Insurrection, racism, appeasement: Call it the Hawley Trinity

As Russian troops pour into eastern Ukraine, provoking what may become the most dangerous shooting war in Europe since World War II, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley is the disgraceful voice of appeasement.

“America has an interest in Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity,” he recently wrote. “And we have a strong interest in deterring Russian adventurism. But these interests are not so great that we should commit ourselves to fight Russia over Ukraine’s future.”

The junior senator opposes any effort to admit Ukraine to NATO.

No one is talking about sending U.S. troops to fight in Ukraine, of course. Instead, the Russian invasion requires serious economic and political sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his dictatorial regime.

It also demands coordination with U.S. allies across the world, and universal condemnation in the strongest possible terms. Invading a sovereign nation is a violent, illegal act, period, and must be punished.

America should denounce the incursion with one voice.

Don’t look to Hawley for help. His public two-step about the Russian threat — amplified by countless tweets and television appearances — has clearly provided aid and comfort to Putin and hard-liners in Russia. Yes, even as he now hypocritically complains that the sanctions President Joe Biden has announced are “not enough.”

You can see the deadly results, as the video comes in from Ukraine.

“By now the cast of Putin’s useful idiots is familiar,” wrote Charlie Sykes, a one-time conservative talk show host. He included Hawley in the group.

“Josh Hawley seeks to be Putin’s new favorite pet,” was the headline on a column by Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post.

“These people and a great deal of the GOP leadership will have blood on their hands,” tweeted Alexander Vindman, a former staff member of the National Security Council. “They’re fanning flames, encouraging Putin to attack Ukraine.”

“What’s most pathetic is that these Republicans are openly supporting a dictatorship that has attacked America,” tweeted former Russian chess champion and human rights activist Garry Kasparov.

Missourians should be outraged by Hawley’s behavior, but they can’t be surprised.

He tried to throw out nearly 7 million presidential votes from Pennsylvania. He raised his fist on Jan. 6, encouraging insurrection at the Capitol.

He’s said the “woke left” is responsible for President Joe Biden’s commitment to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court. He was the only vote against a bill designed to protect Asian Americans from hate crimes.

Racism, insurrection, appeasement: The Hawley Trinity.

He is not alone, of course. We’ve also been appalled at statements from former secretary of state and Kansan Mike Pompeo, who has called Putin a “very talented statesman” and “very shrewd.” Well, he’s also a bloodthirsty, antidemocratic dictator, Mike. Say that, too.

And yes, other Republicans (and talk show hosts such as Tucker Carlson) have demonstrated unseemly fealty to Putin in this time of crisis. Few, though, have been as enthusiastic as our junior senator.

In early February, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki called out Hawley for “digesting Russian misinformation and parroting Russian talking points,” and Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger called him, among other things, “a self aggrandizing con artist.” That may be the path to glory in today’s GOP, but in giving aid and comfort to Vladimir Putin as Russia invades Ukraine, he’s sold out democratic values yet again.

This story was originally published February 22, 2022 at 12:11 PM.