Afraid to do the job

“Abandoning our allies” was the headline on the radio I was listening to while waiting to pick up groceries. Hearing that was like being hit by a gut punch. America doesn’t abandon its allies.

I guess our congressmen signed on not to defend the United States of America, but to defend the United States of Trump. (Excuse me, I just threw up a little in the back of my mouth.) They even abandoned the Arkansas worker in favor of their leader. The money that goes to defend Ukraine mostly goes to defense contractors in the U.S. making munitions and missiles, like those made in Camden and hundreds of other factories spread across the nation. But our delegation has turned their collective backs on the good hardworking people of Arkansas because their leader doesn’t want a deal to proceed as it might make the administration look like it’s doing its job. They are willing to sacrifice thousands of Ukrainian lives.

Vladimir Putin is not someone to admire, NATO is not something to abandon. I spent two years as part of NATO working on the flight line in Germany, and four more in SAC, ending up at Blytheville AFB. I remember during training a colonel told us, “Russia will never defeat us militarily; we will be defeated from within.”

Trump has made it no secret he is not a fan of NATO, or women, or law, or basic right or wrong … or even rational thought. But it is a real gut punch when the people you trust to do what is right, not just for the state, the country, or for decent humanity, are afraid to do their job for fear of their political careers. Thank history they weren’t around in 1939.

JIM BILLINGS

Russellville