Groundhog Day in politics: Distractions from the war to save civilization from Russian barbarism
Americans are distracted from the Ukraine war. That is, the war to save civilization from Russian barbarism.
American news media, even the best, are not good at picking out what is really significant in the daily torrent of news and explaining to audiences why a particular news development is really important.
Europeans are closer to the war in Ukraine, and there is evidence that some of their leaders, including those in Britain and France as well as Poland and Eastern Europe, are following the situation in Ukraine very closely, and are beginning to react to Russian aggression and barbarism in a very serious way.
British foreign minister David Cameron has announced a significant military aid package for Ukraine, and stated that he doesn't mind if Ukraine uses British-supplied weapons to attack targets in Russia. President Emmanuel Macron of France has recently said that if the Russians break through the Ukrainian lines, France would have to consider very seriously a request from Ukraine to send French ground troops to the country.
The current situation is grave. The Russians are making significant advances on the ground as Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure are subject to devastating attacks, all the more devastating due to inadequate sir defenses. The lack of air defenses and Russian advances on the ground are largely due to the failure of the U.S. to supply urgently-needed munitions, particularly artillery shells and air-defense missiles, as a result of Republicans in the House holding up President Biden's $60 billion military aid package for six months.
Meanwhile, back in the U.S., decision-makers are distracted by the Groundhog-Day spectacle of debates over the likelihood of a temporary cease-fire in Gaza in exchange for a certain number of hostages, and the Groundhog-Day drama of the demonstrations on campus which at bottom are a reaction to Israel's continuation of its war against Gaza, and over 34,000 Gazan deaths since October 7, 2023.
Groundhog Day includes, of course, the endless fascination of Americans with the details of whatever Donald Trump is doing at the moment. In recent days he has been sitting through his first criminal trial. News coverage fails to remind viewers and readers, at every juncture, of all of the specific crimes Trump is accused of and the overwhelming evidence supporting the charges.
One of the candidates for the presidency is an apparent master criminal who sought to overthrow the Constitution, but you would never know that from the daily news coverage. And if you are like the half of the population which has no memory--maybe it's a much higher percentage, actually--you might think Trump is just another candidate.
But he is not just another candidate.
Whatever happens in Gaza and the Middle East, it will be dwarfed in significance if Russia wins the war in Ukraine. What happens in the U.S. presidential election in November 2024 may influence whether or not Russia wins that war. Everything is connected. But we must maintain our concentration on Russia’s aggression and barbarism in Ukraine.
That is where leaders' attention should be focused, as it is now in Great Britain and France.
American soldiers may pay the price in future years, as they did in World War II, but for now America's leaders are simply whistling in the dark.
Endlessly distracted by the Groundhog-Day spectacle of international and national politics.
Everything repeats, day after day.
Until it doesn't.
James Rowles is a former Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School and professor of international law at other universities.
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