The GOP: An unending display of toxic masculinity
In their head-spinning transition from apologists for Russian President Vladimir Putin to proponents of World War III, Republicans reveal not only their utter lack of principle but also their obsession with toxic masculinity. Winston Churchill’s favored saying “The Hun is always either at your throat or at your feet” neatly sums up the Republicans’ abrupt shift. Both expressions of wish fulfillment — admiring Russian ruthlessness and going to war — are features of a party in constant need of masculine affirmation.
So Putin has become an utterly reviled character, even in GOP circles? Donald Trump and his followers have simply switched to a more politically acceptable side from which to assert their masculine bona fides. The Post reports that at a recent GOP gathering, Trump mused that “the United States should label its F-22 planes with the Chinese flag and ‘bomb the s--- out of Russia.’ … ‘And then we say, China did it, we didn’t do it, China did it, and then they start fighting with each other and we sit back and watch.’ ”
Aside from its juvenile inanity and the lame defense — he was only joking! — these over-the-top military fantasies are not unique to Trump.
Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), always eager to find a tough guy to attach himself to (first John McCain; then Trump), announced Putin should be assassinated. Other elected Republicans trying to claim they were tougher than President Biden advocated a no-fly zone, which would escalate the chances of direct conflict between the United States and Russia. Like little boys playing at war, these Republicans don’t bother to think through the real-world consequences (war with an unhinged dictator with nuclear weapons).
https://wapo.st/3sOqngT