Washington Insider: Americans Supporters of Ukraine Express Mixed Views as to What a Shutdown will Mean

The United States is within hours of a shutdown with most national television services showing live countdowns of how many hours, minutes, and seconds until the US stops functioning normally. The top story across the nation is that Ukraine aid is the reason for the Congressional impasse. However, the views of Ukraine's American supporters are as diverse as the country of 332 million people.

A Republican city council member in Ohio, Jim Trakas, is "disgusted at a portion of Republicans who are Putin enablers and refuse to see the tremendous consequence of this folly of not supporting UKR robustly & quickly. Republican policies collapsed the USSR in nine years, the most consequential international policy achievement of the 2nd half of the 20th Century. How today's Republicans can mirror the head in the sand luddites of the 1930's is beyond me."

Seeing similar parallels to World War II, Andre, an American born in Hungary but raised in Germany, considers the House GOP to be "completely dysfunctional" and feels, "Nazi Germany taught us that once an expansionist empire starts moving on neighbors, it won’t stop until it is soundly defeated. We can help Ukraine beat Russia in Ukraine, or we’ll have to do it ourselves in Poland."

Not all are so pessimistic that a shutdown will lead to wider regional conflicts. Van, a California Republican who describes himself as a "personal friend of" US Speaker Kevin McCarthy, reflects that earlier this week the Speaker had noted that Ukraine has enough weapons for the next 45 days, potentially for more, and so he was confident that even if there is a shutdown America's "military aid will never stop until Ukraine crushes Russia."

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Sharing the view that the shutdown may not really be just about Ukraine, Nicolas Gomez, an American, says that "They’re not shutting down the government or rejecting the senate proposal just because of the Ukraine aid. It’s only the headlines that make it sound like that is the reason without stating whatever else is on the bill that they’re also rejecting."

This view is shared by Paul, an American from the east coast who believes that the government shutdown threats would have happened anyway even if Ukraine was not an issue. The Rs have made it an issue out of convenience. Ukraine support, which is widely popular, is being sacrificed because they have zero chance of punishing Ukraine as a stand-alone action."

Texan Greg Gaylor understands where the MAGA Republicans are coming from, saying "I’m a Reagan Conservative who supports Ukraine. Having said this, the situation in the US is intolerable. I live in Texas. Our communities are overwhelmed by the costs and crime coming from an open border."

Alex, a voter from Minnesota, said that "As a voter I am not pleased with the possibility of a government shutdown. The negative effects, such as closure of regional VA offices will be felt locally, while our national interests are also affected by interrupting aid to Ukraine, who is fighting Russia, our long term adversary. Russia in the meantime seems to be getting aid from the likes of Iran, China, and North Korea. We need to support Ukraine so it prevails in the war. This will send a strong message to authoritarian regimes that it’s not acceptable to attack a democracy."

Bruce Richart, an American, says that "I feel very frustrated by the Republicans in congress, they do not seem to grasp the importance of assisting Ukraine or funding the government." This frustration is shared by Mark Hayard of Alaska says that Congressmen ``[Margorie Taylor Greene', [Matt] Gaetz, [Lauren] Boebert, and the rest of the 'Republican' MAGA grifters are monetizing their obstructionism for clicks and contributions far beyond their districts. In doing so, they weaken the US & strengthen its enemies worldwide.``

Several voters, including Martin, told Kyiv Post that it was "Russian disinformation" that was driving the Republican party's fringes into the arms of Putin.

Today, the obstructionism, or 'contrarianism' in Washington DC, as one voter called it, has reached the point of absurdity, such that if "Joe Biden mentioned that he likes pants, some in our party would stop wearing them just to disagree."

This is what alarms Jay, an American resident of Kyiv, who notes that "Not acting sooner was our mistake. Now, Putin has joined forces with Iran, North Korea, a de facto annexation of Belarus, and pretty much every anti-American despot on earth to wage war on the collective west. Ukrainians are the only ones doing the heavy lifting on this and questioning our measly 5% of annual defense budget contribution seems incredibly short sighted. All other alternatives will require US boots on the ground in several theaters. Putin has been doing this since August 2008 and isn't stopping any time soon."

Like America itself, Ukraine supporters have diverse views on what the shutdown will mean - and how it will impact Ukraine.