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Mike Johnson as Neville Chamberlain [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-12-18

Frankly, we must compare Mike Johnson (Speaker of the House) on Ukraine to Neville Chamberlain and his capitulation to Adolph Hitler. Chamberlain said he was doing what was best for Britain, but he gave Hitler the resources he needed to launch World War II. Similarly, Putin must not be underestimated.

Chamberlain was a solid Conservative member of the British Parliament who rose to become Prime Minister and the leader of the Conservative Party. He is vilified by many historians for his foreign policy of appeasement, epitomized by his signing of the Munich Agreement in September of 1938. The agreement ceded a region of Czechoslovakia to Hitler’s Germany. It was a region that, like Ukraine, was resource rich and coveted by Nazi war planners. Indeed, it was just a year later that Hitler invaded Poland and launched World War II.

So today, eighty-four years later, we have Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) staring down an opportunity to prevent a repeat of that history. We have seen enough of Putin to know what the war in Ukraine is all about. Ukraine is the second largest country of Europe. It has extensive fertile farmland. It is one of the largest grain exporters in the world. It has developed numerous seaports to facilitate this trade that also have strategic value due to their locations.

Ukraine also possesses mineral resources. It is an important steel producer because of its extensive iron ores and plentiful methane (natural gas) reserves. It has important deposits of strategic metals such as titanium and bauxite. Its land contains extensive mineral wealth.

But despite being rich in resources, Ukraine remains a country awash in poverty. Corruption is the primary reason for the great disparities in income, as corruption is endemic to both its business and political cultures. Frustration with widespread corruption led to a revolution in 2014 to oust Soviet-aligned leadership and replace it with an elected government committed to rooting out corruption. In retaliation, Russia unilaterally annexed Crimea, a large peninsula of Ukraine at its border.

In addition to occupying Crimea, Russian interfered in Ukraine’s government and economy with cyber-based meddling and disinformation directed by their Intelligence agencies. A low-scale state of war that has existed between Ukraine and Russia since the revolution burst into a full-scale war with Russia’s invasion in 2022. The parallels between Germany’s takeover of Czechoslovakia and Putin’s war on Ukraine are frightening.

Putin has practically bankrupted Russia while enriching himself and needs new sources of wealth to exploit. His regime remains in power owing to his deft dispense of favors. But his purse is fraying and near empty. Ukraine and nearby countries offer the plunder he covets to continue his hold on power.

Historians have long taught us that failure to learn the lessons of history condemn us to repeat the failures of our past. While others glibly state that the definition of insanity is repeating the same behavior while hoping for a different result.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and his Party are guilty on both counts. Just as Neville Chamberlain handed Hitler access to the riches of Czechoslovakia, Johnson et al are handing the keys to Ukraine’s resources to Vladimir Putin.

Just keep in mind, that there are more than enough Republicans who support aid to Ukraine to pass the legislature necessary to do so. That they are being cowed into not doing so by a small number of MAGA allies of Putin is the most glaring aspect of this. Putin has “boots on the ground” in our country. Brown shirts acting to further his policy goals from within. And they are in positions of power that trump the wishes of the majority in our democratic system, based as it is upon good will.

The Founding Fathers would be ashamed.

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