If Mr DeSantis were any other Republican governor, such an incomprehensible, ill-judged assertion might not matter. But despite Donald Trump’s rancorous attempt to regain the White House, Mr DeSantis, at 44, remains the hot tip among pundits to win the Republican nomination with a strong chance of winning the election next year and becoming the next president.
Given that context, Mr DeSantis’s statement (importantly, it was written and not something he said off the cuff) that the fight for Ukraine is not a vital US national interest could not be more wrong or more damaging, not only to America and its place in the world but also to America’s allies who look to it for global leadership.
Mr DeSantis’s assertion plays into not only Mr Putin’s hands but also Chinese ruler Xi Jinping’s by raising the prospect that a future Republican administration in the White House would be unwilling to stay the distance in Ukraine and, by implication, also would be reluctant to do much about a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
As the New York Post, which previously has been a strong supporter of Mr DeSantis’s presidential ambitions, noted on Thursday: “If Putin succeeds in Ukraine, it’ll show other regimes (China, Iran, etc) that aggression works. And Russia itself will look to move on other nations, including NATO allies America’s obliged to defend. Beating Putin, or even just crippling his war machine, is defending America.”
Whatever happened to Mr DeSantis’s reputation as a strong leader and a fearless fighter for principle who has ignored the polls and done what’s right in Florida? Mr DeSantis, even before launching his campaign, appears to have fallen at the first hurdle of what The Wall Street Journal has termed “the Trumpian temptation of American retreat”. The suggestion is that he is cynically reading the political mood in the Republican Party fuelled by Mr Trump’s similarly ill-judged isolationist ballyhoo as the former president, too, seeks the nomination. Polls show 40 per cent of Republicans believe Joe Biden’s administration is doing too much to help Ukraine. Elected Republicans in the US congress have expressed alarm about what they see as a mood that potentially could do serious harm to US interests and those of its allies in the fight for democracy. The top Republican on the US Senate’s Armed Services Committee, Roger Wicker, has warned about those who would appease Mr Putin.
In his statement to Fox News, Mr DeSantis did make one sensible point – that Mr Biden did not have “defined objectives” in Ukraine other than to provide arms, but not enough to drive Russia out of the country. That failure is obviously a recipe for extended conflict. But it does not follow that Ukraine is not of vital concern to the US and that it is a mere territorial dispute. Such assertions could hardly be further from the truth or more worrying for the free world that looks to the US for leadership. Mr DeSantis must beware the temptation to try to outdo Mr Trump’s isolationist MAGA fantasies.
Much has been expected of Mr DeSantis as the potential Republican nominee next year. He must waste no time in showing that he is better than perceptions of him, after his Ukraine faux pas, that he is just a younger version of Mr Trump. Mr DeSantis is surely better than that.
LOL.
Even Zelensky doesn’t believe in democracy.
Who wrote all this hawkish crap?
Sheridan?
Interesting question.
The editor is Michelle Gunn.
Coincidentally, another News masthead – the WSJ – also editorialised against DeSantis’ views today. The Endless War lobby is starting to panic. They expect the American centre-right to dutifully line up (again) to fight for “democracy” but this time that demographic isn’t buying the bullshit.
I can see the de Santis point without that making a difference to Taiwan. It’s easy to make an argument that Taiwan is in the US area of interests. Ukraine, on the complete other side of a continent they don’t border, harder to make that argument. US didn’t intervene when the Soviets invaded Georgia in 2008. I don’t really see how this is any different. Georgia at the time was arguably more democratic than Ukraine is now
America couldn’t even defeat poorly-equipped tribesmen (no regular troops at all) in twenty years in Afghanistan.
What makes the Biden administration, the Military Industrial Complex and its cheerleaders on either side of politics think they can defeat Russia, even with the probably risible support of NATO?
In any case the U.S. military is at its lowest ebb since probably before WWII, and apparently unable to attract sufficient recruits.
Beating Putin, or even just crippling his war machine, is defending America.”
Perhaps.
But America won’t win a War against Russia in Ukraine, although they could suffer 200,000 casualties there pretty quickly.
The US would have a direct interest in fighting a Chinese invasion of Taiwan (control of the Pacific) that it lacks in a Russia-Ukraine war.
So “withdrawal” from the latter would not immediately translate to anything re Taiwan.
Whoever wrote this editorial is an idiot. I’m no fan of Sheridan but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.
I see it as DeSantis tacking towards the Trump voters. Unfortunately there’s only so far he can go because the polls are pretty clear.
Gallup Poll: 90 Percent of Americans View Russia Unfavorably (Newsmax, 13 Mar)
RTWT for the various splits. He has a hard time threading the needle to extract support from Trumpies whilst keeping the ABT wing. So far nothing has worked: Trump is still 50% or so in the primaries, and even more I suspect if you factor shy righties who don’t answer polls.
(I’m amused by the slant from The Oz about DeSantis being the hot tip to win the nomination. I smell instructions from above…)
Just another Putin Puppet sends a message.
“The Woke Ideology and the Agenda 2030 Constitute an Immense Threat to the Same Survival of Mankind” – Archbishop Vigano
The Great Neocon Freakout
Posted on March 16, 2023 by Steven Hayward
Powerline
Isnt it the WSJ article printed in the Oz?
No, both newspapers published separate editorials condemning DeSantis’ remarks.
The WSJ leader was posted by The Australian today.
