The shameful letter www.cnn.com/… written by 30 "progressive" members of the Democratic Party urging the United States to negotiate with Russia regarding Ukraine has been withdrawn.
In withdrawing the letter representative Jayapal embarrassed herself further by blaming the publication on staff
The Congressional Progressive Caucus hereby withdraws its recent letter to the White House regarding Ukraine,” Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington state, said in a statement. “The letter was drafted several months ago, but unfortunately was released by staff without vetting. As Chair of the Caucus, I accept responsibility for this.”
The cowardliness expressed in the letter is mirrored the way it was withdrawn. Possibly the wthdrawl was motivated by letters sent to signatory Members like the one I sent to my Representative, Alma Adams,
"I am very disappointed that you signed that letter to President Biden regarding Ukraine. I read it twice including all the qualifiers. But the bottom line is this: the letter suggests that there should be direct negotiations between the United States and Russia.
This is exactly the position the Russians take. They do not accept the existence of Ukraine as a country. They say that this entire conflict is between Russia and NATO, primarily the United States as the leader of NATO. By writing this letter you have put yourself in the Russians camp. And you have also aligned yourself with the MAGA Republicans.
It doesn't make any difference that that was not your intent. It doesn't make any difference that you put in a bunch of qualifying language about supporting Ukraine. The net effect of the letter is exactly as I described above. And you should have had enough sense to realize it.
I am very disappointed.
As a lifelong yellow dog Democrat and a veteran there are few occasions when I am ashamed of members of my party. This is one of them."
Several members who signed the letter went on the records saying that they had signed it back in June and would not do so today. They also said things like “timing is everything.”
That is all well and good but it ignores the fact that even in June this would've been a terrible letter to send. These people are either naïve or extremely ill informed. Anyone paying attention knew from the beginning that this was an aggressive war started by Russia that can only end when they withdraw. Anything else is appeasement. And the suggestion that Americans could not stand to experience a little discomfort in the defense of democracy is embarrassing.