The early weeks of Donald Trump’s second term have pushed our collective American psyche to its absolute limit, but there are brief beams of light shining through. New York Rep. Jasmine Crockett is one such beam of light. A powerful voice in the world of politics, she’s among exceedingly few stateside politicians to put her constituents above personal interests. The last year has seen her emerge as a leading voice of the Democratic Party, alongside Squad members like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar. As a result, people listen when Crockett speaks, and her latest message may be among her most important. Speaking to her fellow politicians in the House of Representatives, Crockett issued a stirring warning about the dangers of Trump’s current talking points — most notably, his careful cozying up to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump’s been a starry-eyed fan of Putin’s from the start, and 2016’s Russian election interference shows that passion is reciprocated on Putin’s side. Both politicians have a dictatorial mindset — Trump is already warming up to the idea of being president in perpetuity — and now that Trump is openly adopting Putin talking points, danger is stirring on the international stage. That danger is clear as day to Crockett, who warned her fellow House members of the very real, very insidious danger Trump’s language poses. Referencing specifically Trump’s seeming memory gap where the Russian invasion of Ukraine is concerned, Crockett implored her colleagues to “say ‘Mr. President, guess what? Russia invaded Ukraine.” That statement, issued so succinctly by Crockett, is a fact, but one that Trump seems exceedingly leery to admit. He’s instead blamed the Russian invasion on everyone from Ukraine — the country that was invaded — to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), in a familiar echoing of Putin’s own blame-slinging. As Crockett aptly points out, this narrative is hugely damaging, and — in the worst-case scenario — could push America, Russia, Ukraine, and dozens of other countries into another world war. “Facts matter,” the representative reminded her colleagues. “This is literally potentially putting us into an international crisis. We may be heading toward the next world war because we have a president that wants to pal around with Putin, and wants to do everything to make him feel good.” Jasmine Crockett – ''We may be heading towards the next World War because we have a President that wants to pal around with Putin, and lying about who invaded who.'' byu/RoyalChris inlaw As Crockett explains, that includes “lying about who invaded who.” Crockett proceeded to yield her time with a good 60 seconds left, in hopes that any one of her Republican colleagues would display the testicular fortitude to admit “that Russia invaded Ukraine.” When no one steps up to meet that very basic challenge, Crocket accurately notes that this is exactly “the problem.” Crockett couldn’t be more right, and the spinelessness of our elected leaders is truly a disgusting thing to see. These are the same people who swore up and down that Trump would be calmer, more statesmanlike, more poised and professional and effective, this time around. Now, as every one of them eats their words in obsequious silence, we’re left to deal with the damage they wrought. That damage is only just beginning. Trump and Elon Musk have already made changes that could affect this country for decades, and it’s been weeks. Weeks. They have several hundred more weeks still ahead of them, and they aim to use them to completely reshape this country. If we don’t stop them, most Americans likely won’t recognize their own homeland by the time Team Trump is done with it.