When You Celebrate Fascism While Having No Idea What It Actually Is
The GOP is now the party of traitors
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, there have been voices on the Far-Right- Tucker Carlson, f’rinstance- celebrating Putin as a sort of Hero of Freedom and Christianity. Either they have no clear idea of what Putin stands for, or they hate Joe Biden just that much and would support Satan His Own Self if he was opposing the American President.
At CPAC over this past weekend, attendees were passing out Trump-branded Russian flags, which many proudly brandished.
Yes, in America, many Conservatives proudly support a Russian despot and war criminal over an elected American President. Roll that around your brain-pan for a moment, eh? Then consider that the Russian military is conducting an unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine, a country that poses no threat, and Right-wing Americans are applauding Russia for “protecting” their own.
Russians are indiscriminately firing missiles into heavily-populated areas such as Kyiv and Kharkiv, and Conservatives are applauding these actions, which are producing considerable civilian casualties.
Russian artillery and missile batteries are firing at schools, apartment buildings, and other targets with no military value- committing war crimes in doing so- and Republicans are praising Putin as a firm, moral leader?
When did the GOP transition from being the party of patriotism and “America First” to being the party of fascism, war, and strong-man leadership? Even Far-Right Evangelical Christians are behind Putin, praising his strong “Christian values?” Left unexplained is how committing war crimes displays a commitment to “Christian values?”
What would Jesus do? Fire missiles into hospitals or elementary schools? Drop artillery shells into apartment buildings? Target civilians? After all, isn’t Putin fighting to preserve “Christian values?”
How can rational human beings honestly believe that Vladimir Putin is “fighting against the enslavement of humanity?” How much humanity must one forfeit to be convinced that the Russian military is fighting against “the Great Reset” (whatever that is) and “Satan worshippers” in Ukraine?
Despite Putin’s unhinged claims, there’s nothing to his claim about the need to “de-nazify” the Ukrainian government. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is Jewish, and much of his family was murdered during by Nazis the Holocaust. There are no “neo-Nazis” in the Ukrainian government. Nor are there drug gangs or human traffickers, which Putin also declared must be purged from Ukraine’s government.
The ONLY thing Ukraine is “guilty” of is deciding that its future lies with the West and not with Russia, something Vladimir Putin can’t abide. Ukraine hasn’t applied to join NATO (nor has it been invited to apply), but the government has developed closer ties with the European Union over time. The Ukrainian people have shown no inclination to re-align themselves with Russia because they know what they’ll get if they cast their lot with Putin. All they have to do is look to their north at Belarus, which has become a Russian puppet regime.
As an American who believes in the values that this country has long stood for, it angers me to see large numbers of my fellow countrymen actively supporting a fascist dictator concerned only with his own self-aggrandizement. Vladimir Putin cares about one thing- what’s best for Vladimir Putin. If he has to lead Russia to a place where it’s a pariah state cut off from the rest of the civilized world, there’s every likelihood he’ll do precisely that. He’s so detached from the Russian people that he has no idea, nor does he care, how his actions and decisions will impact them.
Since the invasion began last week, the world community has acted quickly to ostracize Russia and Russians. From sports to culture to business to politics, Russia is being pushed out and excluded from participating with the rest of the world. This trend will only continue as their murderous aggression in Ukraine continues.
In the end, they may well overwhelm Ukraine by sheer force of numbers, but victory will neither be as simple nor as cost-free as Putin may have initially expected. Moreover, as the Russian people see soldiers return home in body bags, they may at some point prove themselves unwilling to tolerate being bled of blood and treasure.
If (when) Russia does prevail militarily, what will they have gained? Ukraine is not a country that wants or is willing to tolerate being occupied by a hostile army. They will almost certainly wage an ongoing guerilla war and exact a high cost in casualties. The West will continue to supply a Ukrainian resistance and wage war by proxy against Russia.
Slowly but surely, the Russian Army will be bled. The question is how much the Russian people will tolerate. Putin can jail 1000 protestors; he can’t jail a million or more.
Russia will conquer a nation whose infrastructure they will have largely destroyed, so what will be gained by occupying a hostile Ukraine? Even if they install a Russia-friendly puppet government, that junta won’t be recognized as legitimate by the international community. They will also be targets as the Ukrainian resistance will undoubtedly endeavor to assassinate them.
Meanwhile, American Conservatives continue to celebrate Vladimir Putin's firm, principled leadership, and strong “Christian values.” This leaves me believing two things:
One, treason is no longer an issue within today’s GOP. On the contrary, it's a core value in some parts of the party because all they care about is power and achieving it by any means necessary. Once they reach their goal, they plan to do whatever it takes to hold onto that power. If that means dismantling American democracy, then so be it. It’s what their hero, Vladimir Putin would do, after all.
Two, it makes me believe that my atheist convictions are spot on. When so many so-called “Christians” hold beliefs and lead lives that in no way reflect the teachings of the Jesus Christ they claim to revere, it’s pure hypocrisy. The Bible for these apostates is nothing more than a club with which they can bludgeon those who dare to get in their way. They cherry-picking the teachings of the Bible that support their agenda and conveniently ignore the rest.
That’s not Christianity; that’s the recipe for fascism.
I don’t know what it means when one of our two major political parties has sworn fealty to Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, but I know it’s nothing good. Throughout my life, I’ve always felt that it was overreacting when people said they fear for America’s future…but now I’m one of those folks.
I know that America has survived many challenges over its history, but is it strong enough to overcome the threat of ignorance, arrogance, and creeping fascism?
I wish I had an answer. And I wish I had the confidence to believe that American democracy is strong enough to prevail over any threat, even creeping fascism.
Empires inevitably fail. America may not be an empire in the traditional sense, but events make me wonder if Pax Americana and our role at the top of the military/political/economic foodchain might be coming to a close.
Stay tuned….