A bunch of right wingers are speaking up against Trump’s capitulation to Russia. The WSJ — the news side of which describes that Vladimir Putin is dangling a conference at which Russia, China, and the US (I imagine they would carve up the world) — posted an op-ed demanding that, “When the election is over there needs to be a bipartisan reckoning for Mr. Trump’s budding alliance with the Kremlin against Ukraine, Europe and American interests.” At NRO, Andrew McCarthy was even more shrill.
Since the start of Trump’s second term, it has been excruciating to watch America’s president blame the victim, our ally Ukraine, for Putin’s war of aggression. Reagan and Poland this is not. As Ukraine fights for its survival against Moscow’s would-be hegemon, today’s president of the United States hectors it to surrender territory that Putin has been unable to take on the battlefield after four years of barbarism.
[snip]
Now, we have what Congress — Republicans and Democrats, together — should regard as the last straw.
I’m not as sanguine as WSJ and McCarthy that Republicans in Congress will act. Don Bacon has promised that Ukraine supporters will scotch any effort to push through reconciliation or confirm judges (the latter of which he can’t control, but John Cornyn could).
Six Republicans have signed a letter calling for more pressure on Putin — again, enough to halt any Trump agenda in the lame duck — but people like Katie Britt and Roger Wicker are still playing coy.
The Republican signatories included Senators Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, John Cornyn of Texas and Alan Armstrong of Oklahoma
[snip]
The letter also highlighted divisions among Republicans over how aggressively to confront Moscow. Notably absent from the signatories was Senator Darline Graham of South Carolina, who championed the Russia and Iran sanctions legislation that Mr. Trump signed into law last month. Her brother, Senator Lindsey Graham, had been the leading proponent of the legislation before his death in July.
Also missing were Senator Katie Britt, Republican of Alabama, who has sought to play a more forceful role on national security issues, including Ukraine and Russia policy; and Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the Republican chairman of the Armed Services Committee and a staunch supporter of Ukraine. Mr. Wicker was meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine in Kyiv around the time Mr. Trump announced the agreement on Friday.
In a statement to Alabama Daily News on Monday, Ms. Britt expressed support for continuing to “apply maximum pressure on Russia to end its unlawful war against Ukraine.” But she has not gone as far as some of her G.O.P. colleagues in denouncing the president’s move.
The absence of Ms. Britt, Ms. Graham and Mr. Wicker from the letter was particularly notable given its explicit appeal to the sanctions law, which the senators said was intended to strengthen Mr. Trump’s negotiating position by increasing economic pressure on Russia and countries helping sustain Moscow’s war.
I’m a bit at a loss by all this: people are finally admitting that Trump is in the tank for Russia but cannot go back and see that the current attempt to bribe Trump to betray Ukraine — and the United States — is a seamless continuation of the quid quo pro started 10 years ago.
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