Too late for a Jeb/Mitt ticket? 🙂
NFA,
So a RC Archbishop is a “Putin puppet”? Is it because he has a different view than you? Or perhaps you actually have some evidence of your claim? Please let us know…
From reading that, Vigano is also a Trump puppet and anti-WEF. Sounds like a good bloke to me. He also pointed out the removal of Benedict was to replace him with a globalist. Spot on.
Petros
You may also like Archbishop Viganò Archive
Thanks NFA. I like his term: psychopandemic propaganda.
If the US doesn’t want to lose its place as ‘leader of the (free) world’, then it is doing itself no favours at all in Ukraine. By not even contemplating peace talks, they leave it open for others to do so, while Ukrainians die in their hundreds every day.
Meanwhile China has been busy bringing peace to the Middle East. By facilitating an agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia, they have ended the war in Yemen and probably many other proxy wars around the region. This was a greater diplomatic coup probably, than Trumps deal with the Israel and the UAE and other Arab states (the status of which must now be in doubt).
IMHO this is a much bigger story than the corporate media is writing. The Chicoms have stepped into the US’ shoes seamlessly. Alarming.
Yeah, great point. That story didn’t get ANY coverage, did it?
MacIntyre:
https://twitter.com/AuronMacintyre/status/1636739398787006469
Jupes
International Criminal Court Issues an Arrest Warrant For Vladimir Putin Over Alleged War Crimes in Ukraine
Where is the ‘leader of the (free) world’?
Joe Biden Says He’s ‘Really Not Irish’ Because He Doesn’t Have Relatives in Jail
Chairman Xi Heading to Russia Next Week For State Visit with President Putin – NATO, Ukraine and U.S. Going Bananas
March 17, 2023 | Sundance
The ICC is typical of the ‘international’ organisations that our elites love; expensive but totally useless, other than as a method for our second rate politicians to signal their virtue. No serious countries have anything to do with it e.g. US, Russia, China, Israel, Iran, Saudi Arabia. For the billions spent on it, it has hardly proven to be value for money. IIRC Slobodan Milosevic died during his years long court case plus they have convicted the odd African barbarian or two. Still, it gave Geoffrey Robertson a chance to prance around in his robes for a few years, pretending to be righteous while raking in the dollars.
Disgracefully, it is used for another sinister purpose in Australia. The government is currently spending $80,000,000 persecuting Australian soldiers for war crimes on the pretext that they HAVE to do it, otherwise the men will be sent to the ICC. Of course, this is just bollocks. If they are worried about the ICC, then simply leave it.
DeSantis prior to this was a blank canvas on foreign policy so it was hard to judge the direction he would steer towards, which is why this weeks announcement was so surprising and welcome. But, I think it also indicates his acknowledgement of the room re Ukraine across the mainstream of voters.
I did mention it on the OT yesterday or Thurs. There is a bit of this going on involving China and Russia. Another situation involves Syria and Turkey.
Small mercies on the horizon for Syria.
I don’t want to see the dumb grunts with rifles sent to the ICC … we have plenty of ways to prosecute those guys if they step out of line.
I would like to see the leadership held responsible for sending those guys, without any plan for what the heck we were supposed to achieve … and also held responsible for complete lack of oversight, in terms of who exactly the enemy was, why we were fighting those people and even who was getting killed. Our leaders had NFI what they were doing … and they delivered a costly, murderous disaster.
The Canberra brass are the ones who should end up in the ICC. Accountability must start at the top.
If you are in denial you’ll get your assessment of the Ukrainian war all wrong.
From the time the election was stolen in the USA, and they put up barbed wire around the capitol building and armed troops defending the coup’s puppets inside, the USA really does not exist.
It is not a democratic “in God we trust” nation of the past that people in denial still see it as.
It is not a fully fledged globalist/ communist member state either.
But it’s federal government is and some of it’s states.
The beauty of the US lies in it’s decentralised power system, allowing Florida, Texas and a few others to not comply.
So the US Federal government is an arm of the Davos WEF elites.
Globalists at war with the west.
The federal government of America is at war with it’s people as is any communist country.
As is ours.
But it’s not got all the power there.
It has here.
The people of the USA are the largest armed force in the world.
Trump made them pull this covid stunt before they got the guns.
Big mistake.
The Ukraine war is theatre that can be lied about.
That can be blamed for the destruction of the wealth of their nation etc.
So for ease of operation, just think like this.
It’s Klaus Schwab and Soros controlling the white house….unless you really want to believe Biden is!?!
Now what would they be up to…..
I remember Alexander Downer discounting the claims of those against us signing up for the ICC, that it would only ever be used as a weapon against our own troops.
A territorial dispute is when your neighbour claims a bit of your fence line. Putin has invaded a country and is bombing civilians. The fact that De Santis is vomiting the MAGA line will only take the GOP a step closer to oblivion.
Reading this thread and especially CL’s contrive, I am wondering how you all will feel when Indonesia becomes a richer, militarised State? No call on US support? Because on your argument Ukraine “deserves” to be crushed by a dictator. Really quite pathetic.
The civillians in Crimea and the Donbass voted that they did not want to be part of Ukraine, and did not want to be ruled by Kyiv anymore.
The principle was set in Kossovo when they voted in 1991 and therefore the USA and the EU have already accepted that people can vote to “divorce” from their nation if that’s what they want to do.
Kyiv sent soldiers to bomb the people of the Donbass from 2014 to 2022 and Russia provided minimal assistance during this time. I didn’t hear you say anything to even so much as acknowledge this, let alone have a problem with it.