The Ukraine-Russia conflict has spurred debate on how to best resolve the crisis. One thing most people can agree on is that nuclear war could happen. In response, most would hope that the risk of nuclear destruction would bring about grounded debate. Unfortunately, the conflict has brought out name calling and baseless allegations. Much of this coming from people currently in charge of policy or who helped shape policy in the past. The juvenile rhetoric on Ukraine-Russia is undermining the debate and could have grave consequences.
Elon Musk recently came under fire for stating his opinion on the Ukraine-Russia conflict. There is nothing wrong with disagreeing with Musk’s views, or even calling his proposals “ill-informed” or “destructive”. But several powerful people turned up the dial. David Axelrod, a former Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama, who now heads up the influential University of Chicago Institute of Politics, tweeted “[i]t's going to be really suspicious if â¦@elonmusk pays for Twitter in rubles!” Obviously Axelrod was joking, but it does have a shade of Senator Joe McCarthy’s red-baiting, that liberals have decried for decades.
Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, who has prided himself on defending those who speak out, called on everyone to “cancel” Musk. Much of the post 9/11 era has been defined by the need to not blindly accept one side in national security matters, yet Vindman wants society to stomp out anyone who challenges the establishment narrative on Ukraine.
When Musk first started airing his views on the conflict, Ukraine’s former Ambassador to Germany Andrij Melnyk replied “[f]uck off is my very diplomatic reply to you @elonmusk.” Melnyk was likely speaking passionately for the survival of his country. But given that Melnyk was still in office at the time, his response did not help Ukraine’s interests.
Last March, Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney accused former Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of treason because she opposed US involvement in Ukraine. Gabbard has served in the military for over a decade and did a tour in Iraq as the violence worsened there. Romney has offered conflicting excuses on why he avoided the Vietnam War’s draft. Romney has also spoken out against “hate-filled rhetoric” in the past, he should take his own advice.
Around then, South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsay Graham called for the assassination of Russian President Vladimir Putin on Fox News and then on Twitter. While most would agree Putin is evil, there is a real question about what would happen if someone just took him out. Russia could descend into chaos, or someone worse could replace Putin. Still it was just Graham’s opinion, and the US should consider all options. But government officials should discuss these ideas in serious settings. This rings all the more true, now that many fear Putin could use nukes if he feels cornered. The threat of assassination could evoke those feelings.
Former US Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, in an effort to seemingly make Putin look worse than Adolf Hitler, claimed on the MSNBC television show, Rachel Maddow Live, that Hitler never killed ethnic Germans, despite the fact that at least 160,000 German Jews died in the Holocaust. Rachel Maddow Live’s twitter account then tweeted out McFaul’s claim.
Florida Republican Congress Matt Gaetz, who is skeptical about supporting Ukraine, recently tweeted “[m]aintaining Ukraine as an international money laundering Mecca isn’t worth this”, referring to the chance of nuclear war. Arguing that the US should not be involved in Ukraine because it could cost American lives is a legitimate view. But reducing the Ukrainians, who are being murdered and raped, to nothing but money launderers is cruel and takes away from the legitimacy of the view that Gaetz represents.
Everyone discussed above have held key roles in government and several still do. They have all built a public persona around their time in government. Their statements damage public sentiment and often undermine their own side. If their rhetoric is how they approach policy behind closed doors on serious matters like Russia-Ukraine, no one should have faith in them to make the right decisions.
Todd Carney is a lawyer and frequent contributor to RealClearPolitics. He earned his juris doctorate from Harvard Law School.
