Battenfeld: Who in Massachusetts made Russia’s naughty list? And who got left out?

It’s the brand new naughty listing everybody on Capitol Hill is clamoring to be on, and if you happen to’re not, nicely, you may need some explaining to do.

The Russian sanction listing introduced this week focused a lot of the lawmakers in Congress apart from an unfortunate few like U.S. Reps. James McGovern and William Keating of Massachusetts.

Awkward. And whereas it definitely doesn’t imply McGovern and Keating are secret Kremlin sympathizers, it does rob them of an opportunity to crow about being included on the sanction listing.

“Good, now let’s get Ukraine some extra weapons,” U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, mentioned after being knowledgeable she was sanctioned.

“A badge of honor,” U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell mentioned.

“An honor to be included,” Utah Republican John Curtis mentioned.

“I believe it’s Vladimir Putin usually lashing out as a result of he’s feeling more and more cornered,” U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts mentioned.

Earlier than you get too excited, congressman, some 398 of your fellow lawmakers additionally made it on the listing, that means it wasn’t precisely unique. Type of like getting an invite to the White Home Correspondents’ Dinner. Even 87 Canadian senators acquired included someway on the Russian no-travel listing for no obvious motive.

And it had nothing to do with their powerful speak in opposition to Russia and Putin.

The sanctions listing, which was Russia’s response to the U.S. imposing sanctions on Russian politicians, looks like it was put collectively slightly arbitrarily. It will ban these on it from touring to Russia, that means no extra of these “co-del” journeys lawmakers like to go on to make it seem to be they’re consultants on overseas coverage.

Members of either side of the aisle made it on the listing, together with just a few Republicans whom Democrats accuse of being Putin sympathizers, like Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Matt Gaetz of Florida, and North Carolina’s Madison Cawthorn.

However politicians will take any benefit they’ll to look powerful in opposition to our adversaries, even once they’re not.

“I believe it’s a joke, fairly frankly, that Vladimir Putin thinks it’s going to have any form of an affect on me or anybody else sanctioned,” Rhode Island’s Jim Langevin instructed WPRI 12 Information.

Theoretically, the sanction would freeze any belongings these members of Congress maintain in Russia, so perhaps Putin is aware of one thing we don’t.

Extra doubtless it’s only one extra signal that the more and more remoted Putin is shedding his grip on actuality.

And if he thinks sanctioning these blowhards will cease them from pontificating in regards to the invasion of Ukraine, he’s sorely mistaken. Quite the opposite, it provides them much more fodder for insipid press releases.