Were you surprised that Trump and his republican sheep came out strongly in support of Putin's invasion?

The Republicans have been anti-democracy for sixty years. But now they are fully in bed with the Tsarists and the Moscow mafia plutocrats. Trump needs Russia to launder his grift.

Sadly, no. What was the Republican Party is addicted to power and the wealth it will generate for its members.

Nothing surprises me when it comes to the opinions of Trump and his supporters.

Criminal birds of a feather. I’m waiting to see just how much of the money looted from Russia by its gangster oligarchs has been plowed into the financing and purchase of Trump’s tainted and tasteless real estate ventures.

I wrote a question about this very thing. Not the same as this Q, but I was wondering if the Republicans were supporting Putin when I heard Trump stated that what Putin was doing was great.

A Facebook friend of mine who is a religious Christian is calling out the Evangelicals on this today, specifically going after them for siding with Russia and he posted Tucker Carlson and others and what’s being said in those circles.

It’s basically what I feared without me knowing exactly what was going on, because I wasn’t paying attention, but I assumed if Trump was saying these things he either was leading the way on supporting Putin or saying what he knew his supporters wanted to hear.

Here’s my Q if you’re interested. https://i.fluther.com/230653/have-republicans-been-against-or-in-favor-of-putin-lining-up/

I don’t think most Republicans support invading Ukraine, but they continue to align with people who do.

Consider all the previous factors.
His repeated shmoozing up to Putin.
His stated desire for the Colonies to leave NATO.
His freezing of military aid to Ukraine to pressure them into digging up dirt on Biden’s son.

So, no. Not suprised.

Nope. I always felt that Trump was a Putin sympathizer.

Must be the difference between old school Reagan Repubs and Trumpublicans.

Ridiculous that the right is claiming this invasion wouldn’t have happened if Trump were still in power. In what way was Putin afraid of Trump?

Putin needed Trump to weaken NATO. Invasion would have solidified them.

Not at all surprised. Repubs blow with the wind, they have no platform other than lining their own pockets. By any means available. So what else is in the news ?

I wasn’t sure which way they were gonna go. What amazes me is how they can speak so loudly out of both sides of their mouths.

One the one hand, Russia is dangerous so we need to max out military spending, cancel missile treaties, open gas wells in every square mile of Indigenous land and LNG terminals in every ghetto. Definitely no Iran deal, like Russia wants. And we have to turn a blind eye to Turkey’s human rights abuses so they can contain Russia. Check.

On the other hand, Russia is no threat to the US and is needed to contain CHYNA, plus they are strong white warriors whom we should emulate and definitely not worry about their money-laundering oligarchs or reckon with the shock therapy we subjected them to, which led to Putin. Check.

The enlightened right-winger can hold both these thoughts in their head simultaneously.

What support? https://news.yahoo.com/republicans-criticize-joe-biden-vladimir-194711181.html

I second @gorillapaw. Nothing surprises me with trump. He’s a blathering idiot.

IF trump had won, Putin would have flown Trump to watch the war !

The party is infected with dimwits and bigots running the Trump party !

It is no longer the Republican party; it is the Trump party.

Yes, I’m afraid I was. I never would have thought even Trump would go so far as to openly voice support for the adversary when our Western allies and even our own country are threatened by a brutal and unprincipled aggressor. What reward does he expect if our own structure is destabilized or worse?

How could this addlepated loudmouth traitor have any support at all among Americans of any persuasion while he is cozying up to the enemy? Don’t they think they’ll be hurt if the whole country is hurt? Are they going to blame Biden for the deeds of Putin and Trump?

If it’s all just about money in the end, how many of Trump’s adherents have millions in the bank to protect by fair means or foul? Are the MAGgites billionaires with fortunes to secure? If not, why do they condone outrageous acts against their own interests? Is that “freedoms”?

Not all Republicans go along with this insanity, but it makes me feel ill to think that any would. How will they behave if our own national borders are breached, or those of our close allies to the north and south? I fear that before they see the reality for what it is, it will be too late: they are the reason why Putin would try this strike now.

@Jeruba wrote: How will they behave if our own national borders are breached, or those of our close allies to the north and south?

Jeruba, that is the $64 billion dollar question. You hit it on the head. I would be very worried, because I have no faith in the current republican leadersship.

None of my Republican friends or family support Putin, even if they like(d) Trump. My feeds are all filled with Prayers for Ukraine.

