As Dominic Pino and others have pointed out, opponents of Ukraine aid are seizing on the natural disaster in Hawaii. “See?” they say. “We’re sending American tax dollars to Ukrainians when our fellow Americans are in dire need.”
(For Dominic’s recent reply to the Heritage Foundation, go here.)
The government spends money on a lot of things. Interesting that opponents of Ukraine aid — a small part of our defense budget, a smaller part of our overall budget — should cite that when expressing indignation in behalf of Hawaiians.
We’re talking about an old, old trick.
In the 1980s, Democrats were big on “hot school lunches.” That was a phrase that tripped off Democratic tongues day after day. If there was some spending they didn’t like — usually military spending — they said, “How many hot school lunches would that buy?” And journalists and others dutifully did the math, figuring out how many school lunches a missile, let’s say, would buy.
(Lotta lunches.)
Over the entirety of my writing life — some 30 years now — I have recalled a cartoon published in the ’80s. I don’t know who drew it. Wish I could credit him. But as I remember, the cartoon went like this:
First panel: Tip O’Neill has his arm around Reagan and asks, “Do you know how many hot school lunches your $100 million in aid to the Contras would buy?” Second panel: “Yes, Tip — half as many as your $200 million in aid to Northern Ireland.”
Here’s what I think: If you want to make the case against Ukraine aid, go ahead and make it. If you think that Ukraine is not in the U.S. interest, say so. If you think that the government should be spending more in Hawaii, say so. But cut out the false linkages.
In my observation, opponents of Ukraine aid tend not to oppose such aid for fiscal reasons — though money may be a fig leaf. They tend not to be “budget hawks” in the rest of life. No, they oppose aid to the Ukrainians for other reasons.
I think, too, of the China-pivoters. “We have to save up our resources for Taiwan!” they say. “That’s what’s important, not Eastern Europe!” First, of course, the Taiwanese are keenly aware of what Ukraine means to them and their fate. But second: If Taiwan were under no threat at all — do you think the pivoters would then favor aid to the Ukrainians, as they fight a monstrous invader that is trying to subjugate them?