What would you do if you were a Ukrainian right now: stay and fight or flee the country? This question was the basis of a recent Quinnipiac poll, and the results were shocking. Over 50% of Democrats admitted they would run rather than fight. Republicans fared better: Only 25% of them would put their tails between their legs and bug out. This poll confirms conclusively what leftist ideologues have wrought with decades of indoctrination masquerading as education in public schools and colleges.

The left has taught young Americans the United States is an evil nation established to perpetuate slavery — a country characterized by white supremacy and oppression of minorities and dedicated to making the rich richer at the expense of the poor. Small wonder, then, that students who absorbed 12 or more years of this hate-America tripe would be reluctant to defend it during an invasion. Is the spirit of 1776 dead in America? Is the United States no longer the “land of the free and the home of the brave”?

By July 4, 1776, when Congress finally approved a Declaration of Independence, the American colonies had been fighting an undeclared war against King George’s invading redcoats for more than a year. Thomas Paine best described the challenges ahead: “These are the times that try men’s souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”

Unfortunately, it appears a majority of Democrats and some Republicans qualify as summer soldiers and sunshine patriots. They want the freedom, rights and other benefits that come with being an American but aren’t willing to fight for them. They want to reap the benefits of living in a free country without sacrificing to defend them. This isn’t just hypocrisy; it is cowardice.

People worldwide have come to admire and respect Ukrainians and the intrepid President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for standing up to the unhinged megalomanic from Russia, Vladimir Putin. When offered transportation out of Ukraine, Zelenskyy made clear he needed ammunition, not a ride.

As the spirit of 1776 dies in America, we see it resurrected in Ukraine, where ordinary citizens, rallied by their own George Washington — Zelenskyy — are fighting against overwhelming odds for independence. Like the American colonists in 1776, the Ukrainians are facing an existential struggle against a mentally imbalanced tyrant determined to crush them and their beleaguered nation.

Just as Washington and his battered patriot army needed help from the French to eventually defeat King George’s army and navy, Zelenskyy and his Ukrainian patriots need the help of the United States and its dithering Democrats. Further, that help will have to be more than a pathetic collection of too-little-too-late sanctions from cowards who would rather turn and run than defend freedom. The most important step the U.S. can take in this regard is restoring American energy dominance. To do less is to finance by proxy Russia’s murderous assault on the freedom-loving people of Ukraine.

The American colonies had Washington, and Ukraine has Zelenskyy, both of them lionhearted leaders. Unfortunately, the United States now has Joe Biden — a timorous, befuddled mouse among men — and turn-tail Democrats who value the latest “climate cause celebre” more than the freedoms too many of us take for granted. At a time when the world needs Americans to once again exemplify the spirit of 1776, Biden and his Democrats have shown only weakness and timidity. China is watching and taking note.

Thank God we still have valiant patriots in our armed forces ready, willing and able to fight.

COPYRIGHT 2022 OLIVER L. NORTH AND DAVID GOETSCH