@KNOWITALL What do you make of Trump saying that Putin is doing a great thing at the border of Ukraine a few says ago? Why is Trump saying that?

He’s an idiot @JLeslie. That’s why.

@JLeslie I think (without knowing the true mind of Trump, if anyone can even know that), he’s admiring Putin’s strategy without saying that what he’s doing is morally good. The same way one might commend Hitler for being able to take over Europe. It’s a weird thing to say, granted. But I don’t think he was actually saying that Putin is good and a friend. He just can’t help but admire strongmen who get what they want. That is what is meaningful and admirable in Trump’s world.

@Demosthenes Sometimes I think he says things just to laugh at how some people will follow him into oblivion. It’s like a joke, like when I was in school as a young girl and boys would make up crazy shit to see how gullible I was.

When @Dutchess_III said he is an idiot, the first thing I thought was, an idiot who became PRESIDENT! Not such an idiot, but actually brilliant at manipulating the masses. Although, the word brilliant has too much of a positive connotation. It is like calling the attack on 9/11 brilliant, no one wants to hear a word typically used for praise regarding such a horrible and disastrous event. Is that what you mean? That Trump just was saying Putin is achieving what Putin wants and Trump was giving him credit.

I read that Trump said the US should do the same thing at our border with Mexico. I figured that was just a nod to all the build the wall and hate immigrants people, and maybe he just seized the opportunity of using a current event like Ukraine to bring up immigrants crossing the border again, because he always gets a rise out of people with that.

Source please? I’m not seeing this.

Not surprised in the least.

Trump has proved time and time again during his tenure President, and after, that not only had he lost the plot and that it s totally obvious that he has a serous mental problem.

All those who supported his maniacal decisions while POTUS were equally misguided and had also lost the plot.

I can only say that I thank God that he was ousted from the White House because had he won a second term he is unlikely to be supporting Russia but the complete opposite and very likely would have sent US troops into the Ukraine and we would probably already at war with Putin.

BTW I am not a US citizen and do not reside in the US. I am an outsider looking in from the outside but have been following Trump and idiocy for many years.

Putin has us in a box but it’s a box of our own making. If you are unable or unwilling to see how this happened, you’ll never see a way out. This, once again, is all about oil and gas. Trump, love him or hate him, made us oil independent. Now we are buying oil from Russia. If fact funding Putin’s war. To make it worse the EU is totally dependent on Putin for half their energy. Which means they are also funding Putin’s war. Biden’s sanctions specifically carve out energy so that Putin can continue to sell energy. Putin has played Biden like a fiddle. All you environmentalists hated Trump for his energy policy but that is what would have made Putin think twice.

Putin knows that if Germany and several other NATO countries try to impose sanctions that hurt, he can easily shut off their oil and destroy their economies. If Putin decides to take more ground after he has Ukraine, I’m not sure we can get the NATO countries to agree to stop him. Trump may admire the way Putin has done this to us, it was very clever on his part but that is a far cry from supporting his actions.

The old Soviet Union collapsed because they ran out of money. We can make that happen again but we have to start NOW. Energy Independence is the road to our salvation. Appeasement is a black hole that will swallow us up. Unfortunately, that’s the road we’re on. IMHO

@Jaxk Exactly.

Putin plays a good game of global chess.

But it’s hardly appeasement. @Jaxk is right. But for the wrong reasons. Trump was almost openly hostile to NATO. Putin would have no need to invade the Ukraine with that idiot ready to wreck NATO and the EU together. And again, Putin can no more afford to shut down gas and oil exports than Europe can afford to go without them. Those exports are virtually the only thing propping up his economy. He doesn’t have our luxury of simply printing money to finance his wars. That’s the point WE miss. Putin is prepared to wreck both Ukraine’s prospects for a prosperous future as well as destroy his nation’s economy to keep NATO off his doorstep. It’s THAT important to him, and it makes perfect sense that it would be.

@HP – Your missing a few key points. If NATO removes Russia from SWIFT, Putin does not get paid for his oil, so why not turn it off and cause great pain. That’s why energy was carved out of the sanctions. Nothing changes if Putin decides to take one or more of the Baltic States and I don’t see Germany voting to invoke article 5 even if he attacks another country. We need to restart our energy sector NOW. That means Keystone and opening up drilling permits. It will take a little time to get back to energy independence but every day we wait is another day Putin has the upper hand.

