Crickets from Cotton

I had begun to worry what had become of our good Sen. Tom Cotton. After all, critical aid authorized by Congress for an ally engaged in a life-and-death conflict with Russia was withheld in an alleged extortion racket perpetuated by this administration. The purpose seems to be an attempt to obtain the public pronouncement of an Ukrainian investigation into a political rival and the investigation of a discredited conspiracy theory that it was the nation of Ukraine itself that meddled in our 2016 elections.

I’ll give Mr. Cotton’s silence a pass because the wrongdoings are indeed allegations and it’s better to remain silent than to make a complete arse of oneself. But as this spectacle progressed to include the character assassination of a fellow decorated career officer, I expected better. Good Lord, even Sen. Mitch McConnell felt the need to publicly validate the integrity of those public servants willing to come forth and testify in ongoing investigations. Not a peep from the office of our senator.

I would have thought hellfire would ensue from Senator Cotton upon learning of the chaotic, spontaneous betrayal of our Kurdish allies in Syria. But what we heard from Tom was … wait for it … crickets.

Imagine my relief when our senator once again found his voice long enough to support our leader’s muddled musings concerning the invasion of the sovereign country of Mexico. Guess we’ll have to airdrop the 101st into action since we have those thousands of miles of impenetrable wall, excuse me, the Cadillac of walls protecting our Southern border. Dear Mr. Cotton, as the father of three cannonfodder-aged boys, I expect a little more deliberative comment from our Senator than, “In the real world … the only thing that can counteract bullets is more and bigger bullets.”

But then—to paraphrase the well-founded adage—if your mind is a hammer, I guess every problem looks like a nail.

KEITH VACHON

Little Rock