Are Arizona Congressmen Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs pro-Russian shills?
That’s what Arizona Republic columnist EJ Montini argued in a post made on March 22, 2022.
In the post titled “Reps. Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar are the proud Putin wing of Arizona’s GOP,” Montini called out the two Arizona elected officials for being two of the 17 House representatives who voted against a Russian oil prohibition as a response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The “Putin wing” of the Republican Party is a term that Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney coined when she criticized the America First Political Action Conference that was held on the weekend of February 25, 2022. At that conference, attendees and speakers expressed non-interventionist views with regards to the Russo-Ukrainian conflict.
In addition, Biggs was one of 8 members in the House to vote against legislation that got rid of Russia’s “most favored nation” status in the World Trade Organization. This legislation would empower the Biden administration to implement higher tariffs against Russia.
Montini called out Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, and Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene for joining Biggs and Gosar in not fully buying into the anti-Russia hysteria and voting lockstep with the interventionist uniparty.
The Arizona Republic columnist lumped these Republican congressional leaders in with the “rants of Fox News’ Tucker Carlson” to demonstrate that there is some supposed pro-Putin axis taking root on the American populist Right. In our polarized era of politics, there is no room for nuance. One can be against hawkish legislative behavior towards Russia on non-interventionist grounds, but not condone the Russian Federation’s military actions.
This is lost among mainstream commentators. Moreover, these establishment journalist types have a more insidious agenda. One that is meant to dehumanize and silence their opposition by labeling them as “traitors” or “fifth columnists.” For them, facts don’t matter. Instead, it’s all about using certain crises like the Russo-Ukrainian War to justify a crackdown on free speech and dissident thought.
We live in a post-fact and post-persuasion society. It’s time that we acknowledge that and maneuver politically in the appropriate manner.
