A Modest Proposal: Emigration for Putin Lovers
Is it time for the left to start using that hoary old conservative line “Love it or leave it”?
As many Americans tuned in to see news about the meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, no doubt a frightening percentage of those viewers were pulling for Vlad, their favorite strongman.
Who can forget the comparisons made by Republicans during the Obama presidency of our so-called weak and indecisive president and the “strong leader” of Russia? Tea Party Republicans proudly donned T-shirts saying as much. Some wise guys in Ohio were spotted in 2018 at a Trump rally wearing T-shirts saying I’d rather be a Russian than a Democrat. Go online and you can find all sorts of Putin merch. And this sort of Putin/Russia lovin’ has continued, with Putin polling higher than Biden among Republicans. The former Republican party obviously isn’t now just the cult of Trump — it’s also a cult of his erstwhile manager, a cult with a very foggy notion of what an autocracy really stands for.
This sort of thing plays right into Putin’s hands as he works to destabilize democracies around the globe by meddling with elections, spreading propaganda via social media, and getting companies closely aligned with the Kremlin invested in key areas of the economy to work an inside job on politics.
One wonders just how many, beyond the Sedition Caucus, in Congress are now actively working to advance Russian interests.
You might recall the eight Republican members of Congress who showed their patriotism in 2018 by spending the Fourth of July in Moscow, seeking an audience with Putin — an act for which Dana Milbank, in an opinion piece in the Washington Post, dubbed them the “Prostrate Eight.” They were denied their fan-boys meeting with Putin but, taking their cue from Trump’s modus operandi, met in secret with other key Russian officials.
You might also recall that Mitch McConnell, then Senate majority leader, toiled from 2018 into 2019 to thwart bipartisan opposition to the Trump Treasury Department’s lifting of sanctions against aluminum giant Rusal, owned by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, so it could take a 40% stake in a proposed Braidy aluminum mill in Ashland, Kentucky.
Allowing Russian involvement in the U.S. economy, and thus our politics, seems to be the extent of Mitch McConnell’s interest in advancing infrastructure. This method has worked quite well for Putin in the European Union, according to reporting by TIME:
Since Putin came to power in 2000, Russia has used economic leverage to “force a change in policy” or undermine governments in at least 19 European countries, Laura Rosenberger, a former National Security Council official under Obama, told a House committee last May.
Here’s a modest proposition: the left and center — the reasonable, let’s say — need to take back the symbols that the right has claimed for decades — love of the flag, adherence to the Constitution and the rule of law, support of the military and the work of police — because, as it turns out, none of it has any real meaning to them. They’ll stand up for statues to the Confederacy, yes, but do they stand up for those critical aspects of our representative democracy? Or for the freedom of the press, the right to vote?
It’s a resounding no, heard round the world. Not only did they downplay the vicious and deadly siege on January 6 against Capitol and Metropolitan Police in support of the MAGA insurrectionists, 21 Republicans later refused to support awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to officers for protecting the Capitol, members of Congress and their staff.
And, oh, yes, they voted against certification of a free and fair election, and then voted against a bipartisan investigation of the insurrection that followed, the worst against the Capitol since 1812.
So, let’s give new meaning to the phrase America: Love it or leave it.
The Biden administration should make it an easy thing for Putin worshippers to emigrate permanently to Russia. And as they depart, people from Central and South America, who often risk their lives to get here for opportunities, can take their places.
It’s a win-win proposition.
Oh, you may want to leave your guns here. And about your habit of confusing religious freedom with pushing your faith views on others — you’ll want to keep that to yourself. Oh, and that $50,000 pick-up truck behemoth with that tricked-out tailgate? Well, you know the song.
It’s a lot to give up — and you will become a denizen of only the 11th largest economy in the world — one almost totally dependent on oil — little larger than the economies of Belgium and the Netherlands combined. On the other hand, you’ll be in proximity to your favorite strongman! (No, not the diminished one in Florida.)
The truth is, as President Biden remarked to reporters after his meeting with Putin, that Russia is in a difficult situation:
Russia is in a very, very difficult spot right now. They are being squeezed by China. They want desperately to remain a major power. And I’ve found it matters to almost every world leader, no matter where they are from, how they are perceived, their standing, in the world. It matters to them.
Putinistas, remember what your preferred leader said at the press conference after meeting with Biden? Depending on the translation, it went something like this: “There is no happiness in life. Only a mirage on the horizon. So, cherish that.”
So, there you have it. The president of the world’s largest economy speaking with the insight of a person with decades of political experience behind him. And the self-proclaimed leader of the world’s 11th economy, a despot, speaking as the nihilist he is — and must be, to murder or jail opponents and journalists. (Think of the courage it took journalist Rachel Scott, who works for ABC, to ask Putin her direct question. And listen to Putin’s fumbling, whataboutism response. And listen to her strong follow-up question, which he answered by throwing his support behind the January 6 insurrectionists.)
And, of course, members of the Sedition Caucus began tweeting about how their main man put one over on Biden.
I’m not directing this to all Republicans. But if you find yourself mulling the purchase of a “I’d rather be a Russian than a Democrat” or, say, your run-of-the-mill discount QAnon T-shirt, I never thought this line would come from the likes of me, but here it is (unfortunately necessarily longer than the old conservative version):
America, love it — working in good faith with others to promote the welfare of the many, to advance the interests of our nation, and to uphold the rule of law — or leave it.
