Without Questions
Our national security is at stake.
Sometimes, I’m asked about MY RURAL AMERICA’s website. Why doesn’t My Rural America focus on farming and agriculture?
My answer: Just like everyone living in cities, rural Americans care about all kinds of policy-making, e.g., 44% of the American military comes from rural America — so do you think rural people should skip over anything concerning our national security?
Or do you think good health practices shouldn’t matter to rural dwellers? Individual residents living in rural areas have increased risks of cancer incidence (+2.7%) and mortality (+9.6%) when compared with urban residents. Should rural people only care about the health of their farm animals? Maybe they need opportunities to learn what President Biden has done to reduce drug prices, e.g., Biden has capped insulin costs at $35 for seniors.
Whether rural or urban, we often care about the same things but sometimes talk about them differently. Questions and documented answers could help bring us together.
Currently, my biggest question is: How is it possible that 112 Members of Congress voted to support Putin’s unprovoked and continuing war against Ukraine — a democracy we — the United States of America, gave our rock-hard commitment to protect in return for Ukraine giving up its nuclear weapons?
Conservative columnist George Will nailed it when he said, “So, 112 ignoble, infantile Republicans voted to endanger civilization.”
One of my role model friends is David Doak. Doak is a former Democratic media consultant and campaign manager, a former prosecutor and public defender, and an ally of MY RURAL AMERICA. He has serious questions, too.
He wants the Department of Homeland Security to ask — to find the answers and do a deep dive into why we need the answers to the following:
(1) “Are the Russians supporting Trump this time?”
(2) “Did the Russians and the Iranians greenlight the Hamas attack to weaken Biden?”
(3) “Is there Russian, Chinese, or Iranian participation in stoking campus protests?”
(4) “Has Russia participated in any way in promoting the slow-walking of Ukraine aid? Have they compromised some Republicans in Congress?”
(5) “Could some third-party candidates have been “inspired” by the Russians or the Chinese? Jill Stein, Cornell West, and RFK Jr. seem positioned to siphon off Dem. votes from Biden.” “
Doak has challenged DHS to ask more serious questions and to tell us what its investigations find.
Truth needs light.
Questions offer light. With light, we can decide what’s correct for ourselves.
For example, Question #4: Slow-walking aid to Ukraine. Hmm. The Republican Party we used to trust was always strong on defending the U.S. — see Eisenhower, George H. W. Bush, and his son.
Now, 112 House Republicans have chosen Putin over democracy.
Doak’s Question #5: Jill Stine and Michael Flynn.
— In 2015, Stine met with Trump’s former National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn, and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a dinner in Moscow. Since then, Stine has given plenty of excuses about her purpose at the dinner. NPR featured one of her excuses, but Stine, who publicly defines herself as a Green Party liberal, seems less than straightforward. It was the lead-up to the election. This alone should have stopped her.
Michael Flynn, recently retired from the U.S. Army, was on Trump’s shortlist to become National Security Advisor. Later, he was appointed by Trump (and fired by Trump), but it was Flynn’s multi-interactions with Putin and other Russian sources that cost him his job and might have put him in prison, but Trump pardoned him. Trump’s pardon stopped the court from deciding Flynn’s guilt.
George Will also questioned “how many” of the House Republicans who voted against Ukraine aid “knew or cared that more than half the $61 billion in aid will fund restocking U.S. munitions, as well as Ukraine’s purchases of U.S. weapons?”
When Will wrote his column, he was focused on the 112 House Republicans who voted to break the U.S.’s long-term security commitments to Ukraine, but he could easily have added certain Republican Senators to his list, e.g.,
The arrest of Alexander Smirnov as an agent of Russian intelligence popped Senator Charles Grassley’s (R-IA) bubble. Grassley was so busy scrambling to find excuses to impeach President Biden that Grassley became a big supporter of Smirnov’s Russian propaganda.
But wait, there are more: The easiest to find are Senator Josh Hawley (MO – R) and J.D. Vance (OH – R).
These Members of Congress fail us daily when they fail to defend our country. Now, they are walking themselves into an ugly scenario that ultimately links them to our country's betrayal. Are we willing to call them traitors or Judas?
Will we push DHS into asking questions and telling us what they find?
Will we risk leaving our party affiliations behind when the answers come in? When we get answers, are we brave enough to share the answers?