The editorial board of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch tore into ignorance from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) this week after the grossly over-confident Senator came out against continuing U.S. support for the eventual membership of Ukraine in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Hawley justified his position by claiming that having to defend Ukraine in the event of its hypothetical future membership in the alliance would threaten the ability of the U.S. to effectively respond to threats posed by China, but any way you cut it, Hawley is himself kowtowing to the interests of Russian officials who want Ukraine kept out of NATO.
Hawley also needs a good grilling by the Special House Committee and by DOJ https://t.co/PDFphJgJ6D
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) January 29, 2022
The Post-Dispatch’s editorial board observed that there “once was a time when Hawley had presidential aspirations, but a badly timed fist-pump on Jan. 6, 2021, along with his appeasing advocacy of Russian supremacy just about closes the lid on his presidential dreams.” Well: among Republicans, it’s unclear at this point what if anything could keep an otherwise promising presidential contender from moving forward on ethical grounds, but their point is obviously clear. As the paper explained it, Hawley appears to be completely missing the long history that establishes the fitting nature of standing up to Russian aggression. Recently, Russian authorities have been amassing a staggering military presence on the border with Ukraine, raising fears of imminent military action — and it’s now that Hawley chose to wheel out his anti-NATO membership stance against tangibly threatened Ukrainians.
Just because Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley know how to say words like "freedom" and "democracy" doesn't mean they actually have what it takes to defend our democracy from attempts to overturn valid and free and fair elections. They should resign or be expelled from the Senate now.
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) February 5, 2022
The Post-Dispatch said that “the idea that the United States should kneel down to Russia over Ukraine underscores how grossly unfit Hawley is to continue in office,” pointedly adding as follows:
‘[Hawley] might not remember why containing Russian expansionism remains such a big deal for older Americans. Republicans these days seem averse to reading any history that makes them feel bad about themselves, which could explain why Hawley’s ignorance is so embarrassingly on display in Washington… China does, in fact, matter. But China isn’t amassing troops to invade and swallow up another country. Russia is — just like the Soviet Union did when Hawley was in diapers. But there we go again with all those historical facts that bring such discomfort to folks like Hawley.’
We are not protecting our democracy if we let the Senators who enabled January 6 continue serving in the Senate as though it’s business as usual. Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley need to resign or be expelled.
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) January 30, 2022
The paper noted how Hawley tweeted that “[if] Russia invades Ukraine, the Biden Administration can blame one person above all: Joe Biden. He’s given Putin his own slush fund in Nord Stream 2 and failed to aid Ukraine when he could have” — but the Biden administration has sent well over half a billion dollars worth of military aid to Ukraine, and it’s Trump who “denied military aid to Ukraine to extort its leader into helping with Trump’s reelection effort,” the Post-Dispatch observed.
First, Cruz begs forgiveness for saying Jan 6 attackers were terrorists.
Now, Hawley echoes the Kremlin, questioning if Ukraine should be allowed in NATO.
Welcome to Trump’s GOP, where propaganda is policy and Senators grovel at the feet of despots.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) February 3, 2022
Nord Stream 2 is a pipeline meant to carry gas from Russia into Germany, but characterizing Biden as having “given” benefits associated with the project to Putin is deceptive. The Biden administration lifted certain sanctions that had been meant to stifle the pipeline, but that move emerged in close conjunction with a pledge by German officials to back tangible actions against Russian aggression, should such actions be warranted. The pipeline, which is not in operation, has raised concerns of the possibility of Russia utilizing leverage against Europe through its energy supplies. In addition, the Biden administration imposed new sanctions associated with the pipeline late last year.
Hawley isn’t experienced in foreign policy, doesn’t understand defense and intelligence strategy OR maybe is barking up the anti-Ukraine tree to align with Tucker and other dead-eyed dolts. https://t.co/W54PhTcurX
— Denver Riggleman (@RepRiggleman) February 2, 2022
