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372
Why MAGA Loves Russia and Hates Ukraine (www.nytimes.com)
submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by MicroWave to c/politics
56 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

As I type this newsletter, continued American aid for Ukraine is in grave doubt. Tucker Carlson is in Moscow to conduct a friendly interview with Vladimir Putin. And we’re receiving reports from the front lines that Russia is advancing, in part because of Ukrainian ammunition shortages. In short, the war is reaching a critical stage, and Ukraine may lose because Republicans are willing to hand authoritarian Russia a historic military victory rather than supply further aid to a democratic ally.

Ronald Reagan isn’t just rolling over in his grave; he may also lurch from it in a fit of incredulous rage. This is a remarkable and potentially catastrophic reversal by a political party that is in a state of near-total, frequently random ideological transformation.

To explain the intensity of Republican resistance to Ukraine aid, I need to return to a concept I wrote about in November: that of bespoke realities. My friend Renée DiResta, the technical research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory, coined the term, and she wrote that it refers to the “bubble realities” constructed by communities “that operate with their own norms, media, trusted authorities and frameworks of facts.”

Among those who oppose aid to Ukraine, there are certainly several paleoconservatives who object on classic isolationist grounds: It’s not our fight, our support is costly, we might find ourselves inadvertently embroiled in war, and so on. But the mass Republican movement against Ukraine is rooted far less in policy than it is in a particular bespoke reality of the MAGA universe, in which Ukraine is a pernicious villain, Putin is a flawed hero and Russia should have crushed Ukraine long ago.

MAGA Republicans’ hatred and contempt for Volodymyr Zelensky and the Ukrainian cause is shockingly vehement. Candace Owens says she wants to “punch” Zelensky. Donald Trump Jr. calls him an “international welfare queen.” Carlson says he dresses “like the manager of a strip club.” It’s all bizarre and unreasonable. And it all fits the broader MAGA narrative.

Non-paywall link

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[–] grue 180 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

TL;DR: they are fascist anti-American traitors who love dictatorship and hate democracy, and should be treated as such.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Now explain why tankies Love Russia and hate Ukraine?

samepicture.pptx

[–] [email protected] 20 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

samepicture.pptx

Sorry, I'm running Windows XP with a really old version of PowerPoint and that's not opening correctly for me. Can someone convert it for backwards compatability for me?

[–] toiletobserver 26 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Here ya go!

totallynotmalware.exe

[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I think there's something wrong with the file you sent me, it doesn't open anything. Just a black box appears in the middle of the screen and then disappears and then nothing...

Even worse, I keep getting all these popups telling me to send money or else they'll release my webcam footage, but I don't think my computer came with a webcam? I found something on the PC that looked like maybe a lens with a vertical line in the middle, but when I press it, my computer turns off.

[–] toiletobserver 6 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Your computer is just thirsty. Please share your beverage with it. The mouth is the hole in the side or back with warm breath coming out of it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

Don't do what this person says it will damage your computer, computers are delicate electrical devices therefore much more akin to fish and should be submerged completely

[–] joel_feila 1 points 10 months ago

I am going to start naming files that.

[–] [email protected] 91 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Putin has Republican leadership in his pocket.

[–] Boddhisatva 99 points 10 months ago (9 children)

And has since Russia hacked the DNC and RNC servers. They released the DNC emails, no doubt peppered with false entries, but never released the RNC stuff. You just know these idiots in the GOP were dumb enough to put their crimes in email and that gave Putin all the kompromat he needed to take over the whole party.

[–] [email protected] 48 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Yes indeed. Thank you for reminding everyone of this. I believe they also financially back a lot of people on the right, Trump and his family are on the record saying that they were financially saved by Russia some years back, which would explain their attempts to create a secret back channel to Putin.

[–] grue 15 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

I'm sure there are some (maybe many) Republicans who've turned traitor because of "kompromat" or bribery or whatever, but I don't think Trump is among them. Trump is worse: he helps Putin against America because he thinks Putin is his friend. He's a fanboi of dictators in general and Putin in particular; a true believer of autocracy. Trump is betraying America completely of his own free will.

