The Partisan U.S. Is Scrambling to Figure Out What It Thinks of Ukraine
They say nothing unites like a common enemy. Or does it? As Russia invades Ukraine, the left and the right in the U.S. are scrambling online to try to figure out how they can disagree. After all, in this polarized modern era, Democrats and Republicans can’t possibly be aligned. What would we argue about? What would Fox News report — the same thing as CNN? What would Twitter get in a huff about? How can we all post “I Stand With Ukraine”? Are the gays still boycotting Chick-fil-A? Unity, a pillar of Biden’s campaign, is the one thing we agree we don’t want. We are unified in not wanting unity. Unity is bad for the news business, bad for the talking-head shows, even bad for brands who have taken a clear side in our culture wars. Dare we actually…agree. Especially in a midterm year. Welcome to the insanity of the modern age.
But it all seems pretty straightforward: Russia just invaded an independent nation, Ukraine. There is great history here that goes back to imperial Russia, pre-1914. And then to World War I and II. Just like the Treaty of Versailles crippled Germany and Hitler’s invasion of Poland was an effort to regain lost territory, the Cold War crippled Russia and Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is an effort to do the same. The 20th century re-shaped Russia’s map — and its influence — and Putin wants to stop NATO from…
