Apparently, we the people of the United States weren’t the only ones watching the Groundhog Day cycle of the last week in the House of Representatives. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine was watching closely, too.

After all, if he doesn’t know who is Speaker of the House, then how will he know who to hit up for his next influx of cash? Joe Biden? Biden can’t even remember how to complete a sentence without help.

So once the fifteenth floor vote finally resulted in McCarthy winning a majority for Speaker of the House, Zelensky was quick to offer his congratulations on Twitter – and a rather pointed reminder.
https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1611607679008481285
Wow. That’s some serious chutzpah there. “Hi, remember me? Congratulations and remember, I need money to keep fighting Russia! You like it when we win against Russia, right? MONEY. Love, Volodymyr.”

Let’s leave aside the content of the message for the moment. The president of Ukraine – an actual head of state of a legitimate government – TWEETED at the new Speaker of the House to congratulate him. DUDE. YOU ARE THE PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE. THIS IS TACKY. Did the formal letterhead stationery get burned up at some point? Do you no longer have any kind of presidential staff? Could you at least handwrite a note and have it delivered by courier or something? You are literally the same age as I am, and I at least know how to write a thank you note properly. You’re not so young that you think Twitter is the only way to communicate, ESPECIALLY when you are planning on asking for financial aid. MANNERS, President Zelensky. Yes, you are at war, but guess what? Courtesy costs nothing. Which is great, since you’re asking for money.

Okay, now that I have pointed out the problem with the delivery of this message, we can talk about the message itself. Obviously, it is in Zelensky’s best interests for the 118th Congress to be seated and sworn in. Why, imagine if this voting had gone on for months and months and months and Ukraine was unable to get any additional funding because the House wasn’t able to vote on another aid package! Did Zelensky care who ended up as Speaker? Probably not, because both sides, with few exceptions, have been a rubber stamp for financial and materiel aid to Ukraine. Perhaps the new rules would at least ensure some actual debate and some real oversight of where that money is going? Regardless, Zelensky only needed to know which person to tag in his tweet. The message would have been the same if Hakeen Jeffries had become Speaker.

I’m also not sure what “common victory” Zelensky is pushing. His vision of “victory” involves pushing Russia out of all of Ukraine, including Crimea – which Russia has held since 2014. That is not going to be a workable endgame, considering how Russia is entrenched in that area, and how Putin is willing to draft and sacrifice his own troops with little thought of their survival. In sheer numbers, Ukraine will not be able to match up against Russia – which is why they are relying on the financial aid and the advanced weaponry of the West.

In principle, I am not opposed to supporting Ukraine. But if the American taxpayer is footing the bill, then I want to know what the endgame is. At what point does Zelensky get pushed into agreeing that they have to negotiate an end to the war with Russia? We can’t be an unlimited ATM for Ukraine, or their military weapons and materiel equivalent of Costco. It’s easy to keep asking for money and giving money when you can justify the reasons – just look at all the people who have taken out college loans in the name of “higher education” who are shocked, SHOCKED, when the bill comes due. The bill is not going to come due for Ukraine. The bill will come due for the American taxpayer. Where. Does. It. End?

Featured image: original Victory Girls art by Darleen Click