This past weekend, here in Massachusetts we celebrated the 250th anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord. Much of the actual fighting took place during the British retreat back to Boston in the village of Menotomy (now Arlington), between Lexington and Medford. It was there that militias from multiple towns in the Massachusetts Bay colony converged on the British regulars, beginning in earnest the revolt that became the Revolutionary War.
Heather Cox Richardson has written a beautiful and concise summary of the events surrounding those fateful days. I recommend reading it. From her account it becomes clear: The American Revolution did not start because of high ideals. It was a matter of survival.
Ukraine is now fighting its own war of independence, attempting to free itself from a foreign tyrant. That tyrant has used indiscriminate bombings, mass killings, child kidnapping and human wave assaults to force his will on a democratic state that only wishes to determine its own future. It is thus a sickening irony that, while we celebrate the anniversary of our own Revolution, the Trump regime is doing its damnedest to force Ukraine into an unjust surrender of territory to Putin in exchange for “peace”. Why? Putin cannot be trusted to keep his word. If a tyrant is appeased, they just want more. The lesson of the Neville Chamberlain’s Munich Agreement with Hitler is plain for all to see, except to those who do not want to see it. Still, that witless dupe, real estate agent and Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, is back in Moscow today, offering Putin what isn’t his to offer.
What is it about Russia and the disaster Putin has made of the place that makes it so attractive that Vance and Trump want to cozy up? The Russian economy is a shambles, what is left of their intelligentsia has fled, and all the while minorities and foreign soldiers are fed into a meat grinder. What about this says “What a good idea! Let’s imitate them!”?
For Trump, at least, I can imagine the attraction in his weak and troubled mind. Troublemakers? Reporters? Put them in jail, and if they continue to make trouble, kill them. Currently all he can do is post all-caps screeds and insult them, although turning the FBI and ICE into his personal Gestapo is fulfilling some of his fantasy.
JD Vance does not have the excuse of senility or insanity. He is fully aware of what he is doing, leaving no question about his betrayal. In obeisance to his oligarch and religious patrons, he is ready to erase any trace of rebellion, either in Ukraine or here at home. When Trump goes, which he inevitably must, traitor JD Vance must go with him.