An unsurprising affront
Published 10:43 pm Thursday, October 29, 2026
After being born and then living within the United States for nearly five decades, I increasingly find the nation’s internal dysfunction hard to stomach. One faction’s basic plan espouses “making America great again” by mistreating immigrants, gaslighting the citizenry from the realities of the economy and ignoring who is responsible for the on-going damage to our international integrity and alliances. Now we witness that faction’s adherents falling in line behind a president who openly supports a dictator.
Despite the increasing internal dysfunction, none of the president’s affronts to our society and the rules-based international order are surprising to anyone who has been paying attention since 2015.
The Cold War ended decades ago with the U.S. defeating the Soviet Union. Yet, that war seemingly had a hiccup. A dictator eventually took over Russia, and that dictator is now defended by a U.S. president. And that president has apparently completely forgotten who the aggressor was on Feb. 24, 2022. Four and half years of bloodshed, destruction and malice by one man in a position of power: Vladimir Putin. A dictator who also supports Iran, a nation in which the U.S. has been in a voluntary war since Feb. 28, 2026.
Sanctions, as per the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, have been waived by the U.S. president’s recent Executive Order. He has also placed blame on skyrocketing fuel prices on the Ukrainian president despite Zelensky’s obvious actions to defend his nation. Then, with a revolting irrationality, the U.S. president stated that Zelensky “doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did.”
If we were reading about these actions and statements about another nation supposedly involved in sensitive diplomatic actions to help stop a foreign war, we would likely wonder what had occurred to their leadership. How did that nation lose its way? What clouded the judgement of those in power? How are their citizens coping with the seemingly crippling dysfunction?
We don’t really have to wonder. At least one foreign leader, who is directly affected by the U.S.’s dysfunction, has offered his disbelief. Ukrainian President Zelensky recently stated, “If [the] United States will support Putin, I mean, it’s unbelievable. It’s a tragedy. It’s a historic mistake and a big tragedy.”
Of course, Zelensky is absolutely correct. Even from within his war-torn nation, he can see clearly about the damage being done by a few people in positions of power thousands of miles away. A President who no longer hides his support of a foreign dictator. A Secretary of Defense concerned more with testosterone levels and firing extremely qualified generals rather than successfully concluding another voluntary foreign war. And a Secretary of the Treasury concerned with blaming a previous administration for increasing costs related to the current administration’s detrimental economic choices. And those poor choices’ effects are being exacerbated by Ukrainians defending their nation. Instead of rallying behind Zelensky’s actions to defend his nation from a dictator’s aggression, the U.S. president condemns those actions because of the damage being done to his faction’s chances in the midterm election.
While we witness internal finger pointing and a lack of accountability for obvious colossal errors, we must grapple with the dysfunction. We must listen to those reminding us of historic mistakes and tragedies. We must recognize that the U.S. is in a dangerous place, as the dysfunction is severely hampering us now as well as our future. We must recognize that the rebuilding process in Ukraine and in the U.S. is going to take a generation or longer.
Rebuilding the physical destruction will take less time, though, than rebuilding of the U.S.’s credibility abroad and its populace’s mental health, as we are grappling with the idea of a U.S. president openly supporting a Russian dictator. Supporting Putin is a tragic mistake of historic proportions. Unfortunately, this affront is unsurprising given the choices of one man who simply can’t have enough.
Dan Brigman is a Warrensburg resident.
