August 11, 2016
Erick Erickson
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Speaking of the Bible, what does Erickson’s favorite book say about people willing to skimp on their friends?
The apostle Paul warned that “If anyone is unwilling to work, he shall not eat.” Christ stated in Matthew 5:37, “Let what you say be simply “Yes” or “No”; anything more than this comes from evil.” Moses commanded that “If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.”
Someone as Bible-literate as Erickson surely knows it’s a sin to break your word. The countries that joined NATO to ensure security from the Red Menace agreed to contribute to the common defense. Most parties have failed to do so. So the U.S. picks up the slack.
Is it fair? Hardly”only in a Kafka story would NATO’s funding arrangement look evenhanded.
Does that mean America should up and leave Eastern Europe out to dry? Russia still has the largest supply of nuclear warheads in the world. President Vladimir Putin shows no interest in curtailing the supply. His martial intervention in Ukraine is unnerving.
You don”t have to be a full-throated Putin critic to value the stability that competing global alliances bring. And you don”t have to be a booster of American imperium to see that the U.S.’s role as the global police chief is probably better to have than not.
Trump bringing attention to the fact that the majority of NATO nations are pikers living off America’s largesse isn”t a repudiation of the post”Cold War order. It’s a stating of truth: American taxpayers are paying for the defense of countries that can afford to defend themselves.
Erickson telling Trump backers to go to hell over a question of basic fairness is puerile, even for a professional chatter head. Then again, as a figurehead in the conservative movement, Erick has long been a bought-and-paid-for shill.
With hypocrites like Erickson, it’s far better to disregard their panicky reactions. When it comes to Trump criticism, never trust the accuser.
