Watching cable news and listening to talkers and a parade of congressional Republicans, you’d think someone waved a magic wand, making all of America’s troubles vanish.  The Ukraine war is very visible, however.  The war for the nation’s future is gone, as are the many battles that comprise that war… a war that decides whether or not America is free and prosperous or succumbs to authoritarianism, whatever the brand.  

Conservatives -- those gripped by war fever with Russia -- are ignoring the cold civil war raging in our country.  “American Marxism,” conceptualized by Mark Levin, is no less a threat to the nation.  Lose the war to that ism and America is finished, even if it’s still called the “U.S.A.” and retains some of its trappings.  

Republicans are making a serious strategic blunder.  Their preoccupation with Putin’s aggression won’t win the GOP seats in congressional and down-ballot elections this November.  Voters will tire soon enough of Ukraine, 24/7.  Moreover, due to Joe Biden’s stunning incompetence and ideologically driven agenda, Americans are grappling with inflation-induced gas and grocery price hikes, an open border, and worries about crime.  Those issues are uppermost for voters.  They’re priorities.    

In the last ten days or so, it's conservative and Republican voices that are being heard the loudest on the war.  Democrats and their media allies have drawn back.  Biden has made it clear that he won’t risk war with Russia.  A no-fly zone is a nonstarter.  Sending fighter aircraft is a no-go.  Democrats make political calculations about everything.  Maybe they’re sensing that banging war drums won’t win midterm elections? 

Lest anyone need reminding, the U.S. has no vital or national security interests in Ukraine.  To underscore, none whatsoever.  That doesn’t mean that Putin’s aggression isn’t reprehensible, but “reprehensible” occurs across the globe daily.  Ask oppressed Cubans, Venezuelans, Uyghurs, and Hongkongers, among others.  How about Mexicans, whose country is being ripped apart by narco-war?  That war is rarely reported in the U.S. media… a war that’s edging closer to the U.S.’s evaporated southern border.  Thank Biden for that.    

Republicans and their media allies are racing down a warpath shouting, “Democracy must be defended!” 

Ukrainian democracy has been rife with corruption.  Our commander-in-chief, Joe Biden, and his wastrel son, Hunter, participated in it.  We know about the fat retainer Hunter received from Burisma.  His role was a fixer.  We know that Joe lied about not having knowledge of Hunter’s affairs in Ukraine.  We know about Joe pressuring Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to fire a prosecutor investigating Burisma’s dealings.  And per Tony Bobulinski, we know about the not-so-mysterious “Big Guy” getting cuts of Hunter’s action.            

If the democracy argument won’t convince Americans about military intervention in Ukraine, the humanitarian crisis is next.  On Fox News and Newsmax, we hear from processions of retired military brass that Ukraine’s humanitarian tragedy compels us to “do something more.”       

Apart from the fact that all wars are human tragedies, one wonders how NATO intervening militarily in Ukraine relieves suffering?  One would think that a major war between NATO and Russia commencing in Ukraine would only compound suffering there, suffering that would quickly spread across Europe.  For good reasons, Great Britain, France, and Germany aren’t keen on escalating NATO’s involvement in the war. 

Speaking of democracy, what about the ongoing threats to it here at home?  Amid the war fervor, have Republicans forgotten the corrupted 2020 presidential contest?  Despite Democrat claims to it being the cleanest election in history, it was, in fact, marred by conspiracy and fraud.  Democrats and their allies fixed it so Trump would lose.    

Big Tech and corporate news media shut down news unhelpful to Joe Biden, like the Hunter Biden laptop story.  They wholesale shadow banned or canceled accounts and voices to stymie opposition in a runup to the election.  Through litigation and legislation, they made sure that mail-in balloting wasn’t hamstrung by chain-of-custody issues.  Ask Pennsylvanians about that. 

On election night, Democrats shut down vote counting in blue jurisdictions.  Philly, Atlanta, Detroit, and Milwaukee among them.  Happenstance?  Hardly.  Democrats learned years ago that shutting down counts is useful to assess how many votes must be manufactured to beat GOP candidates.

Democracy imperiled?  How about the conspiracy -- under investigation by John Durham -- of the Russia Collusion Hoax, which was nothing short of a concerted effort by elements in and out of government (the Clinton presidential campaign, foremost) to topple a duly elected president?  Coups are antidemocratic, aren’t they?  Isn’t there unfinished business in seeing that justice is done in this matter?  Is there any concern about permitting this treachery to stand?   

Do Republicans, now spoiling for a fight with Putin, wonder what election chicanery Democrats have in store for November?  Democrats got away with thievery in 2020.  Why aren’t they emboldened to try again?  What’s the GOP’s plan to prevent election theft this time?       

Speaking of humanitarian concerns, Americans, a giving people, are generously assisting beleaguered Ukrainians.  NATO countries are taking in Ukrainian refugees.  What is needed are diplomatic solutions to end hostilities in Ukraine on fair terms.  Might Republicans better invest their time and energies seeking an end to hostilities?  

What about the human tragedies and crises plaguing our own country? 

Drug abuse is an ongoing crisis.  Last year, it’s estimated that 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses.  Fentanyl and other illicit drugs are pouring across our shattered southern border.  Proceeds from drug sales here help fuel Mexico’s drug wars, which, as mentioned, have begun seeping into the U.S.  The PRC furnishes drug makings and drugs to Mexican cartels.  That serves two purposes.  It provides profits to Xi Jinping’s cronies and damages America, which Xi sees as an enemy.  

U.S. Homeland Security reports that in 2021, border patrol agents had “2 million encounters with illegal immigrants at the southern border.”  Among the illegals crossing into the U.S. are a variety of criminals, including gang members. 

The Washington Examiner reported, August 16, 2021:

Unprecedented numbers of known or suspected terrorists have crossed the southern border in recent months, the outgoing Border Patrol chief said.          

Isn’t the war that Republicans need to wage against Democrats’ ruinous open border policies, Mexican drug cartels, and exploitive communist Chinese?

How about American cities?  We witnessed the historic destruction of U.S. cities in 2020.  The spark was Georgie Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, but the riots that followed were stoked by BLM and Antifa with Democrats’ acquiescence.  Evidently, urban violence was useful in defeating Donald Trump.

But the riots were instructive, in that they cast spotlights on cities that have been deteriorating for years due to Democrats’ corrupt governance and failed policies.  In Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Baltimore -- add to the list -- criminals and homeless roam the streets.  Squalor is commonplace.  Police are demeaned.  Woke prosecutors grant lawbreakers passes.  Urban crime reaches into suburbs.  America’s cities are in various stages of collapse. 

Who suffers most from the travesty of failing cities?  The black underclass.  They’re the victims of exploitive leaders -- black and white -- who harvest their votes.

America is a fractious country.  Its problems are many.  The potential for a storm of crises is real.  In this important election year, Republicans, particularly, would be wise to keep the primary focus on challenges at home.    

J. Robert Smith can be found regularly at Gab @JRobertSmith.  He also blogs at Flyover.    

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