Leftist congressional Dems turn against Biden on Ukraine.

Under pressure, they withdraw their letter saying so.

Yesterday, a group of 30 far-left House Democrats sent a letter to the White House that, in the words of the Washington Post, urges Joe Biden “to dramatically shift his strategy on the Ukraine war and pursue direct negotiations with Russia.” Pramila Jaypal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, led this gang of 30.

The Post notes that this was the first time prominent Democrats have pushed Biden to change his approach. Change it how? By undertaking a “proactive diplomatic push, redoubling efforts to seek a realistic framework for a cease fire.”

As I was writing this article, Rep. Jaymal announced that she and her Progressive Caucus are withdrawing the letter. Nonetheless, it’s fair to view the letter as reflecting what the 30 leftists who signed it actually believe.

The current administration policy, with which I agree, is that it’s up to Ukraine, an independent nation and the victim of Russia’s aggression, to negotiate (or not) with Russia. The administration is prepared to participate in negotiations but says, in Biden’s words: “Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine, it’s their territory [and] I’m not going to tell them what to do.”

In response to the Jaypal gang of 30’s letter, the State Department pointed out that Russia has indicated no desire to end its invasion via a negotiated settlement. The administration is communicating with Russia, most recently via its Secretary of Defense.

Putin, having staked so much on conquering Ukraine, isn’t about to come away from this war without at least an additional slice of that country. Thus, the idea of an acceptable negotiated settlement at this juncture seems like a pipe dream.

All the Jaypal gang’s letter accomplished was to feed Putin’s hope that the West is tired of this war and will not continue to back it at the level needed to defend Ukraine. He can now hope that a coalition of Trumpy Republicans and leftist Democrats will limit, if not eventually end, U.S. funding for Ukraine’s brave resistance.

The withdrawal of the letter won’t change Putin’s calculus much. The 30 who signed haven’t “unthought” the sentiments they expressed.

If anything, then, the letter makes a negotiated settlement in the near term even more of a fantasy than it already was.

Now let’s turn to the Post’s coverage of the Jaypal letter. The Post, which supports Biden’s Ukraine policy, gives her and her gang a fair hearing, as it should. The Post states the rationale behind the letter, as well as the counter arguments, leaving it to readers to decide who has the better case.

This stands in marked contrast to the Post’s coverage of the objections lodged by some Republicans to Biden’s Ukraine policy. The Post consistently gives short shrift to GOP arguments for limiting aid and (as discussed below) at times mischaracterizes the position of certain Republicans.

In today’s article about the Jaypal letter, the Post had this to say:

The [30 far-left] lawmakers are at pains to differentiate themselves from the Republicans who are also challenging Biden’s approach to Ukraine. Some conservatives are now questioning U.S. aid to Ukraine because of its cost and, in a few cases, voicing apparent sympathy for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Has any GOP member of Congress (the population at issue in the Post’s article) voiced sympathy for Putin? If so, the Post fails to identify him or her.

Moreover, the Jaypal letter also referred to the cost of providing military aid to Ukraine, a perfectly legitimate consideration. The issue some Republicans raise is whether the benefit of this spending to the United States outweighs its cost. I believe it does, but the question is a fair one.

The Post doesn’t mention it. Instead, the paper tries to leave the impression that GOP opponents of aid to Ukraine are penny-pinching Putin supporters.

But that’s better, I suppose, than his dishonest piece by the Post’s Greg Sargent. He states: “The guy likely to become House speaker is openly declaring that Republicans might not continue U.S. military aid to Ukraine.”

That’s not true. What “the guy,” Kevin McCarthy, actually said is: “I think people are going to be sitting in a recession, and they’re not going to write a blank check to Ukraine.” Declining to write a blank check is worlds apart from discontinuing aid.

Sargent’s dishonesty is in furtherance of a pro-Democrat election talking point — that a Democratic Congress will strongly back Ukraine, whereas a Republican will not. The Jaypal letter weakened this contention. If Democrats don’t stand united in favor of robust funding for Ukraine, Congress might not appropriate such funding even if Democrats somehow retain control of the House.

It’s very unusual for a member or a faction of Congress to “withdraw” a letter like this one. Jaypal clearly came under unusual pressure to withdraw hers. I suspect that the political considerations described in the preceding paragraph accounted for more than a little bit of that pressure.