Why Are Republicans Playing Politics With Ukraine?

[Nevilledog]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-are-republicans-playing-politics-with-ukraine

No paywall
https://archive.ph/dKDGz

No one on Capitol Hill knows exactly when sending aid to Ukraine became such a political issue.

It didn’t really start as one.

In May 2022, three months after Russia began its brutal invasion, solid bipartisan majorities in Congress voted to approve a $40 billion aid package to Ukraine. Many Republicans who went on to adamantly oppose sending weapons to Ukraine spent the start of the war positively gushing about the heroism of President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Ukrainian citizens.

Now, 15 months and $113 billion in congressionally approved aid later, a growing MAGA faction is expressing skepticism—outright hostility, really—over continued support for Ukraine, even as the besieged country demonstrably weakens the military of one of the United States’ most hostile adversaries.

Over the course of more than 30 interviews with members of Congress, The Daily Beast set out to trace exactly how and why providing aid to Ukraine became such a controversial endeavor among Republicans.

*snip*

[WhiteTara]

1. they work for Putin and the Oligarchs.

[Sky Jewels]

2. Gee, what a surprise that the Russo-Republican Putin Party

wants Ukraine to fail and Master Vlad to rule all.

They enrage me.

[leftstreet]

3. Maybe everyone's starting to look for an off-ramp?

[thucythucy]

11. The widest, easiest, most available off ramp to the conflict

would be a Russian withdrawal from all occupied Ukrainian territory.

All it would take is a single order from a single man.

[Elessar Zappa]

16. The only off ramp would be the complete withdrawal of Russia from Ukrainian territory.

Unless the Ukrainian people decide otherwise.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

4. They want Putin to regain Eastern Europe once again.

Treasonous BASTARDS those rootin' for Putin.

[Attilatheblond]

5. The MIC makes more $$ when a cold war warms up

Yeah, they are compromised by Putin.
Yeah, they are devoid of ANY actual policies and need to distract voters from that reality
BUT, the MIC will hand out big donations if they make bigger profits

Just my take on their motives. And, yes, it boils down to treason, for personal profits.

[herding cats]

6. The article states it began with Tucker Carlson and spread when Trump parroted him.

My memory seems to confirm the two of them started this, I was just hazy as to which one said it first.

[TheRealNorth]

7. Putin promised to give them the full support of the Russian intelligence apparatus for 2024....

[gab13by13]

17. Russian bots are all over social media now.

[Ocelot II]

8. Because Trump loves Putin.

[gab13by13]

18. Best answer.

[Meadowoak]

9. Revenge for Zalenski not opening an investigation on Biden

"I'll need you do do me a favor though"...

[Recycle_Guru]

10. because they are traitors and many likely have compromat

[andym]

12. Bcause Biden is President and is helping Ukraine conduct an effective response to Russia

The GOP generally does not like anything that makes Biden look good, even if their opposition ultimately hurts the world and USA.

[cilla4progress]

13. Hate

...

[Deep State Witch]

14. When The Russians Started Pressuring Republicans

Look a little closer. I'm sure that Bob Menendez isn't the only one taking money from a foreign government.

[Midnight Writer]

15. My guess is that it is a "follow the money" situation.

I personally don't believe that conservative media became so pervasive because it is a moneymaker as a business.

I think it is largely co-opted by special interests who pay for their propaganda to be spread.

[tanyev]

19. Let's set the wayback machine to July 2016, shall we?

When a candidate compromised by Russia required only ONE change to the RNC platform. The rot and corruption ran downhill from there.

The Trump campaign worked behind the scenes last week to make sure the new Republican platform won’t call for giving weapons to Ukraine to fight Russian and rebel forces, contradicting the view of almost all Republican foreign policy leaders in Washington.

Throughout the campaign, Trump has been dismissive of calls for supporting the Ukraine government as it fights an ongoing Russian-led intervention. Trump's campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, worked as a lobbyist for the Russian-backed former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych for more than a decade.

Still, Republican delegates at last week’s national security committee platform meeting in Cleveland were surprised when the Trump campaign orchestrated a set of events to make sure that the GOP would not pledge to give Ukraine the weapons it has been asking for from the United States.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/trump-campaign-guts-gops-anti-russia-stance-on-ukraine/2016/07/18/98adb3b0-4cf3-11e6-a7d8-13d06b37f256_story.html

[TheRealNorth]

21. The same Paul Manafort.....

That gave Kremlin spy Konstantin Kilimnik the polling data the Russians would need to use their troll army to target Democratic and Independent voters with a firehouse of bullshit, and who Trump would later pardon for lying about his meetings with Kilimnik.

[Caliman73]

20. Simple answer - For the same reason the play politics with anything else these days...

Conservatives have always had a vision for America that was at odds with the "ideals" set forth in the Constitution. The ideals were informed by the liberalism of the Enlightenment era, even if they were never implemented fully. There were many within the coalition of founders who were pushing for "All Men" (as in mankind) to mean ALL, including women, Black people, etc... Although White Supremacy was baked into the cake of the United States, there were those who opposed the idea. Those people were never Conservatives. To be fair, I am sure there were some Conservatives and moderates who for religious reasons, may have seen White Supremacy, slavery, discrimination, etc... as sinful.

As Conservative heads toward its eventual landing place, policy has become irrelevant. What matters is POWER. So, just like a bank robber who is surrounded inside the bank, with hostages... everything becomes a bargaining chip. Because Democrats/Liberals/Progressives, actually care about ALL people; because we actually want to live up to the ideals of the Constitution, Conservatives can "bargain" with anything. We want freedom and democracy for Ukraine. We want Russia to stop invading its neighbors in a vain effort to bring back the Russian Empire. Conservatives don't care. They can use that to try to gain power. We want to use government to make people's lives better. They want POWER. Anything they can use to gain some advantage, even if it goes against what people may have thought was a deeply held principle, Conservatives will use. At the end of the day, they are working toward a society where there is a strict hierarchy, like during the times of absolute monarchy, where a small group of people are at the very top, and the rest of us are like subjects, working only to maintain the power structure. Family values, small government, fiscal responsibility, border security, tough on crime; all of that is bullshit they use to keep a base of voters together. If they are able to get it so that voting is irrelevant, we will see those talking points fall by the wayside.

We need to remember and understand that Conservatives DO NOT want to govern. They want to rule. They do not have deeply held beliefs other than that THEY deserve to be in power. Everything else would be a matter of their desires at any given time.