This
Heather Cox Richardson's "Letter from an American" post on Substack connects the dots. A well-written, straight-forward narrative that explains
so much about Ukraine, Russsia, & USA. There is a direct line from Putin > Manafort > Stone > Trump. It has been obvious to some of us for a long time that Putin's interests, and Trump's interests are totally intertwined. It is shocking and scandalous. And it's maddening that the Republican party has decided they are happy to be complicit facilitators for this anti-democractic shite. The USA, Ukraine, Europe, Democracy, are all under threat because of this toxic reality.
It begins simply...
"Although few Americans paid much attention at the time, the events of February 18, 2014, in Ukraine would turn out to be a linchpin in how the United States ended up where it is a decade later."
And then the kicker at the end...
"Now, ten years later, Putin has invaded Ukraine in an effort that when it began looked much like the one his operatives suggested to Manafort in 2016, Trump has said he would “encourage [Russia] to do whatever the hell they want” to NATO allies that don’t commit 2% of their gross domestic product to their militaries, and Trump MAGA Republicans are refusing to pass a measure to support Ukraine in its effort to throw off Russia’s invasion.
The day after the violence of February 18, 2014, in Ukraine, then–vice president Joe Biden called Yanukovych to “express grave concern regarding the crisis on the streets” and to urge him “to pull back government forces and to exercise maximum restraint.”
Ten years later, Russia has been at open war with Ukraine for nearly two years and has just regained control of the key town of Avdiivka because Ukrainian troops lack ammunition. President Joe Biden is warning MAGA Republicans that “[t]he failure to support Ukraine at this critical moment will never be forgotten.”
“History is watching,” he said.
