War Lusters: Why Are Tea-Publicans So Obsessed With War In Ukraine?

For the past few months (years?), the Republican Party has been fixated on a single issue that crowded out any other topic of political conversation. Terrorism, taxes, climate change, abortion, the economy – you name it – was ultimately shoved aside in favor of bashing the Affordable Care Act (aka ObamaCare). Health care has dominated the news coverage on Fox News on virtually every program. That is, until Vladimir Putin sent his troops into the Ukrainian province of Crimea.

This begs the question: What is it about this matter that supersedes the GOP obsession with ObamaCare? Why is the conflict between a couple of former Soviet states such a powerful draw for America’s Tea Party extremists? After all, not too long ago, Crimea was, in fact, a part of Russia. It was just in 1954 that the Soviet Russian Republic ceded control of Crimea to the Soviet Ukraine Republic via a “Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet” that stated it was…

“…transferring Crimea Province from the Russian Republic to the Ukraine Republic, taking into account the integral character of the economy, the territorial proximity and the close economic ties between Crimea Province and the Ukraine Republic, and approving the joint presentation of the Presidium of the Russian Republic Supreme Soviet and the Presidium of the Ukraine Republic Supreme Soviet on the transfer of Crimea Province from the Russian Republic to the Ukraine Republic.”

This is not unlike the transfer of authority for Ellis Island from New York to New Jersey by the Supreme Court. The Soviet leadership certainly did not anticipate that their country would break up and the newly independent Ukraine would scamper off with Crimea. Sixty years later, Crimea is still a predominately Russian community. Seventy-five percent of its population is ethnic Russian. And while the referendum vote last Sunday was rampant with obvious fraud, it is unarguable that a majority of the Crimean residents still associate themselves with Russia. The map below illustrates how segregated the population is. In the blue areas the residents speak Ukrainian. In the red area, virtually all of Crimea, they speak Russian.

Republican War Lust

If there were ever a regional conflict that the United States had little business poking its massive proboscis into, it is this one. It’s fine to take sides rhetorically and even to organize a coalition of nations to advocate on behalf of sovereignty and independence, but rattling the sabers of war over a regional matter that is of no national interest to the U.S. is irresponsible and dangerous. Repeating the mistakes of the previous administration will only cost more American lives without securing anything of value for the loss.

Ron Paul, in a disagreement with his senator son Rand, asked the key question saying “Why does the U.S. care which flag will be hoisted on a small piece of land thousands of miles away?” That question has yet to be answered by the likes of John McCain, Ted Cruz, John Boehner, or any of the squawking heads on Fox News like John Bolton, who take a morbid glee in castigating President Obama as weak and ineffectual because he hasn’t launched World War III yet.

The hypocrites who assert that Obama’s foreign policy is responsible for inviting Putin’s aggression fail to recognize that Putin has never looked to the U.S. for permission to embark on his military misadventures. If that were true, those conservative critics would need to explain what it was about George W. Bush’s foreign policy that invited Putin to invade Georgia. Was he also weak and ineffectual, even after invading and overthrowing the governments of two nations (including Iraq, never did anything to threaten the U.S.)?

So what could possibly be the incentive for so many conservative politicians and pundits to so adamantly excoriate the President and advance the cause of war? The first thing to consider is that Obama’s critics live for chastising him, whether he deserves it or not. They frequently scold him even when he is promoting their ideas. Which is the case with ObamaCare, which was originally a conservative initiative developed by the Heritage Foundation and adopted by folks like Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney.

More importantly, there is a thread of Apocalyptic fervor that runs through the ranks of the right. They have an intensity that is rooted in deep faith and a conviction in infallibility that stems from the same source. They believe that, with God’s help, they will overcome any adversity and that the deadly consequences are not worthy of consideration. And even if they fail, it would be God’s will and that they would be Raptured into Heaven ahead of the Armageddon they so enthusiastically await (and some seek to provoke).

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Consequently, military conflict with a nuclear-armed Russia over a border dispute that has no significance for the U.S. becomes an acceptable option. Diplomacy is the Devil’s way and must be rejected at the outset. The military response is always the first one considered by these dedicated Rapturists. And why not? They won’t be around to suffer anyway.

This is an argument that has no basis in reality and for which there is no rebuttal. You simply can’t convince someone who believes that he is the Lord’s messenger that the voice he hears is coming from his own dementia – or from a Fox News chicken-hawk.

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13 thoughts on “War Lusters: Why Are Tea-Publicans So Obsessed With War In Ukraine?

  1. Of course, here we have our quandary. The Tea Party Republican chicken hawks want war any way they can get it, but they need it to be in a place where they can get lotsa oil for free and no one wants to invade Texas.

