Too bad they don't exist anymore. The Republican Party of Reagan would be Ukraine’s strongest supporters https://thehill.com/opinion/nationa...eagan-would-be-ukraines-strongest-supporters/ In 1984 on the 40th anniversary of D-Day, Ronald Reagan ascended the windswept stage of Pointe Du Hook, Normandy to commemorate one of the greatest sacrifices in the defense of freedom the world had ever seen. “We in America have learned bitter lessons from two World Wars,” Reagan declared. “It is better to be here ready to protect the peace, than to take blind shelter across the sea, rushing to respond only after freedom is lost. We’ve learned that isolationism never was and never will be an acceptable response to tyrannical governments with an expansionist intent.” Nearly 40 years after he spoke those words, Reagan’s remarks should serve as a stark reminder and warning to leaders looking out at an increasingly unsettled world who are tempted by the siren’s call of American isolationism, rather than declaring and reaffirming the value of American leadership. Reagan’s leadership and vision for a future where democracy would push back the authoritarianism of the Soviet Union and usher in a freer and more prosperous world brought me into the Republican Party I have been honored to represent for more than three decades. Sadly, however, I doubt the great communicator would recognize the rhetoric being used by some of our leading Republican candidates today. Heightened political speech is to be expected as we enter the presidential campaign season. However, we cannot as Republicans, or as Americans, allow a healthy debate to be polluted to score narrow political points that ultimately provide aid and comfort for our enemies abroad. Some in our party are succumbing to the false temptation that by turning our back on the world, the world’s problems will somehow ignore us and respect our borders. As we have had to learn time and time again from WWII to 9/11, they will not ignore us, and failing to act risks the freedoms and economic prosperity every American benefits from. True leadership is about explaining our country’s role in the world and the importance of what happens beyond our borders to our citizens — Reagan knew this and was able to communicate the importance of contesting the Soviet Union at every turn. Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R-Fla.) attempt last week to frame Ukraine’s heroic struggle for freedom from Russian tyranny, one that has left thousands of Ukrainian men, women and children dead, and displaced nearly a third of the nation, as a “territorial dispute” is not only wrong it is the kind of dangerous rhetoric that sends a clear signal to Moscow (one which they will exploit) that they need only wait and steel their resolve before American attention wanes. Our support to Ukraine is about America defending global peace and, thereby, ensuring our own freedom and economic prosperity. It is about ensuring the sovereignty of a democratic country in Europe today to avoid the cascade of conflict that would follow not just there but throughout the Indo-Pacific region as well. Reagan would recognize this truth, just as he saw the truth of the Soviet Union and its hollowness, and it is time that our Republican Party recognize it as well and explain it to the American people. Having served on and chaired the House Intelligence Committee during some of our nation’s most perilous times, I can share without hesitation the knowledge that our enemies closely scrutinize every action and every word of our leaders looking for an opening. Beyond Moscow, Beijing too has its eye fixed squarely on Ukraine to gauge America’s willingness and ability to rally the world and our military allies in the defense of freedom. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s direction last week for his nation to become a more active “participate in the reform and construction of the global governance system” is a clear indication that both of these repressive regimes believe the time may be right to reassert their failed ideologies to stall the advances of freedom that have largely isolated their countries for the past generation. Now is the time to send a clear and unambiguous message to those who stand against the freedoms so many of America’s sons and daughters have fought and died for. While it may play well to a small section of the base, I urge Gov. DeSantis, and all of our candidates running for office, to avoid the easy and wrong path in the face of the hard and right truth: The world is better, and America is safer, when we continue to shine our bright beacon of hope into the dark shadows where tyrants cower waiting to strike. Mike Rogers served as the Republican representative in Congress for the 8th District of Michigan from 2000 until 2015, including as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee from 2011-2015.