[–] Serinus 6 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Putin is largely responsible for turning social media in favor of Trump in 2016. And Trump has absolutely gotten Russian money.

[–] grue 4 points 10 months ago

I'm not saying Trump didn't benefit greatly from Putin. I'm just saying Trump didn't need to be bribed or coerced to fuck up America 'cause he was going to do that enthusiastically anyway.

[–] orclev 7 points 10 months ago

While I absolutely believe Trump is in bed with Russia, and has been since the days he got caught using his hotels to help the Russian mafia launder money, the interview you're talking about is a second hand report that has had its legitimacy called into question. It comes from an interview with a sports reporter that claims he was told by Trump junior while talking with him at a golf course that they get all the funding they need out of Russia. Unfortunately that's the only source for that claim so it's pretty weak.

Stronger evidence I would say comes from Trump repeatedly getting loans out of Deutsche Bank when no other banks were willing to touch him at a time when they were also convicted of helping the Russian mafia commit financial crimes as well as finance their operations in countries outside of Russia. I believe at the time those loans were also listed as being secured by a 3rd party whose identity was never revealed. Added on top of that is known members of the Russian mafia literally living one floor below Trump. We know that in part because that's where the FBI arrested them.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago

Don't care to watch the Putin "interview" but someone quoted a part of it where he basically confirmed that

[–] superduperenigma 48 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

MAGA is a movement, whose origins are greatly influenced by Russian misinformation campaigns, that revolves around Donald Trump, a notorious Russian asset. It's not fucking rocket science.

[–] [email protected] 46 points 10 months ago (6 children)

Fascists love fascists. Tale as old as time. Just like Hitler loved Franco.

[–] ArdMacha 19 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Putin helped create MAGA, Trump plays by the KGB disinformation playbook.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago

Putin found fertile soil because the right in the us has always been sympathetic to fascism.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 10 months ago

Yeah. This shit is not complicated anymore, and hasn't been since Jan 6.

We're going to OP/Ed it into normality I guess.

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[–] [email protected] 42 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

Modern Republicans are like George on Seinfeld when he decides to do the opposite.

Everything they do, everything they believe, is purely in opposition to the Democrats (and the establishment consensus more broadly).

It's pure, kneejerk obstructionism.

Everyone else says Putin is bad? Well shit, he must be good.

Everyone else says Ukraine is good? Then they're evil.

Folks say Biden won? Nope, he lost.

Honestly, the left should just start using reverse psychology to get things done. If Biden came out against the trans community, you can bet the next day Trump would do a rally in drag.

[–] Tilgare 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)

You're seeing a little taste of this now at the southern border - the left happily jumped on board with the right's plan to fortify, then suddenly it was "wait, no, not this way..." and they killed their own bill.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

Well, they just handed us a new plan for killing bad ideas. So that's nice.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

People always say this about parties that are out of power. All of your examples come down to Trump aligning with the Russians (for...whatever reason...) and Trump fans get on board with that, which leads to being anti-Ukraine funding. And Trump just has the inability to say he lost and people get on board for that.

There are things like Israel funding which both parties want to pass. Senate Republicans want Ukraine funding still. There was a bipartisan law passed on infrastructure, and a bipartisan law on gun control / mental health services.

Obviously in a two party system, the parties have opposing views on a lot of things, but that doesn't mean it's knee-jerk opposition to everything.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I'd buy that argument if the house Republicans could actually come together and do, you know, anything with their (thin) majority. But they can't because they're now simply the party of "no".

And the root causes are obvious: the house GOP is the least experienced caucus in history with more freshman than ever. Those folks were voted in on a platform of obstruction and reactionary objection, not constructive policy positions.

And so now, with their hands on the tiller, they have no coherent platform or strategy.

You can see this in the recent border debacle where it was more important to deny Biden even the hint of a win than to pass any kind of legislation, even when it's policies they ostensibly support. That's the politics of obstruction at work.

Back when the Tea Party was the minority voice, that was fine. They could throw bombs from the back row and things would still get done.

