Op-Ed

Mr. Trump has treated his solemn oath as a disposable campaign slogan, shredding constitutional norms and moral standards while his enablers in Congress cower in silence before his vengeful whims.

As military professionals, we have a duty to question and, when necessary, refuse orders that violate law, morality, or basic safety, because our oath is to the Constitution and the principles it defends, not to blind obedience.

America lost its footing when unrestrained corporate power, partisan fearmongering, and a billionaire-backed political machine hollowed out the institutions meant to protect the public, clearing a path for a leader who embodies the consequences of that long decline.

If we want to heal a fractured nation, we must start by facing the man in the mirror and accepting the hard truth that the blame we’re so quick to cast on others often belongs to us.

When accountability breaks down, the integrity of our institutions erodes, our adversaries gain opportunity, and the security of the nation itself is placed at risk.

If the United States is serious about protecting children and national security, it must draw a hard statutory line that bars anyone who moved comfortably in Jeffrey Epstein’s world, including Donald Trump, from ever again holding federal office.

We are posturing for a fight in Venezuela without a coherent strategy, bleeding scarce combat power and credibility in pursuit of a mission that serves politics more than the security of the American people.

In the end, when law is bent to serve a vengeful president, the burden falls on the men and women in uniform to choose conscience over career and remember that their oath is to the Constitution, not to the occupant of the White House.

At a moment when Americans are once again tempted to choose sides over country, we must decide whether we want a president in the mold of Lincoln, who labored to heal the Union, or a leader who treats the office as a vehicle for grievance and personal gain.

In a world fraying with division and hardship, our real strength is the quiet, unseen gold forged in daily struggle, service to others, and the deep roots of our values that no frost can reach.

After twenty so called successes against drug boats, my experience tells me we are spending billions to swat at speedboats while the cartels calmly rebuild the same networks we refuse to confront at the source.

The shutdown may be over, but the same entrenched division, weak leadership, and political gamesmanship that brought us to the brink are still eroding our national security from the inside out.