The term "fifth column," coined during the fascist attacks on democracy in the last century, has historically denoted groups and individuals who seek to subvert their nation, generally in order to aid an enemy government. The phrase usually describes those who operate clandestinely to undermine national solidarity, frequently by spouting the propaganda of enemies.

While Russian President Vladimir Putin certainly has people operating within the United States to promote his interests clandestinely, he has plenty of characters who do so perfectly openly. On Sunday, Republican Sen. Mitt Romney called Americans who support Putin "almost treasonous," and he is not wrong. But the specter of Americans siding with a murderous tyrant commanding a police state that has invaded a democracy, committing war crimes against civilians in service of his personal desire to subjugate them, is unfortunately not new. In his book "Hitler's American Friends: The Third Reich's Supporters in the United States," historian Bradley Hart recounts that the extent of American support for Adolf Hitler both before our entry into World War II and afterward was greater than we like to acknowledge.

That former President Donald Trump and acolytes enthusiastically embrace the KGB agent whose brutal assault on Ukrainians in order to conquer them fits neatly into the "no surprise" category. As president Trump missed no opportunity to take Putin's side against America, welcoming the Kremlin's efforts to tamper with an election for his benefit and then denying it occurred, picking Putin over the United States. While Putin nodded and laughed, Trump withheld military aid Congress had appropriated to enable Ukraine to defend itself from Russia, adding extortion of an ally in favor of an enemy to the long list of actions that left America humiliated, weakened and turned into a global laughingstock.

It was unsurprising, therefore, to see Putin-run Russian television play and replay Trump's fawning over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Putin, Trump declared in the wake of an invasion that has disgusted the world, is a "genius" and his invasion was "wonderful."

Putin made similar use of others who chose the Russian totalitarian over the brave people of Ukraine, who fashioned homemade Molotov cocktails out of wine bottles to try to stop Russian tanks from overrunning their cities. "Why would we take Ukraine's side?" sneered Tucker Carlson, Fox News' favorite and highly profitable bro. "Why wouldn't we take Russia's side? I'm so confused." Would that he were confused. "Why shouldn't I root for Russia, as I do?" demanded Carlson. Here was conservative podcaster Joe Oltmann: "I'll stand on the side of Russia right now."

As for the choice between the president of the United States and a Russian totalitarian, for America's fifth column it was a no-brainer, in more ways than one. Dinesh D'Souza, right wing commentator, convicted felon and recipient of a presidential pardon from guess who, tweeted that President Joe Biden "poses a far greater threat to our freedom and safety than Putin. He's the lesser evil." Lauren Witzke, Republican candidate for the Senate in Delaware, proclaimed "I identify more with Putin's Christian values than I do with Biden."

On a mission to prove the prevalence of crazy, talk show host Candace Owens declared that "Ukrainians are dying because of the Biden family's criminal connections and insistence on stoking conflict in the region." At the Conservative Political Action Conference last week, the founder of Papa John's Pizza, self-evidently qualified to opine on such matters, offered that Biden had "caused" Putin to invade Ukraine "to create a great smokescreen to create a distraction from all the real issues affecting America."

In recruiting American propagandists to do his bidding, Putin has plenty to work with. A Yahoo News/YouGov poll reaffirmed Republicans' admiration for him, with 62% of GOP voters saying that he was a "stronger leader" than the democratically elected president who has spearheaded international opposition to Russia's invasion.

Recent days have showcased the breathtaking courage of the Ukrainian people. But they have highlighted the real disease within America that somehow Americans will have to find a way to cure.

Jeff Robbins, a former assistant United States attorney and United States delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, was chief counsel for the minority of the United States Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. An attorney specializing in the First Amendment, he is a longtime columnist for the Boston Herald, writing on politics, national security, human rights and the Mideast.

Photo credit: loochanin at Pixabay