When the far right, goes too far (The War in Ukraine)

As I’ve mentioned in another story, my extended family (and their friends) is/are white, privileged and, sadly, very sympathetic to Russia in the war in Ukraine. While I obviously don’t agree with the content of their near constant mass emails, I thought it was useful to share the perspective and counter points.

This might help those looking to engage, with these extremist American viewpoints, to see a more unfiltered perspective and develop the tools to confront them.

So let’s get right to the perspective…

I recall when Obama was president and I envied the people of Russia because Putin seemed to genuinely care about them. When Trump was president I felt like we were loved by him. We are back to a hostile take over. Putin looks good in comparison again.

[I watched a video] contrasting Zelensky and Putin. I decided, even if Putin is just using Christianity to advance his cause, he definitely gets to occupy the higher, moral ground. It is hard to accept, but Putin is waging a proxy war with the Deep State in Ukraine. We are the bad guys in this one.

My “deep state” family sound like misinformed sheeple. They won’t share their sources, abandoning any public mass media, and simple facts and arguments can’t play a role as they can all be dismissed as fake.

However, the lesson I’m taking away from my extended family (and their friends) recent hero worship of the murderous autocrat, Putin, is that, if a despot hates the gay community and — bonus points — maybe even Jewish people — he is given a pass on the 5th Commandment. And perhaps many other commandments as well.

But, you know, he persecutes the gay community, so he’s the hope of “Christianity.” Nice.

I think one cannot assume facts put forth by media and governments. One makes a huge mistake in assuming that they know who the good guys and bad guys are in these situations. Making generalizations is far from helpful.

Russia has reportedly taken out bio-weapons labs that were funded by DARPA in the US and which were also connected to dealings with Hunter Biden’s lawyers. Remember, that guy, the one that got paid huge fees from the Ukrainian gas company, Burisma? Remember how Hunter’s father, Joe, as vice-president, threatened to with hold a billion in US aid from Ukraine if the federal prosecutor investigating his son was not fired? We also have Victoria Nuland, the Obama ambassador to Ukraine plotting to overthrow the duly elected president of Ukraine in 2014.

I think we have enough facts to call our government evil. I am not so sure the jury is in on Putin yet.

Quoted almost verbatim from Russian State media. Once again, one would really like to know their sources, right?

You’ll see this happen time and time again with those in extremist, far right, views. The deflection. The “what aboutism”. Instead of confronting the unjustified War in Ukraine, it’s always about what our government has done either at home or abroad. You can’t be morally outraged about Russia’s unjustified attacks on a duly elected democracy, instead it’s what America has done.

Putin has, for example, besides poisoning or shooting his enemies and decimated weaker neighboring countries, greedily amassed billions in graft payments, etc.

[…] it’s hard to know the truth esp. when nations interject themselves into the fray. I guess, then, you’re all in with the one-sided “coverage” of this Ukrainian adventure? And anything that varies from it is from “Russian State media?”

Haven’t you had enough of this covid nonsense? If you are an expert doctor and challenge the party line you are subject to being cancelled/lose your license/being made persona non grata for giving out “misleading” medical info.

This is exactly how the Bad Russia scenario is being played out 24/7. Journalism is pretty much dead.

The press is not doing its due diligence (but then neither are most trusting citizens) by forgetting to inform that this action has its roots back in time when Russia under Gorbachev was promised NATO would not encroach on Russia’s borders. Then there was the 2014 “uprising” b/c Ukraine, a sovereign state with a legally elected govt., decided to de-rail from the EU and the IMF and instead side with Russia. Civil war resulted.

Once again, deflection is at play. Covid is a lie, the media is a lie, your sources are biased and uninformed. The only one telling the truth is Russia.

To me, Putin’s arguement is simple. Putin believes (or states) he is liberating the Ukrainians from Nazis. However, history demonstrates that Putin’s actions are more like those of Germany in WW2 than as the savior he paints himself to be. He is invading a democracy, killing women and children with indiscriminate artillery fire, and forcing 3+ million civilians to flee their homes.

There isn’t a gray area for me, when people are being killed needlessly and a functioning democracy is being overthrown.

These days, it’s like engaging with members of a cult. I honestly pity them. There is no middle ground with them — You are either in or out. Everyone who is out, is the enemy.