America, We Need to Talk
By: Rusty D. Pickens
Tags: World War II, Trump, Military Service, Election 2020, Politics

That brings us to today. Evidence continues to pile up that shows the Trump Campaign was in cahoots with Russian assailants for months before the election and well into the transition in 2017. The Senate Intelligence Committee, chaired by Republicans, confirmed this in clear terms with the final volume of their report on 2016 election interference. Clandestine meetings between the President’s lawyer, his family, and many members of his campaign have now come to light. Additionally, the policies issued from President Trump’s administration have largely reinforced the increasingly evident truth that he’s soft on Russia, most likely because he owes them nothing less than the presidency itself — if not his own personal “fortunes”.

Perhaps he thought, like the rest of us, that there was no way he would win. But that didn’t stop him from working with them — and the seriousness of the threat has only increased in magnitude since he’s become president. The clearest and most recent example of this is hard evidence that Russia placed bounties on American soldiers — and Trump has remained entirely silent.

Now, all the facts have yet to come in, and it will likely take us decades to untangle all the corruption. But it’s not hard to draw one conclusion from what we do know today: that Donald J. Trump accepted assistance from a foreign government who Mitt Romney characterized as “America’s №1 geopolitical foe” so that he could further his own political and financial future. The anti-American, unpatriotic betrayal of those actions are astounding and very likely criminal.

Exhibit A for Russian Return on Investment. (Photo: WSJ)

But that’s not where our national shame around this episode ends. In a normal world, we would have a strong Congress, regardless of controlling party or personality — asserting its critical constitutional duty to check the executive branch and getting to the bottom of these things to secure our our national security interests, the sovereignty of our elections, and preservation of our democracy. But the past two years have seen the unique confluence of events where the biggest check on a compromised executive, impeachment and removal from office, was discarded by the U.S. Senate under control by the same party as a corrupt president. Instead of serving as a buffer and check for Trump’s unconscionable actions, they’ve been using the chaos he creates to distract from their slow advancement of GOP policies they’ve sought to implement for years.

Party loyalty and opportunities to advance policy objectives are not valid excuses for congressional inaction or dereliction of their constitutional duty. If Trump’s actions are as unAmerican as they appear to be, a normal Congress of free-thinking and patriotic Americans — regardless of party — would be outraged over such treachery. But instead, we’ve seen the Republican Party play dumb, distract from, cover for, and even act in concert with Trump’s White House to lie to the American public. When given the opportunity to examine and punish this behavior— and do something about it by removing Trump from office — the Republican Senate chose to look the other way during impeachment.

It’s a foregone conclusion that a Republican-controlled Senate will not act on the President’s treachery. So it’s up to us, as concerned Americans, go to the polls in November and to elect people interested in accountability and national security. Don’t get me wrong, I am a die-hard Democrat, but I recognize we have failings of our own. However, the magnitude and criticality of this moment demand that we drop party concerns and considerations. At this point in our nation’s history, there are two camps: one made up of those who swore to protect and defend America against enemies foreign and domestic, and the other: those who knowingly colluded with a foreign government and those who aid and abet them on a daily basis and refuse to hold them accountable for those actions.

Technology, cable news, and social media are not entirely to blame for this. This comes down to a matter of where you stand as an American — whether you think our elections should be a sovereign action free from external influence or election in which it is okay to accept stolen information, financial assistance, and to act in concert with unprecedented cyber attacks our country has ever seen so that the favored outcome of our geopolitical adversary — the Kremlin — would be cemented by the electorate.

We are under attack from both within and without. The aim is simple — sow division among the American people. Our enemy knows that when we are united we are unstoppable. The only way they can diminish or defeat us is if we let them tear us apart internally so badly that we can’t come back together as a country — as President Lincoln said: “a house divided.” We must step out of the corners of whatever petty policy arguments we used to fight about and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our fellow Americans if we’re going to combat and cut out this cancer off the heart of our country.

The time for party support and American politics-as-usual has passed. We have entered a moment when, much like my grandpas’, it is time to pick a side yet again: are you supporting America, her Constitution and the ideas that they uphold, such as all men (and women) are created free and equal, with unhindered access to the pursuit of happiness under our flag? Or are you repeating the latest cable news talking points, espousing “heritage”, willingly sharing Russian disinformation on social media, or looking the other way and abetting a president and a political party who have compromised their ideals and allegiance to America as they selfishly side with our enemies?

The time has come to choose: it’s either Trump or America.

The Confederacy betrayed America. The Axis betrayed the world. Our arsenal and clout as a superpower were established over 50 years of going toe-to-toe with Russia to keep them in check. And, abhorrently, we now have political leaders in America who have sided with Russia against the country they claim to love and serve — Donald Trump and his Republican Party have betrayed America.