Feb. 26—Thinking people among us would like to believe Vladimir Putin’s brutal, bloody invasion of Ukraine might unite our American leaders no matter the color of their party banners.
But we already see that the kind of joined-at-the-hip steadiness our politicians adopted after 9-11 is elusive if not impossible in today’s fractured body politic. As President Joe Biden urges NATO to hold a united front, we’re not doing the same here at home.
Look no further than the Tennessee and Georgia delegations of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives.
In fairness to our majority Republican lawmakers, most of them steered clear of the former guy’s atta-boy to Putin. Donald Trump, ever the Putin champion, called him “savvy” for his opening salvo to a renewed cold war and possible prelude to World War III.
As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Patricia Murphy put it this week, “Politicians’ reactions in a crisis can sometimes tell you more than you’ll learn in an entire campaign. Are they serious? Are they substantive? Are they focused on their country, their party, or themselves? Is this person up to the job they have or say they want?”
She answered her own questions by noting Georgia leaders’ reactions to the news out of Ukraine “ranged from sober and responsible to worrisome and even reprehensible.” We must say the same about Tennessee officials.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp took the high road by Murphy’s estimation to “set the tone, especially in Georgia, that Putin is the enemy in this scenario, not President Joe Biden.”
Kemp’s Republican primary challenger, former Georgia Sen. David Perdue, took the low road, saying on the radio that Biden was weak. “This wouldn’t have happened with Donald Trump as president,” said Perdue, who has been endorsed by the former guy.
Tennessee’s Gov. Bill Lee hasn’t made a peep that we’ve heard or seen. Which, frankly, is probably for the best.
Georgia’s other politicians, as tallied by Murphy, have presented a mixed bag. The Peach State’s two senators, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, both Democrats, each spoke out to strongly condemn Putin and support sanctions against Russia.
Tennessee’s Republican senators, Bill Hagerty and Marsha Blackburn, were less reliable. They rebuked Putin’s attempt to, as Blackburn put it, “rebuild the old Soviet Union.” But to read their statements and tweets, you’d think Biden also is an enemy.
“President Biden’s strategy to prevent this invasion has failed … [T]he Biden Administration chose to do nothing until it was too late and must now change course,” Hagerty wrote.
Blackburn offered prayers for the people of Ukraine and wrote “Biden must stand up to Putin and immediately levy severe sanctions … “
Georgia’s southernmost House member, U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, a Republican from Pooler near Savannah, called Putin “the enemy of freedom,” and asked Biden to fulfill his duty as commander in chief, adding: “Congress stands at the ready to support.” That’s important, Murphy noted, as Carter has disagreed with Biden in the past.
Then there is Georgia’s northernmost House member in our neck of the woods, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, R-Rome, who mimicked Trump’s big lie to a Georgia crowd even as the invasion began, “This would never have happened if the election weren’t rigged.”
After which, Greene wrote, “Everything happening to the poor people of Ukraine is a direct result of a WEAK America under the WEAK leadership of Joe Biden … Under President Trump, America was STRONG and the world was at PEACE.”
Tennessee’s U.S. House members have not presented themselves much better.
Republican 3rd District Rep. Chuck Fleischmann of Chattanooga, tweeted, in part: “I welcome the news that President Biden will deploy more troops to Germany to strengthen NATO and the new sanctions targeting Russian banks, high-tech industries, and oligarchs. However, the U.S. and our allies must level more strong and punitive sanctions immediately.”
An hour later, another Twitter watcher replied to Fleischmann: “Still waiting for your statement condemning the former guy’s recent praise of Putin.” Crickets.
Rep Scott DesJarlais, R-South Pittsburg, also punched at Biden.
“This administration is failing at home and on the world stage. Our country is in crisis due to out of touch policies that are being driven by the socialist wing of the Democratic Party. We must unite as Americans and reverse course NOW!”
Unite? With this talk? You’d think the U.S. is the aggressor. Who’s out of touch?
Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville: “The disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan and other foreign policy debacles gave Vladimir Putin the green light to invade Ukraine’s Donbas region. In response, President Biden is predictably continuing to project weakness by imposing ineffective financial sanctions against Russian oligarchs and minor banks …”
Rep. Mark Green, R-Clarksville, was the lone Tennessee Republican to focus on the real enemy: “Putin has chosen devastation over democracy, and the free world will not forget it.”
Tennessee’s Democratic representatives know the real enemy.
U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, tweeted in part, “Putin has joined Hitler as an evil, amoral individual who the World needs to cripple with ultimate sanctions and condemnations…”
Soon-to-retire Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Nashville, summed it up: “Dictators like Putin have a short-term advantage, particularly in their own backyard. But his naked aggression will not be rewarded because the rest of the world sees Putin as he is — the new Stalin. NATO and our allies must sanction Putin until he bleeds. President Biden has done a good job of rallying the free world against Putin … We must do all we can to hasten Putin’s fall.”
Indeed. We must all do what we can. Republicans included.
