Mention the Ukraine War to most Americans and their eyes glaze over.  A lot of folks can’t locate Ukraine on a map.  Yes, that’s partly the fault of our educational system.   

Historically, though, if it ain’t happening here at home, it ain’t happening -- until the Lusitania sinks or Pearl Harbor is bombed.  Vietnam was peripheral until LBJ and the “military-industrial complex” took advantage of the Gulf of Tonkin incident.  Only then did Americans grab their Rand McNallys to discover where Vietnam was.  Then there was Iraq, Saddam, and “weapons of mass destruction.”  But that was a short war and casualties were fewer.  People barely had time to unfold maps.   

The Ukraine war is still blips on radars.  Fortunately, more people oppose sending billions to Zelinsky’s corrupt regime.  They’re starting to wonder why Biden’s handlers and dazed and confused Mitch McConnell give more of a damn about Ukraine than Maui and East Palestine.  But those radar blips may soon balloon.  Speculation is afoot that Democrats may provoke a hot war with Russia.  A diversion is necessary for 2024. 

Some speculation exists that Democrats would ignite a major war with Russia to impose martial law and suspend elections.  That seems like a bridge too far.  But, then again, Democrats and their allies had no worries rigging key state presidential contests to push doddering Joe Biden into the White House.  Maybe the prospect of Donald Trump getting a second bite at the apple would drive Democrats to war.   

Instigating a war with Russia as an election-year ploy would bust the republic.  It would literally bust much of Europe and North America.  Perhaps it’s better to “rule over the ashes?” 

Tucker Carlson, appearing on Adam Corolla’s podcast, seems to think that war is where Democrats are heading.  Per the Daily Caller, August 30:  

“They [Democrats] need to declare war footing in order to assume war powers in order to win. I believe that and I think that the evidence suggests that’s true. So if you’re worried about our politics getting, like, even more vicious than it already is, and people being hurt in our politics, which is entirely possible, you should be worried about the prospect of an open -- we’re already at war with Russia, of course, we’re -- we’re funding their enemies, so we’re fighting Russia -- but I mean, an open battle with Russia, where we say we’re at war with Russia,” Carlson said.

Democrats seem increasingly uneasy about their election prospects.  Polling is trending the wrong way.  Biden slides deeper into dementia.  Kamala Harris is a laughingstock.  Joe’s handlers have messed up everything.  Families struggle to pay bills.  Why?  Energy costs are through the roof, chiefly.  It’s ridiculous to call the U.S.-Mexican border a border.  Even in NYC -- a compassionate sanctuary city -- Mayor Eric Adams is crying, “Uncle!” Cities -- Democrats’ turf -- are descending deeper into crime and squalor.  Donald Trump looms like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, despite multiple sham indictments.           

A false flag incident -- say, a faked Russian incursion into Poland -- might be in the offing.  Wars are often go-to diversions for troubled regimes.  You know, rally around the flag stuff.  Forget about all those Democrat-imposed woes.  It’s our patriotic duty, comrades, to sacrifice!  Let’s go kill the Huns!  Never mind how many of us would be killed.  

To date, plenty of neocons, RINOs, and D.C. foreign policy and defense establishmentarians are content fighting a proxy war with Russia.  The carnage -- overwhelmingly Ukrainian -- is a trifle compared to achieving a geopolitical end: diminishing Russia.  The aforementioned wish to cripple, if not overthrow, Putin.  Of course, why wonder about Putin’s replacement, who could be far worse.  Lusting Western oligarchs -- the equivalent  of Russia’s -- want their grubby paws on Russia’s vast natural resources.  Just hobbling Putin won’t suffice.   

The U.S.-provoked proxy war is a grab for power and wealth.  Lest we forget, the military-industrial complex is lining its pockets off the war, depleting U.S. military stockpiles in the process.  The defense industry makes sure to spread around some of its profits.  Are you kin, a donor, or an ally of a member of Congress or retired military brass?  Cushy gigs await.  Campaign donations flow like mother’s milk.      

Claims that the Ukraine war is a gallant fight for democracy is Wilsonian tripe.  A Russian blitzkrieg to Berlin is as likely as Joe Biden being indicted.  Putin has stated repeatedly -- beginning years ago -- that invading Ukraine would be and is a matter of Russian national security.  NATO in Ukraine is a nonstarter.  But U.S. and Western elites paid no heed.  Would the U.S. have tolerated the Warsaw Pact in Canada or Mexico? 

Ukraine lies on Russia’s southern flank and borders the strategically important Black Sea, which contains Crimea, Russian territory historically.  Crimea contains Sevastopol, the key warmwater port for the Russian Navy.  Russia wasn’t about to permit Crimea being incorporated into a NATO state.       

We needn’t spend a lot of virtual ink recapping the Democrats attempts to destroy Trump during his presidency.  Much of it revolved around “Russia, Russia, Russia.”  It was a nutty, fabricated claim.   

In fairness to Democrats, much of the drivel about U.S. intentions in Ukraine and about Russia flows copiously from the mouths of establishment Republicans, like House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX).  McCaul’s district lies northeast of the U.S.-Mexican border and outlies San Antonio.  You’d think McCaul would focus on the border, given the illegals’ invasion. 

That invasion not only impacts Texas and McCaul’s district, but represents the genuine threat to U.S. national security.  Yet, all we hear from McCaul -- and other D.C.-invested Republicans -- is that “We can chew gum and walk at the same time,” meaning we can pump tens of billions of dollars into Ukraine while spending a pittance winning the war along our 2,000-mile southern border.  In fact, Biden’s handlers haven’t declared war.  The barbarians aren’t at the gates.  Biden’s handlers opened the gates.  

Rumors about sparking a war with Russia aren’t centered on McCaul and other petting zoo Republicans, however.  Democrats control the power – not just in D.C. but throughout major institutions, public and private.  In terms of power, they’re close to their zenith.  They don’t intend to forfeit that power without a brawl, someway, somehow.   

A conventional war with Russia would prove devastating enough.  The possibility of accidental or deliberate escalation to nuclear war means cataclysm. 

Incredibly, among Democrats, RINOs, neocons, and the D.C. establishment, a belief is held that limited nuclear war with Russia could be won. 

As the National Journal reported back in 2017, limited nuclear war is a strategic consideration.  From the article:

As the theory goes, using low-yield nuclear weapons against an adversary’s conventional forces will demonstrate that you mean serious business and might be crazy enough to launch an all out nuclear attack. This will cause the enemy to “blink” and ultimately back down, rather than risk global thermonuclear war or continue conventional hostilities.

But the National Journal stated that such reasoning is “dangerous fantasy.”  Human nature is complex and often unpredictable.  It’s reckless to assume Russians would back down. 

Some sober-minded Democrats still exist.  They’re mostly dissidents.  RFK, Jr. stands publicly for a negotiated settlement to the war.  Tulsi Gabbard, an erstwhile Democrat, is sharply critical of not just Democrats but the D.C. establishment’s eagerness for war.

We’re living through crazy times.  Norms are being upended and boundaries broken; common sense is shunted.  We can only hope and pray that D.C. Democrats' power lust -- enabled by some very dumb RINOs -- doesn’t get the better of them.   

J. Robert Smith can be found regularly at Gab @JRobertSmith. He also blogs occasionally at Flyover. He’s returned to Twitter. His Twitter handle is @JRobertSmith1.

Image: Otto Dix