    The flaw is that if it happens now, then it’s all the fault of the war hungry bloodthirsty atheist Communist Fascist Nazi Muslim Catholic Calvinist criminal evil Kenyan from Australia and it proves he wants to be a dictator and take over the world and stuff. Because, of course, Republicans believe in peace at all costs (since they are not in power). Oh, and Republicans are fiscal conservatives now, and a war would completely destroy our economy (despite two centuries of real presidents proving otherwise).

    And that’s why Republicans need to impeach the president and deport him back to Kenya. At least that’s the reason until they can think of a stupider reason to use the Crimea situation to prove that Obama is a traitor for letting it happen in the first place (or telling Putin to do it – I try to avoid noticing what Rush told his dittoheads last week) and needs to be impeached, arrested, executed, deported, or whatever…

    This would be thoroughly amusing if it wasn’t so utterly pathetic…

  2. Which reminds me – have any of the FoxPods blamed the earthquake in California on Obama yet?

    • NAH, they usually blame “the gays”, for that. Storms, tornado’s, earthquakes, etc etc…

  3. The Tea-publicans all have authoritarian personalities and it is obvious this is the case when you see the demented talking heads at Fox, who foul our public airwaves, with their almost giddy admiration for Putin and his strong-arm tactics. In addition to that they accuse Obama with the most ridiculous charges of being a despot dictator bent on destroying democracy in America. That is pure projection on their part because that is exactly what they want to do if they ever get back into the White House. Now that there man, Putin, has made a move in Crimea they turn around and say Obama is weak and he wears ‘mom jeans’, what the hell that even means is anybody’s guess. I guess when you got nothing you hurl insults which is all they do because they literally have nothing and have never offered the American people any kind of vision for the future of this country except for the same old cut taxes, reduce spending nonsense we have heard for going on 35 years. I’ve never witnessed more screwed up people as the Neanderthals that make up the modern day Republican Party.

  4. The obvious answer is that the tea party missed Vietnam,Iraq,and Afghanistan………they were probably busy.

  5. I’m not for trying to go to war over this, but saying we shouldn’t care or do anything about it is fuckin crazy. Used to be part of Russia and most citizens identify as being Russian? Who gives a shit, it’s not part of Russia and those citizens aren’t Russian. That’s a bullshit line justifying a fucking land grab in the year 2014. Seriously, what the fuck are you saying?!? This is a fucking war crime that’s going to destabilize Europe and is scaring the living shit out of people that don’t know what’s coming next. All Russia’s done is fucking lie about why they did it and dishonorably defy their own word on what’s happening. Information control, clandestine troop movements, pseudo election under military occupation, physical coercion of officials into preferred behavior, resource and related infrastructure grabs, total disre-fucking-gard for international law! Again, I’m not saying we should start killing Russians, but stay out of it?? Are you fucking serious?? All of Europe is wondering what this asshole might wanna just up and fucking take next!! As far as I’m concerned the president’s not doing anywhere near what he should be!! This asshole stole a chunk of a country!! A soverign fucking nation!! Deep historical ties to Russia? So what?!? They, like all soverign nations, get to self determine their own fates. Historical ties mean dick, things change as a part of self determination.

    It sounds like you’re saying this just because of what republicans are saying. Who fuckin cares what they say? They want war? So? Thats why they’re totally irrelevant! But making the response ‘we shouldn’t do anything about it at all’? What?!?

    There’s so much more I could say, but fuck it. Don’t let domestic partisanship do this to you Mark, it’s almost like you’re building your own bubble. I’m so disappointed…you really dropped the ball on this one man. This is in fact a big deal for us, and we most certainly are not doing anywhere fucking near enough to tell Putin that this shit ain’t gonna fly on our watch. Do I want war? Of course not. Do I discount that as what might develop into the correct and righteous course of action? NO.

    There’s gotta be more to you than just disagreeing with republicans man. They are right that we should be doing more here. War? Fuck no. But we gotta do more than just ‘You can’t come to my next birthday party!’ It’s what’s next; what’s next if it gets worse, what’s next if he decides he wants the rest of Georgia, what’s next if he puts a bottleneck on resources for the EU, what if the killing gets worse and he uses that to grab all of Ukraine? This means too much and has too much potential for epic shitstorm status in Europe for us to isolate ourselves on it.

    Fuck! I mean Jesus Christ Mark! What the fuck are you talking about??

    • You’re gonna have to point out where I said “we shouldn’t do anything about it at all?” In fact, I explicitly mentioned organizing an international coalition to oppose it.

      The problem is that too many people have too narrow an understanding of the issue. And it DOES matter what the recent history in the region is. It DOES matter if the residents consider themselves Russian and want to be part of Russia. That IS self-determination. Certainly Russia is going about it all wrong, but the issues are complex.

