First of the Month, a leftist website, has a provocative column up titled, “Trumpism on the Left: Stephen F. Cohen and The Nation Magazine.” Author Eugene Goodheart serves up a really interesting reminder that The Nation, which is nominally opposed to Trump and everything he stands for, has been regularly publishing one of the biggest Putin defenders in the West—and has been doing so for years:
You can read Cohen’s column here, and it is indeed a startling defense of Putin. Certainly, there are many accusations related to the Trump-Russia inquest that are overzealous and worth criticizing, but I haven’t seen anything in a comparable conservative publication that defends Trump on the Russia charges this zealously. Cohen even goes so far as to defend former Trump campaign manager against charges he is “pro-Russian”:
To say that this is tendentious reading of Manafort’s actions—do note Cohen’s nearly comical overuse of scare quotes—would be a grand understatement. Left unmentioned by Cohen was last summer’s widely reported revelation of Manafort’s name turning up in a secret ledger allegedly documenting payments to Manafort by the pro-Russia party in Ukraine. Even since Cohen published this column, even more evidence of pro-Russia payments to Manafort emerged last month.
Indeed, Cohen is certainly one of the left’s more notable Putin apologists, but he’s hardly alone. There were plenty of others on the left who were either defending Putin as a result of vestigial Soviet sympathies, knee-jerk anti-Americanism, political opportunism, or some hellbroth of the three. And I would note, these voices include President Obama, whose caustic dismissal of the Russian threat really stands out here, considering how abruptly he began talking tough when Hillary Clinton lost and the entire Democratic party began casting about for excuses as he was on his way out the White House door.
Even as forces on the right rush to downplay any suggestion that Trump associates may have colluded with Russia, the left really ought to ask itself why it’s just now seeing Russia pernicious light. Because it sure looks like there is a lack of clear thinking and principled resolve in both parties over what to do about Russia—and I bet Vladimir Putin wants to keep it that way.
