Let’s see…the US Senate recently passed a bill titled Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022 essentially on a voice vote of 100 – 0. Unanimous. This is modeled on a WWII program that provided weapons to the allies fighting Hitler before the United States entered the war. Given the circumstances in Ukraine, this sounds like a responsible action for the US to take.
And then we come to the House of Representatives. There, 10 Republicans voted against the bill including Wisconsin’s Tom Tiffany. Here’s the list:
So you ask yourself, what does Rep. Tom Tiffany have against big D, Democracy? Per the Rep:
Tiffany released a statement clarifying that he “strongly” condemns the Russian invasion, but said the US is “already the largest donor to this war.”
“President Biden is requesting billions more in aid for Ukraine that could potentially draw our military into another trillion-dollar conflict half a world away,” he added. “If the last two decades have taught us anything, it is that it’s always much easier to get our country into a foreign conflict than it is to get out.”
hmmph. Yes, he is correct. The US is probably the largest donor to this war so far…well other than Ukraine which is seeing its nation destroyed and its citizens murdered. But as the biggest self-proclaimed defender of Democracy in the world, isn’t our job to be the biggest defender of Democracy when it is being threatened.
And there is some validity to his claim that we may end up in an enormously expensive war half a world away. But what price Democracy? And better half a world away than in Elmwood WI.
And yes, it is often harder to get out of a conflict than to get involved…particularly when you have no exist strategy to start with. But I suggest Joe Biden isn’t the fault of that…he should look to his own house for our most recent involvement…as President George W Bush took on Afghanistan and Iraq…and it was during Rep. Tiffany’s time in the House that we continued to struggle there…and President Donald Trump played a fools game there as well…negotiating with the Taliban without the involvement of the Afghan government. I don’t remember Rep. Tiffany’s urging an end to that conflict while he’s served in Washington. If he did so, my apologies.
But really, how to put a price tag on defending Democracy and standing up to dictators? The history of WWII should be a bit of a warning sign for us.
And of course I am not a hawk…and I don’t want another sleepless year and then another, here at home, if we do get involved with troops…I have already had that experience, thank you very much.
Tom Tiffany is no friend of Democracy. Tom Tiffany is no friend of Ukraine. Tom Tiffany is no friend of our allies around the world. Tom Tiffany needs to be defeated at the polls in 2022.
You are right. Toxic Tom is no friend of democracy. He certainly has not done much for northern WI, either. You have to be a wealthy republican or corporation to get his attention.
Many republicans want to put an end to NATO, judging by Tom’s past performance, I’d guess he’s one of this fringe. Don’t forget, my own US Congressman, Scott Fitzgerald sided with Tommy to invalidate our legally cast ballots. Can’t get much more undemocratic than that.