      Most importantly, the rush to ramp up hostilities between the U.S. and Russia is insane. And that’s what the right is doing. That’s what the fuck I am talking about.

      • “…proboscis into…”
        Rhetoric? That does nothing. When has Putin ever responded in a meaningful way to what other countries say relative to his actions and decisions? That’s all just meaningless non-action that won’t amount to anything. Ramping up “hostilities” is totally unavoidable. You get that, right? There is nothing we can do that wouldn’t be called an escalation on our part. Nothing. Sanctions, military actions (not necessarily offensive operations, that’s not reasonable yet), even rhetoric, nothing. But only certain options are actually going to do and mean anything. Any rhetoric we put out isn’t for Putin, he couldn’t possibly give two shits. It’ll be for everyone else in reassuring them of our position. What’s Ukraine gonna do to get Russia out of its ass with fuckin rhetoric? If we and NATO would say, blockade the Bosphorus, that would be meaningful military action. It would be the first real military escalation on our part, and a fuckin big one, but there are no other meaningful options. Hurt their economy with big sanctions, sure. That’s short term and they could do the same to us. It most certainly wouldn’t get them to give back Crimea, or render meaningless the need for taking Crimea. Besides, how long would the EU go along with that? Maybe a few years. Maybe.

        No, the historical ties, relative to Russia’s actions here (wtf other context would there be), MEAN NOTHING. Crimea used to be part of Russia. SO WHAT? It isn’t anymore. The people identify as Russians? SO WHAT? Move to fucking Russia! They aren’t Russian, it’s not part of Russia. They’re Ukrainian and it’s part of Ukraine. Saying that that has any real meaning in this situation, as it exists now, is massively stupid. They want to break away and join the federation? Great! Vote and do it! Get permission from your host government! Follow international law! Given the apparently hugely meaningful historical ties and ethnicity of the population, it would’ve been easy, right? If all that was so meaningful, WHY FUCKING INVADE? Even mentioning that outside of that context is retarded!! It’s an excuse to disregard international law! Whether the people agree with what Putin is doing there or not also means nothing in the present context. He didn’t give a shit about their opinions, he didn’t ask their opinions before hand. He just invaded. He just took it. Do you think that if they didn’t agree and they weren’t mostly Russian-Ukrainians he wouldn’t have done it anyway? That’s all just a bonus for use as an excuse!!

        This is Russia we’re talking about. Rhetoric does nothing for them. Most people in Russia won’t even fucking hear any of it because they aren’t free enough to have the right to hear it. Outside rhetoric is as good as nothing for them, it only gives them the excuse to spin it around on us. “…organize a coalition of nations to advocate on behalf of sovereignty and independence…”, You mean the EU? Or the UN? There’s even a military coalition in the area to do just that, with, get this, a military coalition to back it up! Lotta fuckin good that did.

        To say that the Russian government only responds to strength and guile is just being observant. To say that escalation is somehow avoidable is wildly incorrect. They took parts of Georgia, they took part of Ukraine (and it’s still up in the air if they’re gonna take all of Ukraine). They obviously do whatever the fuck they want. I don’t believe for a second that a “weak” foreign policy on our part is responsible for Russia’s actions, they do what they want. But a weak response to their actions is a huge goddamn mistake.

        And coming up with any excuse that tries to diminish the thuggish and criminal aspect of Moscow’s behavior is surprising coming from you, sir. Why even mention historical ties and ethnicity in this article if not to try to do so? Dude, in rereading it you’re partly excusing the action! What the fuck are you thinking of?!? This article is just confusing. What are you doing???

  6. Conservatives never saw a War they didn’t want someone else to fight. Right-Wingers are very gung-ho for others to die for their principles.

  7. I said it many times… GOP has the stance of “Personal Responsibility”… but tends to be the biggest voices about sticking their noses into other people’s issues/business…

    Wait… when did I see something about Ukraine going to the UN, and asking for help??? Um, not seen it yet… so keep your nose out of other peoples business. Not like it takes day’s, weeks or months to get a message from your home country to the UN to ask other country’s for help with expelling invaders. If the Ukraine needs help, it can ask, otherwise… stick to your stance of “Personal Responsibility” and in the words of Peter Griffin “Shut Up Meg!”

    Oh, wait, most of those silly GOP’s are part of or have friends with rich people that have those big government contracts, and need war’s to help sell more items that are not needed for billions… got it.

    • First and third paragraphs, totally on point. Second paragraph makes it clear that you haven’t been paying attention at all. Russia holds veto power, security council is fucking useless here. The UN is supposed to help without being asked in these instances, that’s their purpose. And the Ukrainians have been asking for help, from everyone, including the UN. PAY ATTENTION.

  8. It’s almost like the president is the only adult in the room.

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