Editor’s note: This commentary is by Bob Stannard, an author, musician and former lobbyist. This piece first appeared in the Bennington Banner.
“…I urge you to beware the temptation of pride, the temptation blithely to declare yourselves above it all and label both sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire…” — Former President Ronald Reagan, 1983
“I am pleased to tell you I just signed legislation which outlaws Russia forever. The bombing begins in five minutes.” — Former President Ronald Reagan, 1984
“I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy. We had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul; a man deeply committed to his country and the best interests of his country.” — Former President George W. Bush, 2001
[A]t what point did Russia transform from an “evil empire” worthy of a bombing joke to being our friend? Over that past 34 years, has Russia morphed from a country of “aggressive impulses” to an upstanding neighbor who is “straightforward and trustworthy?”
Vladimir Putin is a thug — plain and simple. He’s a former KGB agent who has manipulated the Russian government in a way that now allows him to be in charge, apparently, forever. That’s not how a democracy works, and Russia is not a democracy. It’s an oligarchy: a country run by an authoritarian and a few extremely rich people (sound familiar?). Nothing of any consequence happens in Russia without Putin’s blessing. Should one attempt to hide their activities from Putin there’s a very good chance that very bad things might happen to them; things like dying.
Putin straight up lied to us when he said that those troops invading Ukraine were not Russian troops. They most certainly were and they were doing what Putin told them to do. Putin straight up lies to us today when he says that Russia did not hack our elections to discredit Hillary Clinton and give an edge to President Donald Trump. Putin authorized the hacking of our election, because he wanted Trump to be (his) the next president of the United States. He won.
He did not like former President Obama and Hillary Clinton. Obama stood up to Putin. Hillary would have, in all likelihood, continued to stand up to him. Authoritarians do not like those who refuse to submit.
In Trump, Putin has a kindred spirit. Trump very much wants to be like Putin. Trump wants his underlings to show unequivocal loyalty, yet offers no loyalty in return. He belittled his own attorney general, Jeff Sessions, not for doing his job incorrectly, but for recusing himself from the Russian scandal. Ethically, Sessions had no choice but to recuse himself, but that did not stop Trump from publicly trashing Sessions.
The next day we learned of yet another leaked missive declaring that Sessions had met with a Russian ambassador to discuss the campaign and policy. Did this really happen or is Sessions being set up? It would be to Putin’s advantage to have Sessions gone so that Trump could appoint another attorney general — one who would fire Robert Mueller. Of course, this would also be to Trump’s advantage causing some to speculate if the leak came from the White House. I’m no fan of Jeff Sessions but it sure does appear as though he’s either A) a world-class liar and involved in colluding with the Russian to throw the election (something Trump still refused to even acknowledge despite the fact that all of our intelligence agencies confirm that it’s true); or B) being set up.
My, how we’ve changed. We’ve gone from Khrushchev shouting, “We will bury you” to Putin quietly and subversively co-opting our president to really bury us. What’s truly amazing is that there are only two prominent Republicans who are willing to speak up: Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham.
When did the GOP become the POP (Party of Putin)? Maybe it was when a former president looked into Putin’s eyes and saw his soul: a soul that doesn’t exist.
