How did the Ukraine War become a Left vs. Right Issue?
CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, CBS, NYT, WaPo, and mainstream Hollywood often have a particular unified slant on many controversial issues, and this slant is typically toward the left side of the political/ideological spectrum (to say the least, aka, “Fiery but mostly peaceful protests…”).
Now, along with LGBT+, BLM, climate change, and vaccine mandates, it almost seems that supporting Ukraine has been added to the causes of the LEFT, and OPPOSED by the RIGHT.
Sean Penn, David Letterman, U2, and I’m sure many others — all perennial icons for all things liberal — make trips to Kyiv during war time to show support for Ukraine, and openly advocate for supporting Ukraine while Tucker Carlson actually says on air at FOX NEWS that he’s PULLING FOR RUSSIA and a significant number of elected Republicans oppose sending aid to Ukraine, and mock Zelensky for not wearing a suit.
This seems very strange to me.
Prior to the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, being PRO-RUSSIAN/USSR, pacifism, and isolationism were distinctly Democrat values, and the opposition to the expansionist tyranny of Russia/USSR — through force if necessary — was a deeply conservative value, practically the defining value of the late, great Ronald Reagan (see Should we support Ukraine?).
Now Russia invades Ukraine with no provocation and some on the right practically say “F&*% Ukraine, it’s not our problem.”
I don’t get it… I really don’t! Can someone explain it to me? Why are the liberals (news organizations and individuals) visiting Ukraine and Zelensky DURING WAR, offering all the support and encouragement they can while none from the right are doing this?
Why are mostly conservatives, especially those in the “Freedom Caucus”, so opposed?
I can answer some of the concerns I’ve heard from some conservatives.
Military Industrial Complex = Big Government
Now I realize that arming Ukraine does enrich and empower the dreaded “military industrial complex” – the private sector that invents and manufactures these weapons of war, death, and destruction, and that these industries have LOBBYISTS who “donate” (legally, of course) to political figures who vote for war.
I also realize that war is EXPENSIVE, and not conducive to a totally free market solution, and that big government is the antithesis of conservative values (though Reagan said “the Founding Fathers knew that outside of its LEGITIMATE FUNCTIONS, government does nothing as well … as the private sector…” – obviously Reagan thought of national defense as a legitimate function of government).
But opposing military aid to Ukraine for this reason ignores the existence and activity of EVIL in our world, and opposing this evil is clearly a conservative value – it is, in fact, almost the defining conservative value that Reagan most championed.
If big defense spending were really a thing of the left, Ronald Reagan would be the left’s greatest hero of all time.
And speaking of DEFENSE, Ukraine’s victory is absolutely in America’s best interest. Russia is practically the reason we have the insanely large military budget we have — BECAUSE Russia is an insanely great geopolitical threat (infinitely greater than “Islamists”).
And I know most Americans don’t really pay much attention to what Putin himself actually SAYS, but his war is WITH US… He’s not secretive or shy about this.
And trying to stay out of this conflict out of FEAR of what Putin may do (i.e. NUKES) only makes that prospect MORE LIKELY, not less.
Having another nation’s military drain the life out of Russia is GOOD.
Big Spending
Of course small government, and consequently less spending, are conservative values. And we do have problems HERE that need to be solved, but we can’t put our head in the sand and think this isn’t our problem.
Before I answer this point further, let’s understand that we’re talking about approximately 1% of our national budget, and it’s not a gift or charity, and it’s not going into a corrupt black hole (a frequent baseless accusation).
Besides it simply being the right thing to do (helping the good defend itself against abject evil), as I say above, it’s OUR DEFENSE.
And we’re mostly sending Ukraine weapons, not cold hard cash.
And these weapons NOW are in the hands of an effective fighting force that doesn’t involve U.S. soldiers.
If we don’t provide Ukraine these weapons now, we will have to use them ourselves later, but in the hands of U.S. soldiers. If Putin takes Ukraine, he definitely will not stop.
Russia Defends Traditional Marriage and Religion
More than a few on the right REALLY LIKE RUSSIA because of it’s “conservative” cultural values, such as traditional gender roles and the prominence of religion. Russia is well known for its “Anti-Gay” law (which is a slightly inaccurate title – this law specifically prohibits PUBLICLY PROMOTING non-traditional gender roles… You can BE GAY, but you can’t have a “Pride March” in Moscow).
Many conservative Americans are tired of having LGBT values crammed down their throat and might even support Russia’s approach to this.
Some conservative Americans, while perhaps not backing exactly everything Russia does on this issue, are at least a little sympathetic to Russia’s plight on this front.
The same is true with religion. Far from having “Separation of Church and State,” Russia has a state-sponsored religion: The Russian Orthodox Church, and this church’s leadership fully supports Putin’s resistance against the encroachment of these Western values on Russia.
First, let me say, while Ukraine has no “Anti-Gay” law, Ukraine has a VERY traditional culture, and aren’t all that sympathetic toward LGBTism.
Ukraine also has a state-sponsored church: The Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
But as for any sympathies for Russia on these fronts, first know that the Russian Orthodox Church is basically a “KGB” front organization and the leader will support whatever Putin wants him to support.
And the idea that Russia is fighting to keep immorality out of it’s immediate sphere is ridiculous. It’s a coincidence that LGBT+ is not popular in Russia, and Putin knows it is a controversial topic in the West, so he uses it to confuse us.
And you could be excused for being a little confused about this… UNTIL THE WAR STARTED. Once Russia started MURDERING and RAPING Ukrainian CIVILIANS, and “deporting” 200,000 Ukrainian children from occupied Ukrainian areas back to Russia to be assimilated into Russian families, and the leveling of LARGE cities to the ground (when a city of nearly a half million people is razed to the ground no one can claim it was a strategic military target or that it was collateral damage).
AFTER ALL THAT any thought that Russia or Putin occupied any moral high ground became utterly ridiculous.
Putin doesn’t give a crap about traditional values or morality.
Let’s revisit Reagan…
In March 2022 The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute awarded Volodymyr Zelensky The Ronald Reagan Freedom Award.
The Foundation’s website describes the award this way:
“Ronald Reagan’s greatest legacy to the world is freedom. His strength of character and bedrock belief in right and wrong ended the Cold War and his leadership unshackled the yoke of tyranny for millions who have known only oppression. Thus, it is fitting that the highest honor awarded by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute carries the name of the 40th President of the United States. This prestigious award is bestowed upon those who have made monumental and lasting contributions to the cause of freedom.”
With this reverence for freedom over tyranny, it seems quite ironic that most of those who oppose supporting Ukraine are from the “freedom” caucus. They should be ashamed of themselves.