I often write of the predictability of events and people (politicians) in Washington, but the reaction from establishmentarians to the dust-up in Ukraine had to be one of the most eminently foreseeable in recent memory.
The overt and usually over-the-top expressions of outrage could be seen from a mile away, long before the images of strife flickered across TV screens. Don’t get me wrong, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is the epitome of a bad guy and selfish self-interested ambitious tyrant of a man, someone who clearly doesn’t give a rodent’s patootie about human rights or whether anyone -- including his own Russian troops -- lives or dies. Putin also doesn’t seem concerned that the entire world, except maybe for China, loathes him.
As a side note, as Ukrainian refugees flood eastern Europe, the tone of the establishment news media’s coverage seems decidedly different concerning them than for the destitute fleeing the Middle East or Africa or other war-torn regions. And where were the members of “The Squad” in calling for accepting tens of thousands of Ukrainians into the United States? Or could they care less when the displaced from a country are Christian and pale skinned?
The truth is, bashing on Vladimir Putin is easy, and the war he started is a target-rich environment for the hysteria mob. It’s like being a school kid and joining with the other picked-on students in declaring hatred for the playground bully (no, I’m not seriously equating Emperor Vladimus Putinus to a mean child). It’s instinctive to do so. Perfunctory almost. If you’re asked on the street what your opinion of Putin is, it’s not difficult to generate harsh four-letter words and vivid nouns and adjectives to go along with them.
What was so patently predictable about the collective ruling class Ukraine freakout was the attention-starved elites forgetting about everything else that’s going on inside the United States today in order to concentrate on the shiny object in the distance. Sure, there is the undeniable inflation all around us, driven by energy prices directly related to the hated Putin and other world oil drilling players. There’re also the remnants of the rapidly receding COVID issue to deal with. Anyone notice how the vaccine mandate push has slipped away and masks, so essential (according to the rulers) for so long, have practically disappeared? The Canadian truckers were only dispersed by autocrat Justin Trudeau a couple weeks ago and already they’re gone and forgotten.
Meanwhile, cable news coverage has almost completely shifted to Ukraine. American viewers are treated (?) to live updates from correspondents on the ground over there. Producers find video of things exploding, fires burning or civilians in shelters describing how miserable they are. Then there’s always a cutaway to a clip of Putin talking.
The totality of the recent news disguises much of the human tragedy taking place all around us in the U.S.A. And for that, the establishment is grateful. We’ve turned into a pity-free culture where our own people are involved. In a piece titled “A Country Without Pity”, Julie Kelly wrote at American Greatness:
“If the American Left could fill a political prison in Washington D.C. with millions, not just dozens, of Trump supporters, they would do so without a flicker of regret.
“Donald Trump said during his CPAC address last week that ‘you can’t defend Western civilization if you would not be able to defend your own civilization.’ The key word, of course, is ‘civil.’ And it is not people such as [Colorado Rep. Lauren] Boebert who are uncivil, it’s the masses of Americans who want her punished, canceled, and perhaps brought up on phony criminal charges produced by Biden’s Justice Department for speaking up to the regime.
“When half the country has lost its sense of pity for fellow citizens over political disagreements, and the ruling class reserves pity only for themselves and citizens in faraway lands, what can be left of American civilization? What a pity.”
Kelly’s columns are always good and on point, but this particular one had me nodding along and saying “Wow”. It’s more than just sad -- it’s tragic -- that so many Americans in the political sphere or otherwise let go of real outrages right next door and so easily take up the causes of People X on the other side of the world. It’s as though there aren’t travesties happening down the block to get plenty upset about.
It's safe to say there isn’t a whole heck of a lot any individual can do about Vladimir Putin’s invasion or to convince him to mind his own borders and stop killing innocent people thousands of miles away. But there is something each of us are empowered to do to make our lives better here on native soil. Getting involved in the political process is one way. How many folks have called their city councilman’s or state assemblyperson’s (or senator’s) or governor’s or congressman’s or U.S. senator’s office?
