MOUNTAINSIDE – Vladimir Putin is pretty awful, but dying in a nuclear war would be worse.

That rather dramatic statement was made by a man attending Tom Malinowski’s Friday evening town hall, a lot of which was devoted to Ukraine.

Malinowski, the Democratic congressman from the 7th District, detailed U.S. military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, adding at one point, “I do believe the good guys are going to win.”

When questions began, one man passionately told the congressman he thinks some are taking the prospect of nuclear war too lightly. He said he was old enough to recall 1960’s-era air raid drills in school in which kids knelt under their desks.

So, as bad as the Russian invasion is, shouldn’t we try diplomacy to keep things from spinning totally out of control? He said calling Putin a thug and a war criminal, while understandable, may be counterproductive.

Malinowski, whose background as a native of what was then Soviet-controlled Poland and a State Department undersecretary gives him some foreign policy know-how, agreed that nuclear war never should be minimized.

But he also spoke of military support of Ukraine as a moral imperative, noting that Ukrainians would be fighting regardless of aid from the U.S. and others.

Malinowski added that Putin must be stopped simply because the world should not tolerate a country seeking to subjugate another just because they are stronger militarily. He said that has not happened in Europe since before World War II.

Malinowski holds many town halls, some of which were virtual during the pandemic. In all, he said he’s held more than 100.

The format is pretty constant. The congressman gives an update of what’s happening and then takes questions, calling on those who raise their hands.

Malinowski is in a tough reelection battle presumably with Thomas H. Kean Jr., who he narrowly beat in 2020. Since then, the district, drawn ironically by Democrats, has become more Republican leaning, which complicates Malinowski’s task.

Town hall meetings are not the place for partisan politics, but can be a time to talk about pressing issues.
Other than Ukraine, the related topics of inflation and high gas prices were front and center.

Malinowski wants a windfall profits tax on oil companies and he said the feds can ease inflationary costs for many families by reinstating the federal child tax credit. The political problem with his latter point is that the monthly credit of $300 disappeared earlier this year because Senate Democrats could not pass the Build Back Better bill.

The congressman also wants to lower drug prices by allowing Medicare to negotiate costs with pharmaceutical companies which also would have been included in Build Back Better. Whether something like this can happen over the next few months is debatable.

Another speaker said he was disgusted watching the behavior of some Republican senators during recent Supreme Court confirmation hearings and perhaps more so, when reading that the wife of Associate

Justice Clarence Thomas seemed actively engaged in trying to overturn the 2020 election.

This fellow sure sounded like a very loyal Democrat, but then he said he was also disgusted that Democrats don’t seem to be able to do anything about this behavior.

Malinowski responded with a question. He asked how do you know about the now infamous text messages of Thomas’ wife?

The man began saying that he read about them in the paper.

Yes and no, Malinowski said. He said the activities of Thomas’ wife became known because Democrats formed a committee to investigate Jan. 6.

The point was obvious – Democrats are trying to do something.