Bottom Line Up Front:
False dilemmas and Russian expansion dominate MAGA commentary about Ukraine, creating dangerous straw man arguments that ignore both logical reasoning and historical reality. Commenters like Niketas Choniates at the New Neo blog twist Ukraine’s requests for military aid into extreme misrepresentations about “sending American boys to die” and “taking nukes” – classic false binary thinking that serves Russia’s interests while undermining America’s strategic position.
Many MAGA bloggers and commenters bash Ukraine while unknowingly supporting America’s longtime enemy, Russia, who has been responsible for countless American deaths since WWII by backing Communist countries and terrorist-supporting nations. These voices ignore Russia’s documented expansionist history and resent Ukraine for not delivering Trump’s political opponent Biden “on a silver platter” – while simultaneously blaming Ukraine for Trump’s 2020 loss.
The False Choice Fallacy
Commenter Niketas Choniates at the New Neo blog might know about students and data crunching, but he demonstrates zero understanding of security, defense, or strategic thinking when he writes about Ukraine. In response to Plans are afoot for trilateral Ukraine talks, Choniates deploys multiple rhetorical manipulation techniques:
If a country is in NATO, that is saying “America (and Europe) will send their boys to die there and take a nuke for it if necessary”. The more countries get added to NATO, the less likely that is, and NATO just becomes a paper tiger, its bluff will get called eventually, and then we either get a real war we never wanted, or NATO ends up on the ash heap with the League of Nations.
This represents classic straw man argumentation – misrepresenting Ukraine’s actual position by claiming they’re demanding American troops when Ukraine has consistently requested military equipment, training, and aid. False dilemma thinking follows immediately, presenting only two extreme options: either full military deployment with nuclear risk OR complete abandonment of Ukraine. Catastrophizing escalates every scenario to nuclear war to shut down reasonable discussion. Loaded language like “send their boys to die” and “take a nuke” creates emotional manipulation rather than factual analysis.
The rhetorical technique Choniates employs – twisting someone’s actual request into an extreme misrepresentation – constitutes argumentative bad faith designed to make Ukraine’s reasonable position appear unreasonable.
Russia’s Documented Expansionist Philosophy
Some history on what many nations see in Russia’s history, but not apparently many MAGA’ers. Mikhail Khodaryonok – Are Russia’s Enlargement Dreams Fulfillable?:
Russia will expand its territory by gathering lands and spaces, since constant expansion is not just one of the ideas, but the true existential of our historical existence. This opinion is expressed by individual representatives of the political class of the country.
In their opinion, for centuries the Russian state, with its harsh and inactive political interior, was preserved solely due to the relentless striving beyond its own borders. It has long forgotten how, and most likely never knew how to survive by other means.
External expansion, Russian thinkers believe, serves to defuse the internal tension that accumulates in society and which in no case should be released into the wild through liberal experiments.
Sticking one’s head in the sand to ignore what is going on around you is a terrible defensive position. Russia’s longtime threats to America aren’t going away by such a move. Ukraine could be the best ally America ever had – or at least in the Top 3. Look at how they have dealt with and are still dealing with Russia’s threats, attacks, and reinvasion after three-plus years!
What Happened to the Republican Party?
What has happened to the Republican party since Trump and the MAGA Cultists’ takeover of it? The party that once stood firmly against Russian expansion now creates false dilemmas that serve Putin’s strategic interests. Today’s MAGA commenters ignore decades of documented Russian hostility toward America, from supporting Communist regimes during the Cold War to backing terrorist-supporting nations in recent years.
The irony is staggering: these same voices that bash Ukraine for not delivering Biden “on a silver platter” to Trump simultaneously blame Ukraine for Trump’s 2020 election loss. They’ve created a no-win scenario where Ukraine becomes the villain regardless of actions taken. Meanwhile, Russia – America’s documented longtime enemy – gets a free pass from people who claim to put “America First.”
Neo has this up today – What would security guarantees for Ukraine look like? – where these same rhetorical patterns emerge. MAGA commenters continue pushing false choices while ignoring the strategic reality that supporting Ukraine weakens Russia without American boots on the ground.
Outro
Cut Through the BS
The bottom line is simple: when commenters like Niketas Choniates create straw man arguments about Ukraine, they’re doing Putin’s work for him. These false dilemmas and Russian expansion denial serve no American interest – they only help our longtime enemy maintain its aggressive posture while weakening our strategic position.
Ukraine is fighting the fight we’d eventually have to fight ourselves if Russia’s expansionist philosophy goes unchecked. Every dollar of aid to Ukraine costs far less than the alternative: facing a stronger, more aggressive Russia later when the stakes are higher and our options more limited. MAGA’ers who can’t see this basic strategic reality have lost their way completely.
Related Analysis:
This post builds on Trump Nobel Peace Prize Lust: Leads to Putin Praise, Ukraine Setup? and Déjà Vu All Over Again: Trump’s Security Assurances Echo Budapest Memorandum’s Security Assurances.