Editor, The Beacon:
Dmitry Medvedev, past president of Russia and current deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia, has called for a new American civil war that would “finally lead to the inglorious break-up of the 21st century’s evil empire, the United States of America.” This was his response to our Congress passing an aid bill to help Ukraine fight the invasion of their country by Russia. One hundred twelve Republicans in the House of Representatives voted to deny this aid, on the urging of former President Donald Trump.
Six years ago, Trump dropped his trousers for Russian President Vladimir Putin, when he ignored all of our own intelligence services who agreed that Putin had intervened in our 2016 presidential election to help him win. Trump chose to believe Putin, who denied doing so.
The Trump congressional acolytes who would deny aid to Ukraine couch their opposition in “America First” slogans. They either do not understand our national interest in defending Ukraine and supporting the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), or they are acting in a deliberate, treasonous manner.
A high-school-history class could provide enough justification to send aid to Ukraine and support NATO. Trump’s comment “let Russia do whatever the hell they want” to NATO countries who don’t pay enough speaks to his ignorance and our peril.
It is both shameful and dangerous that we would have, in the midst of our own government, a seditious faction that would act in the interests not of our nation, but that of Trump and Russia. Medvedev’s call for civil war is reminiscent of Trump’s call for his followers to storm our Capitol building Jan. 6, 2021.
Those who would hide behind the American flag and work to subvert our democratic institutions are not acting on our behalf. They are a fifth column who seek to advance our adversaries’ interests and provoke us into conflict among ourselves.
Hopefully, sane minds will prevail this coming November, and the poison that Trump has spread into our national psyche will be extracted. The ballot box should act as our silver stake, and finally put to rest the tragic circus that Trump has brought to our nation.
Chuck Oakwood
DeLand
