Molineaux is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and president/CEO of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.
I grew up during the Cold War, when we hid under our desks for safety. As a child, I believed that I was doing my part by ducking under my desk and knowing how to respond when the air raid sirens went off. Crouching under a desk seems laughable today. But it gave me a sense of agency that I could survive and eased my anxiety about a world where the adults made decisions that seemed nonsensical.
For me, preparing and having tasks to do was calming. As an adult, this has translated into practical clarity of defining what is needed during moments (or periods) of crisis. Perhaps that is why I’ve spent time reflecting this past couple of weeks on what I would do if I were in Ukraine right now. And I imagine it’s what the people of Ukraine are doing. Or the people in other countries, helping refugees. They are finding shelter, food and supplies. They are banding together to help others to safety. They are taking up arms when necessary. As their everyday lives are at risk, survival is the priority. This is practical clarity.
President Volodymyr Zelensky is meeting his moment with resolve. With love for his countrymen. With truth. He won the presidential election on the wave of The Revolution of Dignity as a counterforce to corruption and oligarchy. His leadership skills were sharpened when he led his people as the former president fled to Russia. He withstood bullying by Donald Trump. He is now in the crucible of transformation, under attack from a desperate man with an old desire for empire building. And Zelensky is asking for our help. Our government is balancing the needs of the United States, Europe and Ukraine. We don’t want to escalate into World War III. It may not be our choice.
The people of the world want to help our brothers and sisters under threat. We’ve opened our hearts, our homes, and our wallets to do our individual tasks. As we witness the attack on Ukraine, we empathize, seeing ourselves under the thumb of an oppressor.
We also see the possibility of ending the modern patriarchy, featuring the authoritarians of our age — Putin, Xi, Kim, Orban, Trump — who want to restore an old world order of strong men. The world has changed despite their desire to control, and has done so without their permission. They will not go quietly into the night.
And so we must face these men and their followers. This style of autocracy has been around for about 5,000 years, beginning with the emergence of tribal communities around the world. They promise security to their supporters. Acolytes of this belief system seek a privileged place in a perverted hierarchy, where denigration, subjugation and oppression are part of everyday life for those not chosen.
Liberal democracy, as defined about 250 years ago, was the enlightened form of governance to mitigate the threat of authoritarians. Our belief in liberal democracy is in the crucible with Zelensky. How will we strengthen our resolve, with love, and avoid becoming the next oppressor?
The world has changed, and we need to meet the populist rhetoric and actions of autocracy to move forward with liberal democracy; where we value the embodiment of democratic processes over all else. When we honor the dignity of others, especially those who have been denigrated and marginalized, that is embodiment. Our shared belief in, and love for, our fellow humans is embodiment. Justice is embodiment. And while effusive and intangible in many ways, when we assume good intentions of our political opponent, that is embodiment.
The war is here. We are in it today. In most of the world, it’s an information war. In Ukraine, it’s a war for survival as an independent nation.
Let’s meet the moment with resolve, and love. The age of authoritarianism is over.
Long live liberal democracy.
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks to voters at a town hall at the Elks Lodge 188 on June 7, 2026, in Portland, Maine.
McConnell and Platner both feel entitled
The two men could not be more different. One, a Republican, octogenarian, seven-term Southern senator, the other a progressive, millennial Maine oysterman who’s never spent a day in elected office.
But Mitch McConnell, the senior senator from Kentucky who’s been MIA for the past few weeks and Graham Platner, the Maine Senate candidate who’s facing calls to drop out of his race against Sen. Susan Collins, apparently do have something in common: an outsized sense of entitlement.
McConnell, who is 84 and not running for reelection, has been hospitalized for three weeks, and yet we still don’t fully know what he was admitted for or what his condition is. Per CNN, “his office has not disclosed a medical reason for the hospitalization or provided specifics on his health status beyond saying last week that he ‘continues to improve’ and ‘is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters.’ ”
While several legislators have said they’ve talked to him and insist he sounds strong, others have said they are completely in the dark. One MAGA influencer, Laura Loomer, posted ”High level source close to the White House tells me ‘Mitch McConnell is officially brain dead. He’s not coming back.’ ”
Meanwhile, up in Maine, Platner has been artfully dodging calls from his own party to drop out of his race after several allegations of misconduct from women, including a sexual assault allegation from a former girlfriend, came to light. While Platner, who has managed to survive a Nazi-tattoo scandal, a sexting scandal, and several old tweets scandals, denies the allegations, he has not quit.
High-profile Democrats including Sens. Bernie Sanders and Chuck Schumer, the latter of whom had unsuccessfully hand-selected Maine Gov. Janet Mills to face Collins instead of Platner, have urged Platner to drop out, while other Dems have accused him of trying to influence the picking of his replacement.
Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Devon Murphy-Anderson released a statement Tuesday, which said in part:
“Unfortunately, Graham Platner’s team has repeatedly reached out to us in an attempt to put their thumb on the scale of what this process looks like. We have repeatedly reiterated to Graham Platner’s team that they have no role in determining our next Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate nor in determining what this process looks like.”
Both incidents show a deep lack of accountability to voters, who in one case deserve to know whether their senator is capable of performing his duties, and in another deserve a candidate who isn’t being accused of crimes, bigotry and deception.
The offensive and odious entitlement of both McConnell and Platner stands out not because it is particularly unique among today’s political class. Tom Kean, the New Jersey GOP congressman, missed more than 100 votes, only sharing after a three-month mystery absence that he was dealing with depression.
Former President Joe Biden’s Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin failed to disclose a hospitalization for prostate cancer surgery, flouting the established rules for Cabinet members and senior U.S. officials.
From Biden’s insistence on running for reelection despite his obvious cognitive and political weaknesses to Trump’s brazen flouting of laws and norms, few politicians seem to appreciate that their public service job comes with responsibilities to constituents, including transparency and honesty.
But both parties increasingly justify the chicanery, because the stakes of winning elections and keeping power are simply too high. But that’s no excuse. If we’ve learned anything over the past decade, it’s that character and accountability do, in fact, matter. And when we, the voters, stop caring about it, well, so do they.
S.E. Cupp is the host of "S.E. Cupp Unfiltered" on CNN.