The vast majority of the world has pulled together with lightning speed to oppose Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. While this could all turn out very badly if broadens into a wider war, especially one involving nuclear weapons, the potential upside is enormous. Putin spent decades working to weaken, corrupt and divide Europe, the United States and its allies. He had tremendous success. It was all in the service of a greater dream of restoring the Russian empire. That, in itself, would be undesirable, but in the process Putin turned Russia into an autocratic and kleptomaniacal dictatorship. No one, including the Ukrainians, wants to follow its example or submit to its dictates.
Less that a week after Russia launched its attack, most of Putin’s labors to divide his enemies have unraveled. America’s leadership has been restored, the European Union has come together militarily, politically, and economically, in ways that were unthinkable. Finland and Sweden are considering NATO membership. Every link Europe has made with Russia since the end of the Cold War is now in question, meaning that Russian corruption and influence are being torn up root and branch. Along with this, countless people are admitting the errors of their ways and reassessing their estimation of Putin’s Russia.
On Tuesday night, President Joe Biden will deliver the State of the Union speech. Understandably, it has been rewritten several times and will now have more of a foreign policy emphasis than originally planned. We should expect to see a strong expression of support for Biden’s leadership on the Ukraine crisis, both because he deserves it and because it will send the right message to Putin. I don’t expect the Republicans to cheer the other parts of the speech that address domestic policy priorities with which conservatives disagree, but they should show our leader and commander-in-chief respect when he’s talking about a conflict that could result in nuclear annihilation if it goes wrong.
But, of course, in order to show respect and unity, they have to actually show up. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida has other plans.
Rubio isn’t opposed to taking a COVID-19 test. He’s opposed, he says, to taking a COVID-19 test if he doesn’t feel sick. Every person in America, including the downright morons, knows by now that COVID-19 infections are frequently asymptomatic, meaning you can make others sick even if you don’t feel sick yourself. What Rubio is doing here is virtue signaling the far right nuts in his party who think they have a God-given right to shed deadly virus particles wherever and whenever they want. He gets bonus points for shunning the “illegitimate” president and his speech.
He’s surfing on disinformation about public health and the 2020 election. And it’s this kind of disinformation that Putin used to divide and weaken the West. When Rubio panders to these sentiments while sitting out Biden’s foreign policy speech, he’s not standing up to Biden but standing by Putin. He’s a disgrace.