We’ve been fighting wars over energy my entire life. Why do we not separate our self from the whims of OPEC and the Russians once and for all. Hell we were there for a short time until Biden threw us back into the mix..

@Jaxk High percentage of Keystone XL oil was going to be shipped to China and other foreign countries. It was “dirty tar sand” oil.
It was Canada’s oil being transported through / on USA soil. Not USA oil and not for USA only consumption.

Now Putin threatened Sweden and Finland with possible nuclear attack if they consider joining NATO.

@Tropical_Willie – Once we have it we ship it where ever we want. In this case it would be to the EU. Russia’s oil is dirty oil as well and we are buying it. Hell we’re buying oil from Iran. No matter how yoiu look at it, we’re funding the the people that give us the most grief. Shipping our wealth overseas and increasing the cost to us. Lose/lose.

TC of Canada was the company that owned the oil . . . therefore not USA. The “tar sand oil” is hard to process and therefore dirty.

I’ll repeat TC Oil of Canada owned the oil . . . . not the USA.

@Jaxk You may be right, but there is one thing of which I am absolutely certain: sanctions or no, SOMEBODY is going to buy that Russian oil and gas. It’s like sanctioning heroin or cocaine. And Keystone is in the same boat as nuclear power, too litigious to navigate. The financing is impossible without massive doles from the government. It’s true we finance Russia’s aggressions through purchase of their oil and gas, but Russia is where the oil is, and they are unburdened by either our regulatory requirements or those troublesome courts. The other thing on which you can depend is that the necessity for that oil & gas will in the end undoubtedly trump any and all noble sentiments regarding Ukraine.

@HP – You’re making it more complex than it is. We have the capacity to supply our own oil and gas. We proved that a year ago when we were energy independent and that was without Keystone. If we open the spigot again there is more oil in the world market and the price of oil goes down. When the price of oil goes down Russia gets less revenue even if they are still selling all they can. My understanding is that Russia and China have already inked a deal for China to buy Russia’s oil but as the supply increases the price still goes down.

I do think people are giving all parties here way too much credit. Putin likely found Trump to be brash and unpredictable. You can’t play chess with someone like that. If you move your queen in bluff fashion Trump would sacrifice his queen to take yours. That just makes the entire rest of the game ugly. Biden is predictable, His advisors would tell him the book move and he would retract his queen out of the line of fire but sacrifice a lesser piece. That may expose other weaknesses and Putin is looking for that. We’ll see if Putin can hold that part of the board long-term though. I have my doubts he can. I think he got too greedy this time and is doubling down. He could stop now and easily retain the parts of Ukraine he has already invaded but he is pressing on. That’s not strategic chess, it’s gambling at the blackjack table.

We don’t import much oil from Russia. We produce 39% of our own. Latin America and Canada provide the bulk of our imported oil. Russia isn’t even in the top 5.

Not surprised at all. I think a lot of republicans are secretly against the invasion of Ukraine just like anyone else, but the yes-men still want to tell their rabid base what they wanted to hear. Like with COVID responses and how they managed to politicized that one, this is just kind of their way of “owning the libs” no matter what.

Relevent

Mitt Romney is disgusted with his GOP.

@Jaxk the reserves might be there, but then there’s the question of whether or not we SHOULD drill Yellowstone, Arlington or convert the Washington. Monument to a derrick.. one thing is certain: cheap oil & gas disincentiveses research, development and deployment of alternatives. That can’t be good.

@HP – We don’t need to do anything quite so drastic. There is an estimated 90 billion barrels in the Arctic, we just need to go get it. There is a couple of trillion barrels of oil shale in the Green River basin in Colorado.. I am saying that we should be pursuing all possible solutions, Wind and Solar, Oil, Nuclear, Algae and other plant based fuels, Fusion, etc. We’ve only been using oil for little over 100 years and it took us a couple thousand years to get where we are now. Who knows what we can do in the next hundred years. It would be good to survive long enough to find out.

@Dutchess_III Trump may be an idiot but he’s arguably the world’s greatest influencer. Trump successfully taught the world that lies repeated consistently enough renders truth irrelevant. Powerfully effective if the lies being repeated are something a large number of people want to hear and believe. I think it’s a mistake to simply dismiss Trump as an idiot because that so-called idiot started the process of dismantling democracy. America took a turn for the worse as a result. It’s anyone’s guess whether America will ever recover.

We will recover.

Trump influenced a subset of not-so-smart, and uneducated, violent people.