It is a curious twist that many on the left who consider themselves to be refined iconoclasts, who feel obliged to incessantly belabor the flaws of figures like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, are also among the most fervent idol-worshipers.
The latest of these idols is, of course, none other than Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, now the subject of a cult that, in its amorous overtones, mirrors closely the ill-fated cult of Andrew Cuomo. Conservatives, sick of being told to worship the media-approved Hero of the Day, are understandably skeptical.
This skepticism is justified: Zelensky, a comedian in an olive-green T-shirt who played the role of a Ukrainian president on television before being elected to play that role full time, may not be more corrupt than the average Eastern European politician. But he is certainly not much less so. The revelations of his offshore bank accounts would certainly have sent Democrats howling if it were Trump.
To Americans wary of foreign entanglements, Zelensky’s demands for Western hawkishness, including a no-fly zone, are also alarming.
With that said, Zelensky has shown a spark of greatness in this. A lesser man might have fled Ukraine at the start of the invasion, when almost everyone thought that Putin’s forces would sweep through the country in a matter of days. Zelensky, facing the prospect of being killed or spending the rest of his life in a Russian prison, chose instead to stay and rally his people. This was a genuine display of leaderly courage.
Zelensky’s primary talent lies in waging a global information war, in turning the hearts and minds of the world against Russia. For his part, Putin has stepped a little too readily into the role of villain. Breaking news reports from a war zone are bound to be muddled, but it is likely that when the smoke clears, we will find that Russia was indeed less than gentle with the Ukrainian civilians.
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If Zelensky’s main contribution to the fight has been the bold rhetoric of a skilled actor, then we must remember that words matter. A leader’s job is partly that of rhetorician, and powerful speeches delivered at the right moment can define one’s legacy just as much as any pragmatic question of troop movements.
In an era with a dispirited West and an absentee American president, it is natural that dictators would pine for a return to might-makes-right realpolitik. Zelensky has shown them that even a relatively small country, with limited aid, can repel an invasion by a greater power. This is a fact for which dovish Americans should be grateful, because it means that we need not choose between being the world’s police or letting innocents suffer.
No doubt, as well, China is watching and taking careful notes. Volodymyr Zelensky may have been the inadvertent savior of not just Ukraine but also Taiwan.
Now, a Zelensky admirer can reasonably argue that this is sufficient to forgive a few offshore bank accounts. But this is exactly the same magnanimity that those on the left refuse to give our Founding Fathers. Washington, Jefferson, and the rest were flawed men – and yet when they were placed at a crossroads of history, they rose to the challenge, showing a greatness that transcended their flaws.
These American heroes are, presumably, at least as worthy of adulation as a foreign politician. Instead, they are regular objects of denigration by the far left – with little opposition from the mainstream left, and only mealy-mouthed condemnations from figures like then-candidate Joe Biden. Even “moderate” Senator Tammy Duckworth said that we should have a “national dialogue” on whether to remove statues of Washington.
A Jewish Midrash tells the story of how Abraham, left in charge of his father’s idol shop, smashed the idols and told his returning father that they had gotten in a fight and beaten each other to death. His father replied that this was absurd, because the idols had no intelligence, and Abraham pointed out that it was equally absurd to worship them.
The great figures of the Western canon, from the Greek heroes to the Biblical kings and prophets, were all deeply – often fatally – flawed. And yet even from such men, an occasional glimmer of nobility was possible, and this nobility might have been sufficient to atone for their human failings. We should not abjectly prostrate before idols. But we can honor the contributions of certain figures, and seek to emulate them, because only by doing so can we find a way out of the current multiplicity of crises we face.
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