I have been thinking about this for a while

[tornado34jh]

As you all probably are aware, there are a lot of people in the United States who want the government to stop sending money and supplies to Ukraine. Of course, probably most of those are pro-Russia/Putin (e.g. MTG and others). But I think there is another reason for why they hate that we are sending support to Ukraine. I think they are mad that Volodymyr Zelenskyy didn't fall for the blackmail that Trump wanted to get against his political enemy Joe Biden and Hunter Biden, and hence he didn't help Trump win election. Why do you think a lot of people are all up in arms about Hunter Biden's laptop? They are mad Zelenskyy didn't fall for their blackmail

Before I continue, just a disclaimer: I am not from Ukraine, I have never been there, I don't personally know anybody from there. So I don't know everything going on there, I am just basing it on research and am really looking at it from the outside in. Now some context into what was going on in Ukraine at the time. Petro Poroshenko was President at the time when Viktor Shokin was appointed General Prosecutor of Ukraine, and this was about 1-1.5 years after Euromaidan. Now, corruption was and still is an issue in Ukraine. But also, one thing to keep in mind is that while Poroshenko was president, there was a call for parliamentary elections. The parliament, which is called the Verkhova Rada, had many MPs supporting the rebels in eastern Ukraine, particularly when Viktor Yankovych was president prior to Euromaidan.

Burisma, although based in Kyiv, it has its headquarters in Cyprus. Like many gas companies, there were allegations of money laundering and tax evasion, but the Ukrainian government at the time was not really that strong and prone to corruption. Now the owner is Mykola Zlochevsky (Mykola is the Ukrainian version of Nikolay or Nicholas), who was formerly the minister of natural resources under Viktor Yankovych. Burisma never discloses its finances, so from the start, Burisma is a somewhat dubious company.

Now Hunter Biden had no energy expertise, nor had any prior experience with Ukraine, but he was hired to do general corporate counseling, with Burisma Holdings. But again, everyone assumes there is a conflict of interest. Now how does this all tie in to the whole thing? Well, the whole basis of the conspiracy theory that the Republicans are basing off of is that Joe Biden withheld loan guarantees to pressure Ukraine into firing the prosecutor (Viktor Shokin) and thus it is a cover up. It essentially is their personal revenge against Biden for what they see is "unfair persecution" of their king Trump in regards to Russia. But here is the thing: In March 2016, the Ukrainian parliament overwhelmingly voted to oust him. Why? Well, after investigating the extortion of another company, it turns out there were associates who had in their possession diamonds, cash, and other valuable items. But in addition to that, they had documents and passports who belonged to Shokin. So that right there means Shokin was corrupt. He was corrupt and had a conflict of interest as well. So how then can you rely on someone who was weak against corruption and corrupt himself? Trust me, it wasn't just the US that thought that he was corrupt, the EU, IMF, and the World Bank said the same thing. Also, it is said he didn't really go after corrupt individuals like Mykola Zlochevsky, the owner of Burisma.

Now there are other things as well for why a lot of people don't want the government to give support to Ukraine, but I think this is one of the biggest reasons, at least for those in the MAGA cult.

[Meadowoak]

1. +1

[Phoenix61]

2. No it's not. It's too complicated for them to follow.

They are falling for FAUX snooze bs.

[tornado34jh]

7. Yet, the whole thing about Hunter Biden's laptop is a big talking point they promote

Fox News promotes that talking point a lot. You have to understand, they are in this cult mindset. While we know Trump has a lot of Russian money/oligarchs and that conflict of interest, they see that as an attack against their "king", and they are just trying to get back with this whole thing with Zelenskyy and Ukraine not investigating Hunter Biden with his dealings with Burisma.

[Phoenix61]

9. IMHO it's simpler than that. Fox News said

Hunter Biden’s Laptop and like a good bird dog they were off and running. If you ask them why they won’t have an answer anymore than they could explain “Hillary and Benghazi”

[canetoad]

3. Good post

Zelenskyy ran on the platform of defeating the corrupt cabal in Ukraine. The Manafort/Trump/Putin/Yanukovych platform.

[tornado34jh]

6. Look, I am not saying corruption is not found in Ukraine

But keep in mind, compared to other countries, it's a very young country trying to figure out what it wants to be. But I think we have found indicators of what they don't want. Look, even if Ukraine wins the war, they still have a lot to figure out how they want to become what they want to be, but I think they have some idea of how they think they might be able to do so.

[canetoad]

8. Very true

They are also in an awkward geographic position. That cannot be changed.

The election of a comedian to the presidency of Ukraine prompted derision from some people; look how that's turned out for them. Zelenskyy represents a NEW Ukraine and has become a cult figure in himself. This is good.

I keep reminding myself of the phrase, "nothing is static". Maybe Putin will die. Maybe his generals will pull the pin....

[ymetca]

4. In a way Zelensky

arose as the anti-trump - a media "clown" / outsider, which the public, having become so frustrated with all the government corruption, decided "sure, what the heck", and gave him the job. The same shock happened here. They're both "widespread desperation indicators".

The big difference, of course, is that Zelensky is smart and steady, while we put an unhinged madman in charge.

[tornado34jh]

5. True

But it's not like Zelenskyy wasn't able to be a leader. Although a lot of people think of him as a "comedian", most people don't know that he did get a law degree at Kryvyy Rih National University, so it's not like he didn't know what he was doing when he became president. Knowing us, we probably will end up getting a rapper as a president who has no idea of what he is doing.

[Justice matters.]

10. I also think it should not be ignored that he is not "alone" and has a lot

very "good" collaborators, women and men around him to help manage the day-to-day affairs.

[tornado34jh]

13. Indeed, he has people to help him there

But again, it is a very tough position as it is. Before the invasion, he had to deal with corruption and stuff, and he was not popular leading up to the invasion. Many people in Ukraine didn't think he knew what he was doing. But again, Zelenskyy knows he is under a lot of pressure with not really many good options. Ukrainians want nothing more than Russia out of Ukraine and the Russian government held accountable, but again, that may not happen for a while. The presidential term in Ukraine is 5 years, so if this war drags on and Zelenskyy is not reelected (I don't think that will be the case, but again, we can't be certain what it will be down the road), what will the next president do? Although you don't really hear it a lot, there are pro-Russian opposition parties in Ukraine. Not everyone in Ukraine likes Zelenskyy. Also, a lot of people want Ukraine to negotiate with Putin. We know that Ukrainians will not accept that, but again, it's not that simple, especially given the fact that there are divisions even in Europe in regards to support to Ukraine, particularly with the citizens of their respective countries and the government there.

[Mr.Bill]

14. I always figured Zelenskyy

was the equivalent of us electing Jon Stewart President, which probably wouldn't be a bad thing at all.

[Skittles]

11. you are correct

MAGAts hate Zelensky because he sees Trump for what he is, just as WE do

[tornado34jh]

12. Well, except for autocrats, who likes Trump?

Also, Kryvyy Rih, which is where Zelenskyy was born, is a steel/mining town on the banks of the Dnipro River. They are a no-nonsense people over there, and you have to be tough to live there. So he probably knows a lot of viewing outsiders, especially Russia with a huge amount of suspicion.