war with material assistance from Western countries.
Ukrainians have proven themselves willing to fight and die to protect their homeland. The least Western countries could do- and have been doing- is continue to support their willingness to continue taking the fight to the Russians. This could easily have turned into WWIII; that it hasn’t is testimony to the courage and will of the Ukrainian people.
Americans, Germans, English, French, and other Western troops aren’t on the ground fighting alongside Ukrainian troops. Instead, the Ukrainians are holding their own with war materiel and training provided by Western countries. When you consider the disparity in size and economic resources that separate Ukraine from Russia, the success of the Ukrainian army is all the more remarkable. The West would be remiss to withdraw that support and leave the Ukrainians to fend for themselves (like Donald Trump did to Syrian Kurds).
Indeed, we should give Ukraine whatever they need because they’re doing the Lord’s work for the West. Every blow they land against Russia weakens the Russian bear and makes Vladimir Putin’s regime less of a threat to the West.
The setbacks dealt to the Russian military by Ukraine, combined with sanctions against the Russian economy from the West, have weakened Putin. Russia still has its nuclear arsenal, which remains a wild card in the hands of a weakened and perhaps desperate dictator. Still, there’s no doubt that Russia isn’t playing from the same position of strength it was before it invaded Ukraine.
I’d submit that those who’d argue that aid to Ukraine is wasted because it’s money we could be using at home are being disingenuous. People like Junior, Kevin McCarthy, Marjorie Trailer Greene, Lauren Boebert, et al. wouldn’t want to spend that money on the social safety net. Instead, they’d like to provide tax cuts to billionaires or something similarly wasteful.
Isolationism didn’t work during WWI, and it’s even less likely to work now. In a world ever more interconnected, America needs to stand up for its friends and allies. This is especially true when its biggest adversary can be significantly weakened without a single American boot hitting the ground. American lives aren’t being put at risk, but we are helping Ukrainians willing to risk their lives as they fight to protect their homeland. We have the guns and other war materiel they need to carry on the fight. The least we can do is help a friend in need.
Junior knows nothing of loyalty and honor. He’s all about self-interest and how he can make a buck off a situation, so it would stand to reason why he’d see no benefit to supporting Ukraine. As someone devoid of honor and integrity, he deserves no place in government. Neither, for that matter, does Kevin McCarthy or members of the Freedumb Caucus. None would recognize honor or integrity if they arrived with nametags and business cards.
The GOP never seems to send its best, do they? Some, I assume, are good people…but it can be challenging because they’re so few and far between.
$130B sounds like a lot, but in the context of $1T+ annual government spending, one might want to see it in context. I'm reminded of the people who complained about money spent on the Apollo program, saying that money should be spent "here on earth." Well, there ain't no Macdonalds on the Moon; all that money *WAS* spent on earth, and you can thank that program for the developments that led to the PC. Meanwhile, the entire Apollo program came to less than 1/5th of what was spent on programs like Welfare at the time. So exactly how many of the world's problems would that extra drop in the bucket have solved?
Ukraine deserves to live unmolested by a savage neighbor with imperial ambitions. How much safer do these people think they'd actually be for just rolling over and urinating on themselves to please daddy Vlad?