We tend to have short-term memory when it comes to the world around us.
Something grabs our attention - maybe grabs it hard - and then after a few days, it fades. After the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting, described in some circles as a game changer on guns, other circles figured it for a five-day story, the amount of time it needed to fade from news reports and the American consciousness. And the second group was largely right.
Not that the problem so many people cared about has gone away (see: Chicago, for example). But the round-the-clock news cycles with cable news’ ever-persistent emergency-style chyron crawls don't help: We get endless bids to, like overeager dogs, start sniffing after the next shiny object.
Amid this background, Senator Jim Risch of Idaho did us a substantial public service last week: He helped, to the extent he could, draw our attention back to something that was on the front burner for many of us not long ago, that we ought to stay aware of, and has been at risk of being forgotten.
Risch has not been a newcomer to the subject of Ukraine, meaning specifically the war Russia has been waging on it since February. In March, speaking to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee - where he is ranking Republican member - the Idaho senator delivered remarks about as strong as anyone’s: “This senseless invasion at the hands of a madman is a threat not just to the innocent people of Ukraine, but to all of us in the democratic world. This conflict has immense implications for the people of Ukraine but it also speaks to the credibility of the U.S. and the west to defend the freedom and sovereignty of countries that want to decide their own futures.†And he has not eased off since.
Back in February and March, maybe into April, the invasion of Ukraine drew lots of attention in the United States: Big headlines and news reports to which a lot of people paid attention.
Many people (I was one of them) were surprised (happily) that Ukraine was holding off the Russian invaders, actually repulsing them in places, even if they weren’t able to score a knockout win. Many countries, including the United States, sent arms and other help to Ukraine, which was an assist, but it hasn’t been enough to turn the tide. The war has dragged on as Russian artillery and other weaponry have continued killing Ukrainians and demolishing large segments of their country. None of this has stopped, or seems likely to end very soon, and Ukraine remains vulnerable. (And did I mention that American interests are directly implicated in Ukraine’s future? They are.)
And attention to it has faded.
In late June, Risch flew to Kyiv, meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who appeared to be delighted to see him, and touring around the capital city and other places damaged by the fighting. He asked questions and (it should be noted, he was in alignment with United States foreign policy) spoke up in support of the Ukrainains.
He said that “Ukraine can win this war, but only if we help get it what it needs, before it needs it. I was taken aback by the atrocities I saw firsthand in Irpin and Hostomel, and we cannot stand by and watch these happen again.â€
It was a media event to a degree, with lots of pictures (the Ukraine government certainly made use of it), but that was the utility of the thing: Risch was doing what he could to remind people back home that the war is still going on, and Ukraine still needs help.
A U.S. senator can draw attention to something when they choose. Here was a good, useful example of it.