One might wonder how President Donald Trump arrives at his present position where insults and threats are supposed to yield positive results. Take the Greenland suggestion and imagine you were Denmark. The price just went up simply because the negotiator-in-chief insulted the owner. Not a very good tactic. Canada followed us to Afghanistan. Willingly. And now it appears our president’s goal is to belittle, not only one of our military allies, but one of our largest trade partners as well. Opinion Then there’s Ukraine. Here we have a nation fighting for their lives against an invading nation led by a ruthless dictator who has our president entranced by a bromance fantasy. Not exactly a good approach to growing and sustaining democratic norms. The fascination Trump has with Russian President Vladimir Putin is strange. The public statements are all over the wrong map. The president’s actions resemble more that of a freelancing Russian asset than the leader of the free world. If he is not an asset, then he is most certainly the Kremlin’s useful tool fueled by flattery. And Republicans follow him — knowing there is a cliff ahead. Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso was just reelected to a six-year term. He will outlast the president by at least two years. But the wholesale political intimidation that is occurring across the Republican spectrum is troubling.  From the cancellation of security clearances to the removal of security detail protections, the clear point is to punish and force people into compliance. Support of Ukraine should be a no-brainer. We need elected officials to stand up for what they know is strategically important to our nation despite the political intimidation and blowback from an electorate that seems to have forgotten the importance of keeping Putin in check. The money we have contributed to Ukraine’s fight against Russia so far has replenished our old weapon stocks with new munitions made in domestic factories. Our contributions have depleted nearly a third of the Russian Army. As a U.S. senator, in leadership, it is as though Barrasso has made the decision to accept a certain political fate to avoid the wrath of a tyrannical Trump. I can understand and sympathize with this, but it doesn’t change the role that leadership demands. In these times of polarized politics, leadership requires more than the undoing of what a predecessor pushed. There is no current public pushback to dangerous policies such as support for Russia or a trade war.  The Republicans have replaced the feckless policy of the previous administration with spineless policy concerning Ukraine. How can any U.S. senator or representative support anything that aids Russia? The champagne must flow freely every night in Moscow. If Americans cannot get the very biggest of things right, such as seeing Russia  as a certified aggressor and adversary, we will never get the small issues right. We will pay politically for the false narratives Republicans have bought into. And we will pay economically when the world finds new sources in place of our exports. We will pay militarily because allowing Ukraine to fall will embolden others such as China to pursue smaller nations. Contrary to the president’s opinion, we are a poorer nation to follow him. The post Barrasso should know better than to let Trump’s bromance with Putin go unchallenged appeared first on WyoFile . ...read more read less