Tucker Carlson, the previous Fox Information spinmeister, simply paid a go to to Moscow, the place he was carefully adopted round city by an admiring state media earlier than topping off his journey with a cordial, two-hour interview with Russia’s dictator, Vladimir Putin.
To earn his place as one of many Kremlin’s favourite stooges, Carlson has made himself an enthusiastic human spigot for Russian propaganda justifying the invasion of Ukraine. On the time of Russia’s preliminary assault, Carlson challenged his Fox viewers to provide you with any good cause for People to hate Putin. “What has Putin ever achieved to me?” Carlson wished to know — a query akin to somebody within the Nineteen Thirties saying, “I’m not a Jew, so why ought to I hate Hitler?”
The interview permits Putin to speak on to an American viewers — particularly America First conservatives who’re doubtful about the necessity to defend Ukraine, in addition to broader U.S. geopolitical pursuits, by responding forcefully to Russian aggression. In his chat with Carlson, Putin delved deeply right into a Russia-centric model of historical past to justify the brutal seizure of Ukrainian territory and made a pitch for ending the battle by means of negotiation. The Kremlin kleptocrat stated all the US must do is let Russia hold the land already stolen and open the way in which for a Russia-friendly regime in Kyiv. In different phrases, the worth of peace is betrayal of the individuals of Ukraine who’re combating to flee a grim historical past and develop into a part of the free West.
Putin’s scheme will get a sympathetic reception from a majority of congressional Republicans. They’ve already efficiently subverted the reason for democracy through the use of navy help to Ukraine as a bargaining chip to get Democrats to signal on to a troublesome immigration invoice. This week, they introduced they didn’t need the invoice in spite of everything, as a result of it will take away from the GOP and former President Donald Trump a key level of assault within the 2024 marketing campaign. Assist to Ukraine thereby grew to become a collateral casualty within the Republicans’ brazen political sport.
If Russia’s different favourite stooge, Trump, is returned to the White Home, there will be little doubt that the shameful, treacherous path laid out by Putin in his interview with Carlson will likely be eagerly adopted by a second Trump administration and the MAGA caucus on Capitol Hill. Ought to that occur, it is going to be the second that the US totally and eventually abdicates its function as chief of the Free World.
See extra of David Horsey’s cartoons at: st.information/davidhorsey
View different syndicated cartoonists at: st.information/cartoons
Editor’s be aware: Seattle Occasions Opinion now not appends remark threads on David Horsey’s cartoons. Too many feedback violated our neighborhood insurance policies and reviewing the handfuls that had been flagged as inappropriate required an excessive amount of of our restricted employees time. You’ll be able to remark through a Letter to the Editor. Please e-mail us at letters@seattletimes.com and embody your full title, deal with and phone quantity for verification solely. Letters are restricted to 200 phrases.