How Are the 'Freedom Fighters' of Nicaragua Different from Ukrainians?

Ronald Reagan is so disgusted with today's conservatives that he has joined the Democratic Party

Courtesy of Investiaction 

It is now a sign of one’s conservative street creds to be against supporting Ukraine. One of the leaders of the modern-day Republicans, Vladimir Putin, has staked his country’s reputation on the notion that Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is a Nazi sympathizer. 

Zelensky is Jewish. He is a Ukrainian patriot. The man is not unlike any of our own heroes who fought the British centuries ago, and yet, for some reason, maybe because Tucker Carlson said, “You know, Zelensky is actually a very corrupt person,” they want Ukraine to be overrun and erased by Russia. 

If the U.S. stops supporting Ukraine, Russia will eventually win. Let me say this: As much as I disliked Ronald Reagan, he would never deny the brave warriors of Ukraine the support needed to defeat Russia’s fascist revolution. 

Never.

The Hammer and Iran-Contra

Oliver North code-named the Hammer. Does his name sound familiar? It should be to most historically aware Americans. You may remember him as the guy who took the 5th on live television to avoid incriminating himself. In the same breath, he told the world he was honest and hinted at hero status because he was an officer in the United States Marine Corps. Millions of would-be Trumpists fell in love with him when he uttered those words.

North attained the rank of lieutenant colonel. He worked as a staff member for the National Security Council. He played a pivotal role in Reagan’s unlawful operation to supply arms to the Contras, or “Freedom Fighters,” as he called them, in Nicaragua. 

Ronald Reagan’s efforts to eradicate Communism spanned the globe, but the insurgent Contras’ cause in Nicaragua was particularly dear to him. Battling the Cuban-backed Sandinistas, the Contras were, according to Reagan, “the moral equivalent of our Founding Fathers.” Under the so-called Reagan Doctrine, the CIA trained and assisted this and other anti-Communist insurgencies worldwide (The Iran-Contra Affair).

Reagan’s covert war, which broke multiple laws (The Boland Act, for one), was unconstitutional and rose to “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Support among conservatives was nearly unanimous. It didn’t matter to “America’s patriots” that the Contras were involved heavily in the drug trade, resulting in a cocaine-free-for-all that may or may not have sparked the crack epidemic. 

It did not matter to the future Trumpists that Oliver North and his team provided weapons to our sworn enemy in Iran. None of these acts offended their “America first” sensibilities simply because Reagan preached that it was a good idea. Simply because it was a program put forth by a Republican president, which meant that the tribal mentality, while not as rabid and zombifying as it is today, would dictate that the operation would have to be supported if one considered himself a card-carrying conservative. 

The Reagan operation was even worse than many knew. Yet, not even a whisper of indignation could be heard by conservatives then — not to mention today, probably because most conservatives today don’t have the slightest understanding of U.S. history — when it was learned that the administration was trading arms with Iran to release hostages. Once some aspects within Reagan’s team realized that Iran could be a clandestine source for financing, the transfer of funds and weapons to the Contras was underway.

The arms-for-hostages proposal divided the administration. Longtime policy adversaries Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and Secretary of State George Shultz opposed the deal, but Reagan, McFarlane, and CIA director William Casey supported it. With the backing of the president, the plan progressed. By the time the sales were discovered, more than 1,500 missiles had been shipped to Iran. Three hostages had been released, only to be replaced with three more, in what Secretary of State George Shultz called “a hostage bazaar (The Iran-Contra Affair).”

As Gary Webb reported in 1996 in The San Jose Mercury News, the crack epidemic was a direct of U.S. support of the contras. Webb’s report kicked off a firestorm of denials at the highest levels of the government, and eventually, the paper backed away from the story. In 2004, Webb committed suicide, perhaps in reaction to the refusal by many in the journalistic profession to believe his story. Who knows why anyone undertakes such an act? 

Did the CIA, in its support of the Contras, launch the crack epidemic, as Webb suggests? Maybe, maybe not; again, who knows? Certainly not me and I don’t like soiling myself in conspiracy theories. Proving this, however, is not the purpose of this article. You would think, however, that with all of the dirt related to the Contras and all of the unconstitutionality of the order by Reagan — or someone close — to create the scheme that became the Iran-Contra Affair, conservatives today might regard the Nicaraguan “freedom fighters” in a different light. You would think, right?

Well, forgetaboutit! The Iran-Contra Affair was like the Garden of Eden for modern-day Republicans. The moment they got a taste of breaking laws, which they justified as being okay because the crimes were meant to make America safer and more robust — according to them — they found out that the taste of unconstitutionality was not a bitter one but instead to their liking. From Iran-Contra on, the Republicans have made it a hobby to stomp on our Constitution and traditions if it justifies their view of something.

This leads us to their dislike for President Zelensky of Ukraine. First of all, it was because of him, they think, that Trump was impeached the first time. Trump was impeached because of himself. Conservatives also believe that Zelensky is somehow wrapped up in the “Biden crime family,” so why should they support a person in Biden’s crew? Putin was Trump’s friend, and he is also vehemently anti-gay, which also thrills most conservatives. 

America is protecting Ukraine in the way much of the world reacted when Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Even though the French and British didn’t send troops to Poland in 1939, they immediately declared war on Germany. Eventually, World War II would result in the end of fascist Germany. America’s conservatives today were similar to the isolationist America First Committee of 1940. 

President Biden and most Americans accept that Russia’s fascist revolution must be stopped. We cannot let Russia get the easy wins that Germany did. We must crush them in Ukraine. The conservatives of our country are historically ignorant and cowards. If you ask them about the Contras, most will immediately call them patriots, similar to our American revolutionaries of 1776. 

If you ask them about the Ukrainian patriots defending their homeland and families from Russia’s genocide, most will roll their eyes and repeat Putin’s bullshit.

Ronald Reagan has washed his hands of these losers. His spirit has disowned them for their cowardice and treasonous behavior.