How many letters to the editor have you written? How many school board meetings have you attended? How many grassroots groups have you joined or organized? Contributing to political causes is a great thing, but organizations are always looking for volunteers to actually do something. Churches are another avenue for using time in a beneficial way.
If Kelly’s frequent reports are any indication, the corporate establishment media is ignoring numerous human rights violations right here under our noses. It’s one thing to “raise awareness” of the suffering in the subway tunnels of Kyiv, or the latest figures on how many souls have journeyed from Ukraine to Poland and other NATO countries, but what about the individuals who are being persecuted for being in the wrong place at the wrong time on January 6, 2021?
One man who had his life ruined by the federal inquisition took his own life last week. Why wasn’t his story more widely told by the media? Again, not to discount it, but why should Americans be more exposed to a family’s struggle to survive in Ukraine as opposed to this American family’s very personal and not-so-unique tragedy inside our own country? What about the daily/nightly horrific humanitarian assault taking place at the southern border? There are hundreds if not thousands of human beings living in squalid conditions in and around the border towns. Then there’s the murderous drug cartels, the human sex trafficking, the sheer amounts of Chinese manufactured fentanyl, the crime, the overwhelmed federal agents, the amped up numbers of crossings, the international origins of the crossers… it goes on and on.
Couldn’t the media tell the individual stories of Americans who lost their battles with drug addiction? The inner-city residents impacted by mobs of homeless squatters? The human toll that COVID lockdowns took? Are there any studies on what useless masks did to school children? What’s it like going to class for two years and being instructed to “socially distance” from your classmates? Why does no one seem to care about these things?
Why isn’t the media as fixated on COVID in Ukraine or eastern Europe? Are the Kens and Karens in the Democrat party just as upset that the Russian forces aren’t adhering to testing and quarantining protocols? Shouldn’t senile Joe Biden be out front sanctioning the Russians for ignoring vaccine passports and other requirements?
Then there’s “climate change”. Last week the outrage mob went into a tizzy because the Russians shelled and then took over a Ukrainian nuclear power plant. Much of the coverage was devoted to hyping what could happen if there was an accident where radiation was released into the atmosphere. It was like an anti-nuclear infomercial. Not a word from anyone on what will happen when the citizens of the country are deprived of power to run their homes or businesses.
Remember when president senile Joe Biden said the solution to the energy shortages was more renewable energy? That’s right, solar panels, windmills and electric cars will change the world and reduce the earthly dependence on Russian and OPEC oil imports. Can’t you imagine Putin going bankrupt because the third world stops using fossil fuels and converts to wind energy?
Not going to happen when oil and gas are plentiful and comparatively inexpensive.
The leftist and political ruling class prefer limiting their horror tantrums to something that can be shown on the evening news. The individual cases of American citizens killed by illegal aliens or minority youths being gunned down in city streets isn’t nearly “big” enough to merit twenty minutes worth of pontificating in a State of the Union Address, either.
Donald Trump wasn’t perfect, but one of the reasons why he remains so highly regarded in the hearts of “normal” people is his willingness to speak on issues bypassed by the establishment media. Trump raised the situations of displaced manufacturing workers long before Biden did. Trump brought Angel moms and dads up on stage and relayed their stories. These are the forgotten citizens, the ones where on-the-scene video isn’t always available. Their cases aren’t as attention-grabbing as the war in Ukraine. Politicians can’t look “concerned” or show sufficient levels of worry when it’s just some schlep from Appalachia who’s in peril.
The media’s overhyped Ukraine coverage will last as long as the bombs are still flying and the region’s refugees continue to flee. It gives the producers and talkers something attention-attracting to feed their viewers and readers who’ve already grown bored with hearing about the southern border or COVID. It’s life in twenty-first century America.
Joe Biden economy
Democrat welfare bill
Build Back Better
13 House Republicans Infrastructure bill
Kyrsten Sinema
Joe Manchin
RINOs
Marjorie Taylor Green
Kevin McCarthy
Mitch McConnell
2022 elections
Donald Trump
2024 presidential election
Comments