The US Right's Zelensky Problem

Yesterday, the Never Trump, Not Quite Zelensky Hot Air blog quoted Don Jr:

According to senior officials, [Biden's Lend-Lease] proposal, which includes $20.4bn in military aid, $8.5bn in economic aid and $3bn in humanitarian aid, is needed to "enable Ukraine's success over the next five months of this war".

Responding to the report, former president Donald Trump's eldest son suggested that the fund sent by the US would be "looted by corrupt politicians".

"Hard pass. How about we use it to help Americans in need? Or to perhaps secure our border? Maybe get our energy sector going again? Education? No, instead we’ll give it to one of the most corrupt countries in the world, where I’m sure most will be looted by corrupt politicians," he wrote on Twitter.

A little over a week ago, Tucker Carlson said,

"Inflation is higher than it's been in generations, maybe than it has been ever, depending on how you measure it," Carlson said.

"So Joe Biden's response is that he is going to print a lot more money and send it to the Government of Ukraine."

. . . "Shouldn't we have an audit of Zelensky's finances first?" Speaking mockingly, Tucker continued: "'Ooo shut up, that is Russian disinformation."

Among the tiny number of "no" votes on the lend-lease package was Madison Cawthorn, who himself has an established record as a fabulist and is dogged with ethics accusations, and who has previously called Zelensky "a thug". These appraisals are remarkably tone-deaf and to my mind call the judgment of Trump Jr, Carlson, and Cawthorn into question.

The first issue that comes to my mind is that there's an across-the-board consensus that Russian corruption has been a major factor in the astonishingly poor performance of the world's second largest army in Ukraine. This includes allegations that the generals have sold off critical components of the army's equipment and that they've padded the numbers in their units to collect the salaries of non-existent soldiers, as well as the imputation that senior officers are promoted for reasons other than military capability.

On the other hand, the Ukrainian armed forces have far outperformed expectations, sinking a major Russian warship, effectively denying Russia air superiority, and bringing the Russian blitzkrieg to a halt. If on one hand, Russian ineffectiveness can be attributed at least in part to corruption, to what can we attribute Ukrainian success? If Ukraine is corrupt, it must be far less so than Russia, judging at least by military effectiveness. By the same token, both Carlson and Trump Jr are clearly claiming that aid to Ukraine will be siphoned off in baksheesh, when every indication is that Ukraine is capably and effectively using every resource it's been given.

There are always red-flag indicators that trigger an audit (to be specific, this would be a "forensic" audit; there are also routine audits that are done periodically anywhere). The company's finance chief commits suicide, say. A branch VP suddenly buys a big yacht. A whistleblower goes to the IRS. Audits of this sort are the result of smoke-that-could-be-fire. As far as anyone can tell, Zelensky himself has no secret yachts in the Mediterranean. Much as Carlson and Trump Jr would like to find something like that, so far, nobody's come up with anything.

In fact, it said a great deal about Zelensky that the Biden administration apparently assumed he'd be like any other third-world dictator and flee the country with his cronies, mistresses, and pallets of cash, offering him a C-130 to skedaddle when the blitzkrieg got under way. His famous response was that he needed ammunition, not a ride.

The next factor to my mind is that handsome is as handsome does. I'm not the only person to note that his wartime leadership overall has been at the Lincoln or Churchill level. One key thing he's undersood has been that his job isn't just to rally the Ukrainian domestic population to make enormous sacrifice; it's been to make his case with world leaders. As a result, a country like Brazil, which has no dog in Ukraine's fight and had been neutral at best toward Ukraine, has turned around and pledged ammunition.

If Zelensky is on the take, it isn't showing in his job performance, which in part consists of a low-key, purposeful public persona reflecting a full-time dedication to the job at hand -- he dresses in khaki T-shirts and cargo pants and goes unshaven, sort of a Fidel Castro without the mugging for the camera. This isn't how oligarchs act.

The last factor I'd note is that as Aquinas says, sin dulls the intellect. For whatever reason, Putin convinced a generation of politicians that he was a brilliant guy, but when push came to shove, he turned out to be pretty dumb. On the other hand, Zelensky is turning out to be remarkably sharp. If he's using the office copier to file his tax returns, or if he's taking ballpoints home with him, I've got to think that's about the extent of it.

I don't know if Don Jr's views reflect those of Trump Sr. If they do, Trump is toast. The fact is that for whatever reason -- possibly because Secs Blinken and Austin have managed to cut out a sphere of discretion where Biden will just leave them alone -- Biden has somehow got on the right side of this issue and at least hasn't been badly damaging himself with it. I can't say the same for some swaths of the US Right.