United States House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has turned out to be an uber warmonger. He put this attitude on display in a Wednesday press conference in which he declared “I would rather send bullets to Ukraine than American boys” as support for his push for the House to approve spending billions of dollars more in support of Ukraine’s war effort against Russia.
Of course, the choice Johnson presented is a false choice that would only be acceptable to someone intent on war no matter what. A third alternative of butting out of the matter is available, despite Johnson’s assertion. Indeed, the entire war would likely have been prevented had the US butted out over the last few decades instead of taking actions including engineering a change in government in Ukraine and building up that nation’s military for attacking Russian areas of the country and then taking on Russia itself in a war. That war has led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian military members, as well as a smaller number of civilians and Russian military members.
Speaker Johnson spoke in his press conference like a tried-and-true member of the “fight to the last Ukrainian” cohort of the US government. But, then, immediately he took a further step. Once the Ukrainian military’s ability to fight is spent, Johnson indicated a next step should be taken. That step is to throw the American military directly into war against Russia. And, take note, this fight would be against a fellow nuclear power that is pursuing military action it sees as necessary for its preservation as a nation.
Johnson has reached a Dr. Strangelove level of war mania. Most Americans oppose this approach. Many members of the House over which Johnson holds leadership oppose it as well, including Republican members who are questioning how the fellow they chose for speaker has transformed before their eyes into a dangerous loon.
Will cooler head prevail and the march toward further escalation be rejected? Hopefully, yes. Johnson has proven to be a very dangerous man to entrust with so much power. To prevent much more suffering, enough House members must access the bravery necessary to oppose the speaker’s depraved objective and advocate for ending — instead of expanding — the US government’s efforts to harm Russia.
