The Russian invasion of Ukraine is many things: a crime against humanity, a disaster for the Ukrainian population, and a complex policy challenge for the United States and its allies.

But to hear Republicans tell it, everything is simple, and all the United States needs to do is be tougher and more belligerent, at which point the conflict will come to a pleasing end. The fact that it hasn’t is proof that President Biden is, in the word they use ad nauseam, “weak.”

In a world where Republicans were held to account for their positions, we could have a real debate over this question. Instead, they know they can enter into friendly propaganda spaces where they don’t have to characterize the administration’s positions fairly or offer much justification for their arguments.