If there’s one thing the Washington political class admires, it’s a shameless fund raiser.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is currently in the capital, putting on a master class in separating starstruck sycophants from their our cash. It’s no wonder the folks whose careers are paid for with panhandled proceeds are treating him like a rock star. He’s a man after their own hearts, and he’s about to talk them out of another $45 billion.
If the latest donation, more than enough to erect a border wall, build 1,000 high schools or 50 hospitals, or buy every man, woman, and child in the U.S. a $130 Christmas present, goes through, it will bring the total we’ve given to help Ukraine turn back the Russian invasion to about $100 billion. You can’t blame Zelensky for asking, but you should be able to question your representatives for writing the check. It’s our money, and we don’t even have it.
In a jaw-dropping display of just how out of touch he is, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell declared that funding Ukraine’s defense is America’s top priority. He and a bipartisan pack of lawmakers fawned over the sweatshirt-clad Zelensky on Wednesday like teenagers clamoring for a selfie with their favorite Instagram influencer. Zelensky even endured a kiss from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which certainly merits some degree of compensation.
It’s like Pelosi wanted to kiss his hand as if Zelensky was Jesus or a mob boss or a combo of both? pic.twitter.com/VIPnpVthDM
— Lidia Curanaj (@LidiaNews) December 22, 2022
Americans don’t want Russia to annex Ukraine. They detest Vladimir Putin and they sympathize with Ukraine. But they also know we have a $30 trillion national debt and are in no position to underwrite the defense of another country in which we don’t have a direct national interest. They know, from the 20-year Afghanistan debacle, what mission creep feels like. And they would prefer to see Zelensky nudged toward a peaceful negotiation with Moscow rather than treated as a U.S. proxy in the prelude to World War III.
Most people keeping score at home can see that the only way this ends peacefully is with Russia keeping Crimea and the two countries reaching some sort of compromise on Ukraine’s ethnic Russian regions along its eastern border. Even if that happened tomorrow, a sympathetic West would no doubt pony up to help rebuild Zelensky’s bomb-ravaged nation. But giving Ukraine more cash and weapons now is a sure-fire way to guarantee this war kills more people, wrecks more cities, and potentially metastasizes into a nuclear war.
Zelensky is not wrong to want to repel Russia. His nation has put up a courageous fight against a more powerful adversary, and his leadership deserves credit. It’s his right to pass the hat around the globe, even if his sense of entitlement can be grating. However, if the television actor now playing Winston Churchill had to rely solely upon Ukraine’s own treasure, he might be more amenable to striking a peace deal.
Showering Zelensky with our grandchildren’s money is nearly as bad for our nation’s future as it is for his. A peace deal would save not only Ukrainian lives, but American dollars. Then again, when has the Washington ruling class ever cared about that?