OPINION: A Critical Time for the US and Ukraine

Time is becoming critical for Ukraine. There appear to be more Russian soldiers than Ukrainian bullets, and Ukraine is suffering not from a lack of will or resolve, but from a sense of betrayal.

The US, meanwhile, is facing its own critical issues – nothing even close to an existential threat – but a test of its role as a democracy and as a global leader.

However, fears of Donald J. Trump prevailing in November as the next US President may not become a reality. For most Republicans, the primaries were a resounding victory for the former president. But for the rest us, it was reassuring that 40 percent of Republicans could not find it in themselves to vote for Trump.

I am reminded of Greek philosopher Diogenes and his search for an honest man. Indeed, Diogenes would have been most frustrated had he encountered the MAGA (Make America Great Again) Republicans. The latest to join the roll is the old self-identified political expert Mitch McConnell with nary a bone in his spine. He condemned Trump after Jan. 6, 2020, and then voted against impeachment. There were personal issues as well, with Trump having disparaged the Senator's wife.

Nonetheless, Senator McConnell has voiced support for Trump. It could not be driven by a need for reciprocal political support because McConnell has stated that he will not run for the Republican Senate leadership in November. Furthermore, he has four years left on his Senate term. So why, frankly, would he diminish his career in history by being a sycophant?  

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There are, in fact, a great many McConnells in today's Republican party. This leads me to believe in America and Diogenes would be gratified. Independents today constitute the second largest voting group in the country. The Republican Party, under the leadership of Trump and 91 indictments, has garnered the support of the uneducated and the Evangelicals.

The Evangelicals have assumed that he is their anti-abortion champion when, in actuality, Trump couldn’t care less about that political or moral issue and has probably paid for more than one abortion during his less than Christian lifetime. The Evangelicals supporting Trump are certainly the most gullible electorate in the US.

And so, the victim of this US betrayal is Ukraine. Allowing for the benefit of a doubt, Speaker Mike Johnson is both gullible and a neophyte. The alternative is that he is simply evil. 

Resolve across the pond

Ukraine will survive this madness because the Ukrainian people are intrepid. Additionally, they are creative and inventive. They manufacture their own drones, both for land and sea. They destroy Russian fighter jets and warships. They have taken the war with Russia to Africa. They may be losing ground, temporarily, but they are garnering more support from Europe.

France is beginning to talk about boots on the ground, as is Poland and other countries. Germany post-Merkel has supplied more weapons to Ukraine than any country other than the US. Supplying German Taurus missiles is only a matter of time. Europe understands that a Ukrainian counter offensive has to involve the territory of the Russian Federation as deep as Moscow with European support.

No one in Europe wants to see Russians on their own territory. Ukraine is the European red line.  Ukrainians are dying so that Europe may live as in the past. Please consider Ukrainian Cossacks defending Vienna. People like Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary have been rebuked and they will follow if they wish to remain and benefit from EU and NATO membership and justifiably so. He has been an albatross to Europe.

The war will not conclude in 2024, but it will take a turn for the better. Europe will become much more involved. Ukraine will manifest even more resolve and courage and finally the US will come around.

I sincerely hope that the US Republican Party will undergo yet another transformation, but if it does not, it will become irrelevant. Not for any other reason except that the American people, whether they are educated or not, can only be fooled so many times.

I feel for some of the good Evangelical supporters of the MAGA aberration. Trump is a fraud. You will experience an epiphany. You will recognize your apostasy and finally you will do the right and moral thing. Interestingly enough, no country in Eastern Europe has as many Evangelicals as Ukraine.

My message to the Evangelicals in the US: Reach out to your brethren in Ukraine. You have so much in common, including a deep and moral conviction in good triumphing over evil and the Christian mantra of helping your neighbor – something that Trump does not share.

The year 2024 may not be a bad year for the US or Ukraine. It will be an awakening for the US and a time of some difficulty with a very hopeful future for Ukraine. I believe in both the American and Ukrainian people.

The views expressed are the author’s and not necessarily of Kyiv Post.