Wayne Blann is a U.S. Army veteran. He lives in Moravia.

By Wayne Blann

I am a Vietnam-era veteran and an independent. On Veterans Day, we show our respect for the military and honor their service to our country. As a veteran, I am outraged at the disrespect and abuse of the active military personnel and veterans and the abuse of the military as an institution that President Donald Trump all too frequently demonstrates by his words, actions and conduct. Rep. John Katko and his Republican colleagues seldom, if ever, stand up to and condemn the president when he disrespects, demeans, belittles and degrades military personnel, to include even those who hold rank at the highest levels (for example): Gen. Jim Mattis, Gen. John Kelly, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman.

It is noteworthy that Trump demonstrated that he is a coward when, during the Vietnam War, he took action to avoid serving in the military by obtaining a bogus doctor’s statement about bone spurs that exempted him from military service. Neither has either of Trump’s adult sons served in the military and, further, no one in his family has ever served in the military. Given these facts, the president is in no position to criticize anyone who is now serving or has served in the military.

I have listed below some facts and evidence that show President Trump’s disrespect of active military personnel and veterans and his abuse of the military as an institution, which, in some cases, also involves a misuse of taxpayers’ money:

disrespect of a Gold Star family;

failure to attend the WWII ceremony at Normandy;

using active military personnel and veterans as “political props” at political rallies;

abuse of his power by deploying active military personnel for political purposes at the Mexico border;

abuse of his power by re-allocating taxpayers’ money, that was appropriated by Congress, to support the military facilities and families at military installations to help fund the building of “the wall”;

abuse of his power to force military personnel to pay out of their per diem allowance the costs to stay at his luxury golf club resort in Ireland. The per diem allowance did not cover the high costs that the military personnel incurred;

abuse of his power by forcing the military to re-fuel military transport planes at a private airport in Ireland at a much higher cost to taxpayers. The airport, which was losing money and might be closed, serves Trump’s golf club resort and needs financial support;

disrespected and “trashed” generals who served in his cabinet: Kelly and Mattis .

abuse of his power by acting alone in making the decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria and, thereby, disgracing and shaming the military and the country by not fulfilling a moral obligation to protect the Kurds from military attack by Turkey, Syria and Russia, all of whom benefited from this action;

disrespected and “trashed” Vindman who testified that Trump, in his July 25 telephone call with Ukraine President Zelenskiy, demanded that, in return for Ukraine receiving US military aid (taxpayers money appropriated by Congress) and a White House meeting with President Trump, that Zelenskiy would have to publicly announce that he would conduct a (fabricated) investigation of a U.S. citizen, Hunter Biden.

It is a violation of the law for the president to solicit anything of value from a foreign country in an effort to interfere with a U.S. election. This action, in and of itself, is an impeachable offense. Besides being illegal, this action violates the president’s oath to uphold and protect the U.S. Constitution and jeopardizes the national security of the U.S. No other facts and evidence are needed to warrant an impeachment inquiry.

President Trump, as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, more than anyone else, should show respect for the military. By disrespecting the military, Trump is a national embarrassment, and unfit to serve as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces.

Finally, Katko, along with all of his Republicans colleagues, voted against the impeachment inquiry. Katko said that the president’s behavior and actions did not rise to the level of an impeachable offense. Katko and the Republicans need to be reminded that the courts have already ruled that Trump is an unindicted felon when, during the Stormy Daniels case, Trump violated federal campaign finance law and engaged in bank fraud. The facts show that Trump and others in his circle (Giuiliani, Pompeo, Barr) engaged in unethical and unpatriotic behavior in Ukraine, if not criminal behavior by associating with Russian oligarchs and Russian mob affiliates in bringing pressure on Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch to leave her office. Indeed, the president’s actions resulted in a threat on the ambassador’s life and continue to do so. Yet, Katko and the Republicans are not interested to learn more about the Ukraine situation by supporting an impeachment inquiry. This shows that Katko and his Republican colleagues believe that Trump is above the law and should not be held accountable for his unethical, unpatriotic and criminal behavior.

Katko has failed to uphold his oath of office to protect the U.S. Constitution and ensure the national security of America. Consequently, the honorable action that Katko should take is to resign from office now or announce that he will retire from office at the end of this term.

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