Saving Ukraine Saves America

By J. Michael Atherton

Trump, Vance, and the GOP want to cut and run from helping Ukraine fight Russia.  Their self-serving cowardice is wrong on many levels, all of which bring danger and shame to America.

Both the GOP and the Dems agree that America must take care of itself; however, only the Democrats know that by supporting Ukraine, we also benefit America.

When a strong Ukraine fights Russia there is no need for American military personnel to die from Russian bombs.  A strong Ukraine keeps Russia from invading Europe, which America has pledged its sacred word to protect.  A strong Ukraine helps contain Putin and his land lust.  Therefore, Making Ukraine Great Again (MUGA) saves Americans.  

The cost of supporting Ukraine is insignificant compared to our military budget, or our spending on entertainment every year.  Surely, Americans can give up a few sports tickets or movies if it means the West has an ally standing strong against a Russian aggressor.  

No American suffers if we ship made-in-America weapons systems to help Ukraine.  Not only do no Americans die, American companies also make a profit.  Nevertheless, the GOP would hide from Russian aggression.  GOP cowardice rewards Putin and every other dictator in the world.  The GOP’s plan to run away tells countries facing invasion that the strongest military nation the world has ever seen refuses to help them in their time of need.  This is shameful, xenophobic, cowardly, isolationist, and deeply ignorant of how the real-world works.   

GOP isolationists naively think America is a secluded island, disconnected from anywhere else in the world.  GOP xenophobes think we can go it alone.  Such isolationism is impossible because we constantly depend on goods and ideas from abroad.  The international flow of goods profits the US as much or more than other countries.  With the flow of goods comes the flow of ideas that enriches us all.  To cut ourselves off from such a plentiful source of material goods and intellectual abundance resembles cutting off water for a plant.  The “water” we receive from the world comes in many forms: culture, business, trade, entertainment, sports, religion, ancestry, history, science, technology, literature, art, dance, music, architecture, fashion, cuisine, and education.  That’s a lot of “water” to cut off.   The GOP needs to learn that neither plants nor nations prosper in isolation.  

America has a long heritage of rejecting isolationism and helping those in need.  If we turn our backs on the rest of the world and stop helping others, our identity will shrink until we can no longer recognize it. America’s tradition of helping others has shown the world our better selves, that we care, that we know we are better off only when our neighbors are well off, that we are an integral part of the world, and we will help when we can.  These are the messages we tell ourselves and our children about our great nation.  These are the tales we tell others so they will see us as a great and dependable nation. Stories of America helping others are a wellspring of our national pride.  

In stark contrast, we tell no exciting tales of isolationist adventures because there are none to tell.  We emulate no isolationist heroes because they generate no heroes, only selfish people hiding behind locked doors.   We find no inspiration in isolationism.  There is no greatness in isolationism.  No nation is famous for its isolationism.  Not one.  For all the things that make a nation great, isolationism offers nothing.  Nothing at all.   

Notice, when Europe asked the US for assistance in World War II, we answered their call.  And we won with the result that America flourished, Europe recovered and opened trade with the USA, and  we stopped a dictator.  Notice also, Hitler lost largely because America rejected isolationism.  Ignoring such historical facts, GOP wall builders would simply abandon every vestige of good will created by American generosity.  Worse, GOP isolationists would callously let people suffer just because they were not lucky enough to be born on our shores.  

If another country followed the GOP’s lead and tried to isolate America, we would take it as a declaration of war.  Instead of foreign powers trying to chain our doors closed, the 2024 GOP party and their infamous Project 2025 would cooperate with our enemies and hand them victory without a fight.   GOP’s America Firsters would cut America off from the richness of the world just so they could run their businesses in a backwater, isolated America.

Let’s talk about the wisdom of saving Ukraine. 

Saving Ukraine does not make the US the police force of the world as some claim.  Ukraine is strategically located on Russia’s border.  Because of its location Ukraine can serve as a bulwark for the West against Russia’s attempt to recreate the Soviet Union.  If Putin conquers Ukraine, he will continue unabated to claim ownership of every former Soviet country.  This is a zero-sum game: if Russia wins, the rest of the world loses.  

Ukraine offers the best opportunity to stop Putin’s forces.  If Putin rebuilds the former Soviet Union, nothing will stop him from invading other European countries.  Can America stand by and let this happen?  The GOP Isolationists answer yes, stand by, and let the Russian juggernaut role.  Future American military personnel fighting Russian expansionism will wonder why we didn’t stop them on the Ukrainian border when we had the chance.  The decision to abandon Ukraine comes from the today’s GOP isolationists who would sacrifice Ukraine on the altar of their economic myopia, their desire to have a weak government, their desire to install a dictator, and their America First selfishness.

By saving Ukraine we create a strong ally in a part of the world where we need friends.  By stopping Russia, we tell the rest of the world they can return to their non-war lives.  We tell other aggressors to stop.  We reward all those who resist invasion.  We make it clear that this is a world of inviolable nations each with values and tradition worth saving.  We tell the rest of the world that they can get on with the business of living.  

The GOP would abandon Ukraine and the rest of the world just to serve their isolationist master.   America cannot “go it alone” and anyone who says we can must be a con artist, a felon, or both.