Letter to the Editor: A promise to keep
I write in response to a broadcast email invitation by Sally Rapoza of the State of Jefferson movement.
I have been on the State of Jefferson email list for some years now. I read the messages with interest, though I cannot say support. On January 1, State of Jefferson called for a drive to Washington for a “wild” demonstration opposing Congressional announcement of the presidential election results.
In 1972, I volunteered for the Marines and volunteered for the infantry. When they asked for volunteers to join a Marine Detachment aboard an aircraft carrier wracked by mutiny and race riots, I volunteered for that too. My contribution to the Vietnam War was to help keep a major weapons system online with the threat of a riot baton and a .45 caliber pistol.
I found it bitter duty, but I was never confused about my loyalties. I did not swear an oath to obey Richard Nixon. I promised to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic. The expiration date on that promise is never.
Mr. Trump’s attempt to overthrow the Constitution is serious enough that all ten former Secretaries of Defense co-authored an opinion piece opposing any use of the military to overturn the election. In an interview, their spokesman was willing to characterize the looming danger as a coup. State of Jefferson’s support for that coup is a disgrace.
Your disloyalty is more dangerous and more immoral than the mutiny I opposed long ago. If there is to be a coup or a civil war in this country, it will not be Right versus Left, or Republican versus Democrat. It will be personality cult versus America. I will stand with America – and America will win.
Scott Corey
Quincy