The Maine State Legislature continued Thursday to debate a symbolic resolution supporting continued U.S. involvement in Ukraine’s war with Russia, including increased funding for arms and aide to Ukraine in addition to the more than $100 billion America has already provided or committed.
While the resolution will have practically no impact on anything, it became a tool for lawmakers to express their virtue. On Tuesday, it was the House; on Thursday, the Senate.
In the face of a bellicose liberal majority that appeared at times willing to embrace World War Three, Sen. Eric Brakey (R-Androscoggin) unleashed a libertarian anti-war polemic that laid bare the long, sordid history of U.S. regime change across the world, as well as the military-industrial complex’s grip on American foreign policy and news media.
Rather than cheerlead for sending more money and bombs to Ukraine, Brakey urged his colleagues to consider a resolution aimed at peace, one that encouraged President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to prioritize a diplomatic solution to the crisis rather than a prolonged proxy war.
Brakey’s colleagues ultimately were not moved by his words, and a bipartisan majority approved the symbolic resolution.