Now that those folks are in charge, they're directionless.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 10 months ago (1 children)

TLDR: Because they’re told to.

[–] CopernicusQwark 7 points 10 months ago

And because Dems support Ukraine.

[–] BetaBlake 21 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Because they've been told to, and because they're idiots they do as they're told like the good little followers they are.

[–] Odd_so_Star_so_Odd 4 points 10 months ago

Scared into submission while getting squeezed out of every cent.

[–] homesweethomeMrL 15 points 10 months ago

America made profound and catastrophic foreign policy mistakes in the past. But never in my lifetime have we been on the verge of a mistake so profound and catastrophic that was the direct result of theories and ideas that were so shallow, stupid and, frankly, bizarre.

Ain’t it the truth

[–] kmartburrito 13 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Because they were told to, as they cannot truly think or reason critically, and because they've subscribed (with their dollars) to the monthly traitor-box to receive and share the enclosed hatred and revenge. Just like Christians are supposed to preach the Gospel, these chucklefucks spread hatred and bad faith misinformation, with arguments that are paper thin and defeated easily by a simple Google search.

[–] lennybird 7 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

It's the banner of bullies and abject failures in life. The flunkers and cheaters in school. A lightning-rod for the psycho and sociopaths alike. Of those whose parents failed to teach them character and empathy.

Basically, all the assholes you met in your life since you were a kid and who never had a wake-up call to change are highly likely to sympathize or reside under the maga banner.

They idolize Putin's power and see themselves in Trump (take that how you will; you know they would). They love that fake-it-til-you make it actually works and they can slide by because after all, that's all they have.

Now in fairness there is a subset of these individuals who may be decent people deep-down. But they're so ignorant or apathetic to reality they just know no better. In that respect, external, systemic influences certainly play a part. The right-wing propaganda machine is strong and a hard current to overcome.

[–] Badeendje 9 points 10 months ago

Its mind boggling right?

[–] RememberTheApollo_ 8 points 10 months ago (2 children)

TF? Reagan would be right there with trump and the rest of the MAGA idiots. He started all of this.

[–] postmateDumbass 5 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Anti Communism was 90% of Regan's schtick.

[–] TheWoozy 6 points 10 months ago

Russia hasn't been communist decades. It's an authoritarian dictatorship. Right up Reagan's alley.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Same with Putin.

[–] RememberTheApollo_ -1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Doesn’t seem to have stuck, does it?

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[–] moistclump 5 points 10 months ago

Was listening to an interesting take by Jon Stewart talking to Ian Hislop who’s a UK satirist. Jon was talking about the role of racism in their perceived ideological alignment.

https://youtu.be/pbOiXmMnyw4?feature=shared

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

In short, the war is reaching a critical stage, and Ukraine may lose because Republicans are willing to hand authoritarian Russia a historic military victory rather than supply further aid to a democratic ally.

My friend Renée DiResta, the technical research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory, coined the term, and she wrote that it refers to the “bubble realities” constructed by communities “that operate with their own norms, media, trusted authorities and frameworks of facts.”

Among those who oppose aid to Ukraine, there are certainly several paleoconservatives who object on classic isolationist grounds: It’s not our fight, our support is costly, we might find ourselves inadvertently embroiled in war, and so on.

“On 4chan and pro-Trump spaces on Reddit, on websites like ZeroHedge.com and Washington’s Blog,” he wrote in 2019, “you can find plenty of speculation about evil manipulation by CrowdStrike and secret maneuvers by Ukrainians — often inflamed by Mr. Trump’s own statements.”

Combine that claim with the fact that Hunter Biden had a lucrative business relationship with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, and MAGA found itself with the perfect villain to counter the Trump-Russia narrative.

The culture war, he mused, may be “serious enough to increase the probability that Russia, say, will be motivated to invade and potentially incapacitate Ukraine merely to keep the pathological West out of that country, which is a key part of the historically Russian sphere of influence.”

The original article contains 1,279 words, the summary contains 235 words. Saved 82%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

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