War is awful.
No matter who is involved, no matter which side you’re on, war is an awful reality of human existence.
On February 24th 2022, Russia escalated their ongoing conflict with Ukraine when Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a “special military operation,” on Ukraine, marched troops across the border, and began launching missiles and heavy artillery at Ukrainian cities, including the capital city of Kyiv.
Of course, the United Stated quickly backed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, offering monetary and military aid in the form of weapons and ammunitions, humanitarian aid and more.
However, nearly a year later, the conflict has continued on, taking tens of thousands of lives, costing billions and billions… and utterly destroying a number of cities in Ukraine. Millions and millions of Ukrainian citizens have been displaced… Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War II.
It’s truly a devastating situation all the way around… with no real end in sight.
And through it all, the United States has continued its unrelenting support of the Ukrainian President, who has sort of become this quasi-celebrity since the war began. First for his inspiring words to the Ukrainian people and refusing to leave when he could’ve easily evacuated, and then more literally, giving speeches at the Grammys (for some reason), showing up at the White House, meeting with dozens of Hollywood celebrities, and even securing the cover for 2022’s Time Person of the Year Award.
Everyone put Ukrainian flags in the Twitter bios, everyone was “standing with Ukraine” on their Instagram accounts… it was quite the movement back here at home.
But back in December, U.S. House of Representatives gave final approval to a $45 billion aid package for Ukraine, bringing the grand total of U.S. aid to nearly $100 billion.
And while I don’t want to really get into all the particulars of geo-political war, foreign aid, taxes, spending, stabilizing world governments with corporate interest-friendly leaders, etc… one thing I will say is that American people seem to be over the notion of handing billions and billions of dollars to Ukraine when things aren’t going so great back home.
Gas prices are high, eggs are expensive as hell, airfare, electricity… the country is more divisive than ever… it’s not great at home right now.
Enter Brad Paisley.
Brad has been an advocate for Ukraine since the beginning, even participating in Ukraine: Answering the Call telethon fundraiser back in July of last year.
And now today, he announced that he has partnered with Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s United24 program which is according to the website was:
“Launched by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy as the main venue for collecting charitable donations in support of Ukraine.
Funds will be transferred to the official accounts of the National Bank of Ukraine and allocated by assigned ministries to cover the most pressing needs.”
Brad posted a photo of him talking with Zelenskyy, expressing his excitement to be United24’s newest ambassador:
“I know I am not alone in wanting to help Ukraine, but like a lot of people in America, until now I haven’t been sure exactly how to lend a hand from over here in the U.S.
That’s why I’m excited to be an ambassador for United24.”
Well Brad, except you kind of are alone in this based on the comments from your own fans.
Brad got absolutely torched in the comments on this post, with nearly all of his fans calling for an end to the United States aid to Ukraine.
Here’s a quick look at just some of the responses, and some of the friendlier ones at that:
“Support the US. We have issues here, where our tax revenue can go. Rather than sending over more weapons and vehicles.”
“Meanwhile… we, the source of aid, are being eaten alive by inflation, housing crises, income inequality, and a number of other issues.”
“Thank You for Helping them…. But don’t you think there is allot of Americans that could use that help just as much?”
“Loving the vibe in these comments. The majority of us normal average Americans are tired of paying for other countries wars.”
“How bout we focus on America first?”
“You thought the mob was bad. US gov best money launders in the game.”
“No. Our people here need our attention. We have sent way more than fair share. When will we take care of our own?”
“How bout no!!! We’ve sent them enough. Their war they can figure it out. We are not the world’s police nor their bank.
“Oh yeah the near hundred billion isn’t enough I guess.”
“Why don’t you help the millions of Americans here first before we lend hands to everyone else? I get helping others but we forget about our own here.”
“All USA taxpayers have already donated more money than we can afford to and it wasn’t by choice. Support something that puts Americans first.”
“This is BS!!! Billions of US dollars sent! Why?”
“Lol what a joke”
“I can’t believe Brad Paisley is falling for this, let’s help our own for now, this is endless, yes I feel bad for them I really do, but I see people on my streets that need help.”
“You like money laundering eh?”
“We just gave them another 44 billion dollars. That’s enough help.”
“Would the Ukraine send us money if it were reversed? Don’t think so.”
“Catching a massive L with this one.”
There were some positive comments as well, and some defending Brad for his generosity, but the majority of Brad’s fans didn’t seem to be on board with the country singer’s initiative.
And don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with helping people in need. I’m not telling you what to do one way or the other, I’m just pointing out the overall negative reaction to the post. If you have the means and feel compelled to help out the people of Ukraine, I encourage you to do so.
United24 says it has collected more than $274 million since Zelenskyy launched the platform last May, with $14 million being allocated for rebuilding efforts.
In an Instagram post, he said that the country needs “as many famous people as possible” to draw attention to the donation platform:
“We need to engage as many famous people as possible, who will draw attention to the restoration of homes for Ukrainians affected by the war.
The world-famous country performer, multiple Grammy and Academy of Country Music Awards winner, Brad Paisley, became such a person. Brad Paisley joined the ambassadors team of the UNITED24 fundraising platform and will support the Rebuild Ukraine program.”
