So Rand Paul seems to think that because Georgia and Ukraine were once republics in the Soviet Union, the USSR’s successor state, the Russian Federation is, if not to be forgiven for its invasions of these two sovereign states, at least deserving of everyone’s empathy. Of course, any number of contemporary sovereign states were once part of somebody’s empire: so we’re bound to view with some sympathy the UK’s invasion of Ireland, the US’s invasion of the Philippines, the French invasion of Algeria, the Italian invasion of Ethiopia, the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. 

Paul’s line of questioning to the Secretary of State at the recent hearing was a desperate attempt to make up something, anything that could present the Biden administration’s handling of Ukraine in a negative light. Paul has not gone so far as some of his fellow Trumpublicans and voiced a deep admiration for Putin & Co. and denounced the US’s unfair treatment of Putin, a political ally and friend of our former president.

Trumpublican behavior flows from their conviction that:

1) There is only one game worth playing, and that is the to-the-death fight with the Democrats.

2) Republicans are the ones who make the rules for that game.

3) The game must continue without interruption, regardless of any other crises and events.

4) In that game, there is no playing field too small.