A very revealing few hours about principles, patriotism and sovereignty

I can't really define how I feel right now. To say that I'm deeply disappointed would be an understatement.

Trump offers Putin a clumsy excuse to regain the former Russian territory of Alaska
Patriotism and the Russian invasion: Do you ask of Ukraine what you would not accept for your country?

For some time now, I have been reading some people who spoke solemnly about principles, patriotism and sovereignty, that is, the defense of national sovereignty against so-called "globalism." However, two events have turned all that upside down. The first was Trump's statement blaming Ukraine for having been invaded by Russia for not having given in to Putin, a purely indecent statement that makes it clear that we are not facing a Munich of 1938, but a Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact of 1939, a perverse pact in which two powers decide to share a country as Germany and the USSR did with Poland 86 years ago.

The other fact has been Vox's statement stating that it is not in favour of sending Spanish troops "anywhere", a statement that 24 hours later has not been nuanced. No Vox spokesperson has been kind enough to explain how that squares with our commitments to NATO, and specifically with the current deployment of Spanish troops in Latvia, Slovakia and Romania to reinforce the eastern flank of the Alliance against the threat of Russian expansionism.

While I wait for the clarifications I requested yesterday, what I have received on social media is a series of attacks from users in the Vox environment. Some, for the mere fact that I continue to support the cause of Ukraine -Vox has not said that it will stop supporting it-, repeat to me like parrots the slogan that I should go to Ukraine to fight, a slogan that pro-Russian propagandists began to launch some time ago, in their constant attempt to promote cowardice in the West and to demobilize all military aid to Ukraine.

Curiously, I have not seen any of these great patriots enlisting in the Army to combat the migrant invasion that they so denounce, nor signing up for a competitive exam for the National Police Corps to combat the crime that they point out in the streets. The pro-Russian slogan that they repeat like parrots is like the argument of the pro-abortionists that if you defend unborn children then you should keep them and take care of them yourself. However, do not expect them to act in the same way with every cause that they claim to defend.

Ultimately, this strawman fallacy (because they accuse those of us who support Ukraine of something we do not say, since I have never asked to send Spanish troops to fight in that war, but rather help in the form of military material) serves to cover up the brutal incoherence that some are now exhibiting on the networks. The rest of us, supposedly, have to go to Ukraine to fight if we say we support that country, but many of those who call themselves "patriots" and "sovereignists" want Ukraine to surrender to Russia and for its destiny to be decided by two powers without taking into account the Ukrainians. What curious "patriots" and "sovereignists" they are.

I wonder if this applies to any invasion. Will they now blame the Poles for being invaded by the Germans and Soviets in 1939? Will they now say that the Finns were wrong to resist Stalin's invasion in 1940? Will they now consider the Spaniards stupid for taking up arms against the most powerful army in Europe in 1808, instead of surrendering? How can they continue to praise the Spanish Tercios if they fought to victory or death, instead of surrendering and making a pact with the enemy?

Obviously, if some conservatives have been fooled by Russian propaganda, it is because they believe that Putin is a conservative and see him as a reference in the fight against so-called "globalism". In 2022 I already warned here about the risk of using the arguments of Russian Eurasianism, but some did not pay attention. Would we be reading these messages today repeating pro-Russian slogans if the invader's name was Mohamed and the invaded territory was Spanish? What kind of "patriots" and "sovereignists" are those who ask the Ukrainian people for something that they would consider insulting and dishonorable if someone asked them to do it, such as surrendering to an invader and handing over part of their country?

Ultimately, everything that is happening is very revealing about the solidity of the principles that some claim to defend. If, by making a ridiculous follow-up to Trump's ideas, some are capable of assuming the slogans of a criminal tyrant like Vladimir Putin, what kind of personal criteria can we expect from them when other principles are in question? Since Trump is "anti-globalist" and "anti-woke", do we have to simply applaud all his ideas and whoever dares to disagree with them becomes an enemy to be defeated?

What would you say if Trump decided to hand over Ceuta and Melilla to Morocco without consulting Spain? Because that is exactly what Trump is doing with his talks with Russia without the participation of Ukraine. A kick to patriotism and sovereignty that is being applauded by some who call themselves patriots and sovereignists. Seeing is believing. Of course, if this is the future of conservatism, what a dark future awaits us between these and the nonsense of the left.

For my part, I am very clear about this: I will continue to support the cause of Ukraine as I have been doing for years, out of principle and consistency, regardless of the attacks I may have to endure for it. I have not changed my principles. My ideas do not depend on any acronym, nor do they change because others have found this or that ally. This has always been an independent blog and will continue to be so. This independence is what allows me to write these lines now, without following any other dictate than that of my conscience, as I have always done in the more than 25,000 articles I have published here in 20 years.