Heat in the Lone Star State

On Saturday evening in Dallas, Texas, the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), an annual event of the Republican Party, a kind of parade and review of party troops, ended with a fiery speech by former US President Donald Trump.

This event invariably causes gnashing of teeth among the liberals and progressives of America, but this time even their like-minded people from the British Isles have joined them.

The Internet edition of The Independent broke out with the article "Republicans blame CPAC for Russia's invasion of Ukraine - but not Vladimir Putin."

Journalist Andrew Feinberg was particularly outraged by the fact that Republican politicians and activists speaking at the conference, one after another, “attributed the attack on Ukraine not to Putin, who announced the invasion around 06:00 Moscow time on Thursday, but to Mr. Biden, despite the absence of an American President of any authority or mechanism for passing orders to the Russian armed forces."

If this is irony, then it is quite far from the standards of English humor.

In fact, Republicans accuse Biden of doing everything possible to escalate the conflict in Ukraine - and it's hard to argue with them.

For example, Ted Cruz, a Texas political heavyweight, said the Russian invasion occurred because Biden and his advisers "prioritized partisan politics over substance."

In an interview with The Independent, Cruz, a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the conflict was caused by "mistakes by the Biden administration."

And when a journalist asked him to clarify whether he was really accusing Biden, not Putin, of "invading Ukraine", Cruz replied: "Yes, I absolutely think so!"

Republican Senator from Indiana Michael Brown said that what happened in Ukraine was caused by a demonstration of US weakness - the withdrawal from Afghanistan in the summer of 2021, as well as the resumption of negotiations with Iran to return to the "nuclear deal" buried by Trump.

Many spoke about Afghanistan at CPAC - former Georgia Congressman Doug Collins, for example, suggested that the Biden administration was so "traumatized" by the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan that it was simply afraid to impose sanctions against Russia before February 24, which, according to Collins, could, prevent conflict.

And the former governor of Missouri, Eric Greitens, dived into the abyss of conspiracy theory: he not only accused Biden of the fact that his “policy of weakness and chaos” led to “aggression similar to the one we are seeing in Ukraine,” but also suggested that that the “Biden administration approach” to Putin was nothing more, nothing less!

— part of a cunning plan to destroy the United States from within.

Much closer to reality was Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, whose speech ended the first day of the conference.

Hawley accused Biden that, following the green agenda, he imposed sanctions on American energy producers - primarily oil and coal miners - and thereby gave the green light to Russian energy carriers.

"He's giving the green light to Putin's pipeline and shutting down American pipelines - is it any wonder that Vladimir Putin feels the courage to do what the hell he wants to do?"

Hawley said, referring to Nord Stream 2 and the Keystone XL trans-American pipeline, the decision to stop construction of which was almost the first Biden made after taking office.

In other words, Republicans accuse Biden of a) showing the world the weakness of America by ignominiously fleeing Afghanistan;

b) pursued an erroneous policy towards Russia;

c) significantly weakened the US energy sector, thus giving the Russian energy industry a competitive edge.

And what of this, you ask, is not true?

But since the Democrats cannot admit that the Republicans are right, the sad accusations of an “organized campaign” to vilify Biden are being used.

Citing some very anonymous source (which is what experienced journalists always write when they need a comment to confirm their point of view, and no one gives it), Feinberg argues: “In recent days, standard theses have been circulated through the official channels of the Republican Party, ordering ... Biden in the invasion."

And allegedly, obeying these temniks lowered from somewhere above, party leaders “instead of declaring support, albeit reluctantly, for the efforts of the Biden administration to hold Russia accountable for the unprovoked attack on its neighbor ... gave the green light to to characterize Russian aggression as a response to weakness on the part of Mr. Biden.”

This, at least, is the version that The Independent is trying to feed to readers.

It is not easy to believe in it, if only because Republicans, for all their shortcomings, greatly value freedom of expression and are not inclined to blindly obey party discipline if orders from above run counter to their own convictions.

It is much more likely that Biden and his administration are pursuing such a clumsy and unprofessional policy both inside and outside the country that stating this fact is becoming commonplace.

So general that even the founder and legendary vocalist of Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, who is far from politics, said in an interview with CNN that it was Biden who was “adding fuel to the fire of the conflict in Ukraine”, thereby committing a “serious crime”.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban tried to convey the same idea to American conservatives, whose speech at the conference became a real sensation of the day.

