I don’t talk politics on this blog. There’s beach photos mostly these days.
But the news of the US Congress finally sending some dough to Ukraine makes me very happy.
Heather Cox Richardson’s Letter of April 20, 2024:
Cheering broke out in the gallery and among Democrats on the floor of the House of Representatives this afternoon when the House passed the $60.8 billion aid bill for Ukraine. The vote was 311–112, with all Democrats and 101 Republicans voting in favor and 112 Republicans voting against. One Republican voted present.
I hope we are able to support Ukraine in this fight. An expanding Russian Federation is a threat to human beings across Europe and Asia.
Also worth a read, Timothy Snyder’s Political Warfare and Congress, with his testimony to Congress from April 17, 2024.
Though Americans sometimes forget this, Ukrainian resistance is seen around the world as an obvious American cause and an easy American victory. So long as Ukraine fights, it is fulfilling the entire NATO mission by itself, defending a European order based in integration rather than empire, and affirming international order in general. It is also holding back nuclear proliferation.
Given these obvious strategic gains, American failure in Ukraine will lead other powers to conclude that a feckless and divided United States will also fail to meet future challenges. The fundamental goal of Russian (and thus Chinese) propaganda is to prevent American action, thereby making America seem impotent and democracy pointless–also in the eyes of Americans themselves.
