The Sad State of Conservative Journalism

January 7, 2023 russia, ukraine

By Cliff Kincaid

January 8, 2023

I received an email ad from a “conservative” website promising “Walter Cronkite-style” reporting. The terrible truth is that Walter Cronkite symbolized liberal media bias and used that bias with disastrous consequences for our nation and the world. That media bias today, some of which is on the right side of the political spectrum, aims to depict the Jewish President of Ukraine as a Nazi running a fascist regime. It is a variation of Russian KGB President Vladimir Putin’s communist propaganda.

The spurious reference to Cronkite’s “objectivity” demonstrates that a conservative audience is a special target for those peddling disinformation and propaganda about world events. It is evident in some of the “conservative” media coverage of Ukraine.

But the fact is that new House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, despite his flaws, has voted with the majority of Republicans in favor of aid to Ukraine.

Some “conservatives” are not prepared to recognize the role of former KGB colonel Putin and his comrades in the world today. They think Putin is just a misunderstood Russian nationalist defending Russia against an evil defensive alliance called NATO.

Putin was raised a communist and became a spy for the communist regime in Moscow. He never disavowed communism and in fact lamented the demise of the old USSR. His modern mission is to reassemble it, making him a junior partner of Red Chinese dictator Xi.

In light of this, consider a “conservative” column entitled, “How to Make Republicans and Others Ditch Ukraine.” And if Ukraine is to be ditched, why not Taiwan? Or South Korea?

It made me wonder if the author had wanted the French to ditch the American revolutionaries.

The columnist, Kurt Schlichter, was one of those pundits who had predicted a “Red Wave” and series of Republican victories on November 8. Now he is advocating a “debate” over the destruction of Ukraine and insists he is not a Putin puppet.

Or consider Breitbart writer Kurt Zindulka’s article about French President Emmanuel Macron’s “potentially escalatory move” in supplying old tanks to Ukraine for defense against Putin’s invasion.

Responsible conservatives — those devoted to Ronald Reagan’s anti-communist philosophy — should ask these outlets why it is escalation to engage in self-defense. Is it “escalation” to pull a gun on someone burglarizing your own home and murdering your wife and kids?

Almost every day brings more news of Putin’s brutality against the people of Ukraine. And Schlichter, Stephen K. Bannon, and Tucker Carlson want a “debate” over whether they should survive.

The Pentagon release, “Ukraine Troops to Get Bradley Fighting Vehicles,” is long overdue and should change the terms of the debate. JoeBama has been too slow in delivering the weapons Ukraine needs.

Townhall columnist Schlichtaer proclaims, “Sorry, Ukraine and Ukrainians, but America and Americans are more important to me than you.” He apparently doesn’t realize that Ukrainians are fighting their own war, and simply asking for our moral and military support.

As former U.S. Colonel Oliver North has noted, the Red Chinese are watching to see if America supports Ukraine, and what that means for the survival of the Republic of China on Taiwan.

Supporting Ukraine doesn’t mean we have to lose sight of domestic problems. On the contrary, Ukraine’s fight for freedom gives us hope.

Schlichter says he is concerned about other things, such as “Inflation. Crime. Perversions and communist CRT crap.” But the communist crap emanating from the mind of Vladimir Putin has to be addressed as well. He is a hard-core communist whose brutality is apparent for all to see. We addressed his effort to reconstitute the Soviet empire in our 2014 book, Back from the Dead: The Return of the Evil Empire.

Schlichter goes on to say, “Americans change their mind when Washington lies to them. Remember Vietnam? That Democrat war ended when the American people decided to stop it.”

During the 10-year period of the Vietnam War, 1965-1975, more than 58,000 Americans sacrificed and died to save that country from communism.

The truth is that Vietnam would be free today except for a Democratic-controlled Congress. Lewis Fanning’s excellent book, Betrayal in Vietnam, notes that “…it was not the Hanoi communists who won the war, but rather the American Congress that lost it.”

I have written extensively about the Vietnam betrayal and will repeat the lessons, as noted by Fanning. He wrote, “It was not until after the United States elections in the fall of 1974 that North Vietnamese field commanders received the go-ahead in their plans to conquer South Vietnam. As a result of the Watergate scandals, the Democrats had gained forty-three seats in the House. This liberal victory meant that in the 94th Congress there would be 291 Democrats and only 144 Republicans. In the Senate, the Democrats had gained three seats and the lineup was now 61 Democrats to 39 Republicans. This leftward shift of both congressional chambers played a significant role in the North Vietnamese decision to unleash its army.”

Going through the provisions of various bills offered by Democrats in Congress, he presents the case that “A Democratic caucus of the Congress of the United States, aided and abetted by a few liberal Republicans, cast the South Vietnamese people into Communist slavery.”

That left-wing caucus, Members of Congress for Peace through Law, decided that American military involvement would end, and dramatically reduced aid to the government of South Vietnam. Republican President Gerald Ford, who took power after Richard Nixon’s resignation, understood that Congress would not provide enough assistance to keep the country free of communism. Hundreds of thousands of “boat people” tried to escape the Hanoi communists who took power in Saigon while the communist Khmer Rouge took power in neighboring Cambodia, eliminating almost two million people.

The American backing of South Vietnam wasn’t a lie; it was an honorable and noble mission for freedom. We are also backing South Korea for the same reason. It is why we should continue to back Ukraine – and the Republic of China on Taiwan.

So-called “conservatives” who don’t recognize what’s really happening in the world and urge the abandonment of Ukraine are undermining the fight for freedom in the world today.

We should ditch their defeatist no-win attitude.

E-Mail Cliff Kincaid: kincaid@comcast.net