There is an opinion about Putin’s preferences in the vote in 22nd century
The Dean Obeid Allah Show on CNN: What Do Ukrainians Really Need to Know About the U.S. and What Do They Mean?
Dean Obeid Allah is a columnist and host of a radio show on The Dean Obeid Allah Show. Follow him @DeanObeidallah. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. The opinion on CNN can be found here.
Vance’s initial reaction was callous and inflammatory, but House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s recent comments were even more alarming. McCarthy said that if Republicans won the House of Representatives, it would no longer be possible for the US to provide assistance to Ukraine.
The GOP Senate candidate in Ohio later flip-flopped, saying that he wanted “the Ukrainians to be successful.” The Ukrainian Americans who are lifelong Republicans are voting for Tim Ryan in the Senate race because of Vance’s original remark.
This military support for Ukraine — together with the leadership of the Biden administration in rallying Western assistance for this democratic nation — has been credited with allowing Ukrainians to limit Russia’s invasion and has enabled successful counteroffensives that have recaptured territory seized by Russia.
As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Twitter last week after Russian missiles rained down on Ukrainian cities, “Another kind of Russian terrorist attacks: targeting energy & critical infrastructure. In the last month, 30% of Ukrainian power stations have been wiped out, causing massive power cuts across the country.
The War Between Ukraine and the Ukranian Revolution: Kevin McCarthy versus Vladmir Putin, and an echo of the Pence/McPence era
“The notion that now Kevin McCarthy is going to make himself the leader of the pro-Putin wing of my party is just a stunning thing. It’s dangerous,” Cheney said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
I think that his willingness to sacrifice everything for his own political gain is a telling sign that he is willing to go down the path of suggesting that America will no longer stand for freedom.
Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene, who expects McCarthy to give her a lot of power if Republicans win the House in next month’s elections, blamed the war on the Ukrainians.
Conservative Fox News stars, including Laura Ingraham and especially Tucker Carlson, have been laying the groundwork with members of the Republican base, readying them for the possibility of an end to US assistance for Ukraine.
Carlson — who declared on his show in 2019 when there was a potential conflict between the neighboring countries that he was “root(ing) for Russia” — did his best in the months before Putin’s attack to paint Ukraine in a negative light. Carlson stated that Ukranian leader Zelensky is a “puppet of the Biden administration.”
Last week, Ingraham derided former Vice President Mike Pence for referring to the United States as the “‘arsenal of democracy'” and suggested that the military is too depleted to help other countries. During that same episode, Ingraham welcomed GOP Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana, who echoed McCarthy’s comments about aid for Ukraine, saying, “We can’t put America first by giving blank checks to those around the world to solve their problems.”
McCarthy and his fellow Republicans could or might not get it, as Biden suggested. But there’s one person who fully gets it: Vladmir Putin. Few people will have greater cause for celebration if the GOP wins back control of the House.
Zelensky has worked to rally the support of people in his country, as the conflict in Ukraine escalates. The Ukrainian president said that any lawmaker who visits can see the reality of what is happening in the war-torn country. In February, Biden visited Kyiv in a show of support.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of Mr. Zelensky’s safety concerns. There are a lot of risks involved in a visit by the wartime leader who will leave his country for the first time since Russia invaded Ukrainian.
Do we really need a blank check? No blank checks for the U.S., but we need to make sure that we do it properly
“We are ending a very special session of the 117th Congress with legislation that makes progress for the American people as well as support for our democracy. Please be there for a special focus on Democracy Wednesday night.
In the first days and weeks of the Russian full-scale invasion, a Russian attack intended to take advantage of the leader’s absence might have stirred confusion in the Ukrainian military. But 10 months into the war, no prominent military analyst has recently questioned Ukrainian command and control in the military.
The appearance would mark a potentially electrifying moment as Democratic control of the House — and Ms. Pelosi’s reign as speaker and a member of Democratic leadership — comes to a conclusion, with Republicans set to take over on Jan. 3.
It would also put Republicans on Capitol Hill opposed to a newly released plan to provide nearly $50 billion to the war-torn country — as well as a broader spending package to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the week — in the potentially uncomfortable position of opposing the aid even as the Ukrainian leader appears on Capitol Hill.
Some Republicans in the House have repeatedly opposed previous packages that sent billions of dollars in military and humanitarian aid, suggesting the money is wasteful or better spent in the United States. Lauren Boebert, a far-right Republican from Colorado, was not a fan of the new aid.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is inviting House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to visit Ukraine to see the situation on the ground first hand – an invitation that comes as the Republican Party faces a divide over whether the United States should continue to provide aid to the country under attack from Russia.
Mr. McCarthy, he has to come and see how we work, what’s happening here, what war did to us and who are fighting now. Zelensky told Wolf Blitzer that after that, make your assumptions.
“Let’s be very clear about what I said: no blank checks, OK? McCarthy said that he didn’t have to go to Ukraine to understand where there was a blank check. I don’t have to leave my home to get my briefings, but I will continue to get them. And my point has always been, I won’t provide a blank check for anything.”
Asked by Blitzer if he is concerned that pushback from some Republicans could threaten the flow of aid to the country, Zelensky praised the fact that there has been bipartisan support for Ukraine on Capitol Hill.