The MAGA wing of the GOP better take notice. The majority of their voters support Ukraine and will not put up with Putin cronies. Many of these voters remember the days of the Soviet threat. Shock Poll: GOP Voters Overwhelmingly Say U.S. Doing ‘Too Little’ in Ukraine https://www.mediaite.com/politics/s...elmingly-say-u-s-doing-too-little-in-ukraine/
Once again Putin and his troll farms work to assist Trump in his twisted, violent agenda. Russia Behind Manhattan District Attorney Bomb Threats During Trump Hush Money Probe https://radaronline.com/p/russia-be...-attorney-bomb-threat-trump-hush-money-probe/ Russian email addresses were reportedly behind a series of fake bomb threats sent to the Manhattan district attorney last week in an apparent attempt to stop the hush money probe into Donald Trump, RadarOnline.com has learned. In a shocking development shortly after it was revealed that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and numerous Manhattan court buildings received bomb threats last week, the FBI confirmed the threats were traced back to a series of Russian email accounts. The threats, which are now being investigated by the NYPD and FBI, were reportedly emailed to local government officials of the Manhattan community board on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Even more shocking are reports that the hoax bomb threats listed numerous government buildings and public schools as the intended targets of alleged pipe bomb attacks. "The FBI told me that they appear to be coming from Russia," Susan Stetzer, the district manager of Manhattan Community Board 3, told Law360 on Friday. Stetzer also confirmed the board received four separate threats between Tuesday and Thursday and each of the four threats came from email addresses using @mail.ru domains. Meanwhile, the New York Times reported on Friday that Manhattan DA Bragg received an envelope last week that contained a death threat and suspicious white powder. "ALVIN: I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!" the letter, which was postmarked on Tuesday and originated from Orlando, Florida, reportedly read. A spokesperson for DA Bragg’s office said the threat “was immediately contained and that the NYPD Emergency Service Unit and the NYC Department of Environmental Protection determined there was no dangerous substance." As RadarOnline.com previously reported, the bomb and death threats sent to Manhattan last week came shortly after former President Trump escalated his rhetoric regarding the hush money investigation against him and predicted “potential death & destruction” should he be criminally charged in the matter.
Ronnie Boy changed his tune about Putin after his major donors took him out to the woodshed. This leaves Trump as chief GOP Putin bootlicker. Trump again defends Putin and rips into DeSantis for calling him an 'authoritarian gas station attendant' and a 'war criminal' https://news.yahoo.com/trump-again-defends-putin-rips-010016434.html
Of course they invited Trump to seek asylum in the home of his best buddies and financiers. “Merchant of Death” Viktor Bout invites Donald Trump to seek refuge in Russia https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/merchant-death-viktor-bout-invites-151344101.html
Putin Was Waiting on 'Wink' From Donald Trump To Seize Ukraine: Author https://www.newsweek.com/vladimir-p...russia-paul-manafort-andrew-weissmann-1793390 Russian President Vladimir Putin was waiting on a "wink" from former U.S. President Donald Trump to seize parts of Ukraine—years before Russia launched a full-scale invasion—according to a new interview. Written correspondence between former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort and Kremlin aide Konstantin Kilimnik discussed Putin claiming part of Ukraine, saying that a "wink" from the Republican former president was needed to "make this work," former Mueller prosecutor Andrew Weissmann has said. Speaking with PBS' Firing Line and host Margaret Hoover, Weissmann said this was "such a clear indication of what Vladimir Putin was trying to do." Weissmann was one of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's top deputies during investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, which resulted in the Mueller Report. Following its publication, in August 2020, the Senate Intelligence Committee found that the Kremlin launched an "aggressive, multifaceted effort to influence, or attempt to influence, the outcome of the 2016 presidential election." Paul Manafort, who headed Trump's campaign for a few months in 2016 and was convicted of fraud and conspiracy charges, worked with Russian and Moscow-backed Ukrainian figures, including Kilimnik, according to the report, which identified him as a "Russian intelligence officer." "Kilimnik and Manafort formed a close and lasting relationship that would endure to the 2016 U.S. elections and beyond," the Senate Intelligence Committee report said. Manafort "discussed with Kilimnik a peace plan for eastern Ukraine that benefited the Kremlin," the report said. The pair pursued "the pro-Russia Ukraine peace plan Kilimnik had first raised with Manafort" in August 2016 after the election, according to the report. "Manafort's high-level access and willingness to share information with individuals closely affiliated with the Russian intelligence services, particularly Kilimnik, represented a grave counterintelligence threat," the report read. Trump has repeatedly weighed in on how he would handle the ongoing war in Ukraine, saying he could end the war within 24 hours. Last month, Trump signaled that he would have "made a deal" for Moscow to claim parts of Ukraine, had he been in power when the Russian invasion took place. Saying Russia is "going for everything," Trump told host Sean Hannity in early March that Putin "would have never done it" if the former president was still in the White House. "That's without even negotiating a deal," Trump continued. "I could have negotiated." "At worst, I could have made a deal to take over something, you know, there are certain areas that are Russian speaking areas, right, like, but you could have worked a deal. And now Ukraine is just being blown to smithereens." Newsweek has reached out to former President Donald Trump and the Kremlin for comment via email.