Watching the complete collapse of the Democrats’ Russia narrative has been something to behold.
Stoked by their fervent disdain for the current President of the United States, the party whipped up its base into an anti-Russian frenzy.
President Trump was the “Manchurian Candidate,” a Russian operative planted by Putin to subvert American democracy and pervert our most sacred institutions. According to liberals, the New York billionaire's alleged collusion with Russia disqualified him as a legitimate president and, to save the Republic, he needed to be removed from office as soon as possible.
Then the Muller Report was released, and in an instant, the story shattered. Now, they are scrambling to pick up the pieces.
How can Democrats reconcile their hatred for Republicans with their hatred for Russia, especially when the two are working against each other?
The current calls for the President’s impeachment is an attempt to do just that: deflect attention away from the Left’s embarrassing display of “Russian collusion” sophistry with a healthy dose of fodder for their base of support.
It is too late to turn back. Democrat supporters have bought into the Trump-Russia narrative whole hog—not only as a rationale for why their beloved Hillary Clinton lost in 2016 but also as a tool to justify their irrational, seething hatred for the President.
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Protesters[/caption]
The plan was to slot the narrative into their 2020 election strategy. But now that the story is clearly a hoax, liberals have two options: abandon ship or double down. Clearly, they are choosing the latter. But this decision presents some serious problems for left. Namely, how can they reconcile their hatred for Republicans with their hatred for Russia, especially when the two are working against each other?
The truth is regardless of the President’s sometimes-laudatory language toward Putin the man, the U.S. government's policies towards Putin the president have reflected an entirely different tone.
Currently, the United States relies primarily on Russian rockets for all major spacefaring activities.
Despite the liberals’ attempts to paint the Republican party as Russian sycophants, conservatives have imposed a bevy of new sanctions on Russia and are working with Trump to curb the nation’s influence in the Middle East. That puts Democrats in a double bind. They can’t attack Russia without supporting conservative efforts against Putin, and they can’t attack Republican policies without appearing soft on Russia.
For a clear illustration of this conundrum, look to Rep. Adam Smith’s (D-WA) awkward handling of the Launch Service Agreement (LSA).
The LSA is an effort to reduce Russia’s influence over America’s space program. Currently, the United States relies primarily on Russian rockets for all major spacefaring activities. This dependency presents a risk to America’s national security. President Trump’s Department of Defense, spearheaded by the United States Air Force, is working to nullify this threat.
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Members of the media photograph the Soyuz rocket as it launches with Expedition 33/34 crew members, Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy, Flight Engineer Kevin Ford of NASA, and Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin of ROSCOSMOS to the International Space Station on Tuesday, October 23, 2012, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Ford, Novitskiy and Tarelkin will be on a five-month mission aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)[/caption]
The LSA program presents Rep. Smith with a sticky situation because as the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, it is his responsibility to help ensure America’s continued security. But as a loyal Democrat, he is also obligated to fight the President’s agenda at every turn.
For Smith, the LSA is where these two objectives diverge.
He was forced to choose who to oppose: Russia or the Republican Administration. Unfortunately for the nation, party politics won the day, and Smith became a virulent critic of the Launch Service Agreement.
Congressional Democrats don’t really care about the lack of evidence for collusion, and they don’t care about the harm their deception is causing the country.
In an apparent attempt to delegitimize the Administration’s handling of the program, Rep. Smith called for extensive delays and investigations to the Launch Service Agreement. Despite the Air Force’s unequivocal assertion that program delays may weaken America’s national security, Smith fumbled on as a dutiful member of the Trump Resistance, sacrificing the interests of the United States as a result.
Now the entire Democratic party finds themselves in a similar situation.
With the disintegration of their Russian collusion messaging, liberals have been forced to recognize that their theory about a Trump-Russia conspiracy is baseless. But for them, that degree of cognitive dissonance is too much. The Left can’t bear to fathom that Trump isn’t the boogeyman they suspected him to be. So, faced with the facts, the only alternative is to push the lie.
Congressional Democrats don’t really care about the lack of evidence for collusion, and they don’t care about the harm their deception is causing the country. Instead, they apparently believe that if they that if they shout “IMPEACHMENT” loud enough, then maybe, just maybe, they can satiate the voracious anti-Trump sentiments of their base.
The Left desperately needs Trump to be the enemy, and they won’t let facts stand in their way of achieving that goal.
Judson Phillips is the founder of Tea Party Nation, one of the largest tea-party groups in the country and the No. 1 national tea-party site on the Internet. He is a frequent guest on cable and broadcast news shows, including on Fox, MSNBC, CNN, and others.