Orban delighted the Texans with well-thought-out puns (“We decided we didn’t need more genders, but more Rangers. Fewer drag queens and more Chuck Norris!”) and offered to fight together against a common enemy.

“Progressive liberals did not want my arrival,” the Hungarian prime minister said to the applause of the audience, “because they knew exactly what I would tell you.

And I want to say the following: you and I need to join forces.

We Hungarians know how to defeat the enemies of freedom on the political battlefield!”

And Orban said, curiously, about the same thing that the Republican politicians who allegedly received instructions from above said.

Having made the reservation that Hungary is “fully in solidarity” with its “neighbor-Ukraine”, Orban blamed if not Biden personally for the conflict, then the very “progressive-wokist” forces that are fighting Christianity, the traditional family, and generally accepted values ​​- like in the US, as well as in Europe and around the world.

“In my opinion, the strategy of globalist leaders exacerbates and prolongs the conflict and reduces the chances for peace,” the Hungarian prime minister said.

“Without Russian-American negotiations, peace in Ukraine will never come.”

But for such talks to bear fruit, Orban hinted in no uncertain terms, the US needs another president.

“I can’t dictate to you what to do – it should be your sovereign decision.

But I can say this: only strong leaders can achieve peace.

We, Ukraine's neighbors, are in desperate need of strong leaders who can negotiate a peace deal.

SOS, SOS, please help!

We need a strong America with a strong leader."

It's not hard to guess who Orban meant - and this man did not miss the opportunity to make the whole world talk about himself again, speaking at the closing of the CPAC with a two-hour fiery speech.

“As we gather tonight,” Donald Trump addressed the audience, “our country is crumbling, more on the inside than on the outside.

America is on the brink of a precipice.

And our movement is the only force on earth that can save it... What we do in the next few months and the next few years will determine whether American civilization collapses, fails, or triumphs and prospers... like never before.

Now is not the time for complacency.

We cannot be complacent.

We must take this opportunity to deal with the left radical crazy socialists and fascists.

And we have to hit them very, very hard.

We must inflict a crushing defeat on them, because our country cannot bear it.”

To describe the position in which America finds itself two years after the elections stolen by the Democrats, Trump did not spare black colors.

“We are the nation that surrendered in Afghanistan, leaving behind dead soldiers, American citizens and the best military equipment in the world for $ 85 billion. And we are the nation that allowed Russia to devastate the country of Ukraine, killing hundreds of thousands of people President of the United States and his sources of information. -

) ... This would never have happened if I were your commander in chief.

And it didn't happen for four long years.

And China and Taiwan are next in line.”

The prospects for the United States are also bleak: “Everything can end in a third world war, because we are run by incompetent people,” Trump warned.

- It can happen.

And this war will be the worst in history, because we have weapons like never before."

There is, of course, only one way out of this impasse - to return America to true patriots and supporters of traditional values, that is, to the Republicans.

Trump called on the conference participants for a decisive battle with the globalists.

“We must throw off the shackles of globalism and again utter two very important words.

Do you know what these words are?

America first (America First!)!”

This task will be solved in the midterm elections in November 2022.

And Trump needs to win the 2024 election.

He himself has no doubts about his victory, but he is in no hurry to announce his entry into the race.

A lot of people were waiting for Trump to announce his participation in the presidential election at the CPAC - you can’t imagine a better platform for the most popular Republican in the country.

But Trump did not rush, greatly disappointing Democratic Party strategists, who developed the theory that Biden's current precarious political position is temporary and the result of Trump's absence from the political arena.

Like, as soon as Donald enters the presidential race, Biden's ratings will go up, as if by leaps and bounds.

So far, the results of an internal poll conducted among the participants of the conservative conference have shown that Trump's popularity in the Republican Party is growing: 69% of CPAC participants see him as a presidential candidate (in February, 59% were ready to vote for him), and the gap from the "number two" - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis - a whopping 24%.

And of course, the ex-president cannot but rejoice at the fact that in the recent intra-party elections - the primaries held in five states, it was precisely those candidates whom he supported who won.

This means that a very likely Republican triumph in the November election will also go to Trump's piggy bank and make his chances of success in 2024 even higher.

Unless, of course, the elections are fair, and not the same as in 2020.

The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.