Fox News host Tucker Carlson has inspired a new following from the extreme right, including some members of Congress, by asking: Why take Ukraine’s side instead of Russia’s? The arguments are vast for defending the sovereignty of democratic Ukraine, and most American adults should need no reminders why containing Moscow’s expansionist desires is essential for U.S. national security.
Carlson seems to be exploiting Americans’ exceedingly short memories and attention spans as he articulates a new Republican philosophy that is the exact opposite of everything the party’s iconic leader, Ronald Reagan, stood for. Carlson proposes embracing Russia as an ally and effectively excusing all of its past transgressions — of course including Russian President Vladimir Putin’s help engineering Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential election.
“Why is it disloyal to side with Russia but loyal to side with Ukraine?” Carlson asked on his show last week to the applause of several GOP members of Congress. The reception was more chilly in 2019 when Carlson stated: “Why do I care [about] … what is going on in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia? And I’m serious. Why do I care? Why shouldn’t I root for Russia? Which I am.”
Here’s why. Putin was born and raised a communist, and actively assisted in the Soviet Union’s global expansion as a foreign intelligence officer. While he was rising through the ranks to become a KGB lieutenant colonel, Russia invaded Afghanistan, spawning four decades of upheaval and terrorism. Despite the Soviet Union’s collapse, Putin has never given up on reviving Moscow’s expansionist empire. Destabilizing Ukraine is key to that goal. Putin has armed and trained a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine. In 2014, insurgents and their Russian military advisers downed a Malaysian jumbo jet, killing all 298 people aboard.
That same year, Russia seized the strategic Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. Reports from Ukrainians living in Crimea today indicate heavy levels of political oppression persist. Dissent is crushed, and criticism of Putin is punished harshly — just as it is everywhere else where Putin rules.
But apparently Carlson thinks that’s just swell.
Putin has a habit of killing, poisoning, maiming or imprisoning his most vocal critics. When the United States works around the globe to isolate repressive regimes such as those in Iran, Syria and Venezuela, Putin boosts their military with economic aid.
Carlson’s apparently a big fan, as are memory-deprived GOP U.S. Reps. Matt Rosendale of Montana, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Paul Gosar of Arizona and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, to name a few.
Putin does all he can to stifle democracy, kill off his opponents, sabotage U.S. foreign policy and interfere with other nations’ sovereignty — including America’s. And Carlson has the gall to ask: “Why shouldn’t I root for Russia?” Perhaps Fox News should consider hosting Carlson’s next show from atop Ronald Reagan’s grave, just to drive home the point.
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