President Trump Ukraine Scandal: Geez Senator Lee, why do you put your party interests ahead of doing the right thing for the American people? Could you reconsider?

Folks, if I may be so uncharacteristically bold as to say, Senator Lee is on the record of being on the side of inappropriate self-evident, corrupt, un-American behavior and should not be supported in a 2022 (November 2022 election) re-election campaign (https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2019/09/26/sen-mike-lee-doesnt-see/). 

I’m sure Senator Lee is a good guy, a good family man, I have never met him and I have therefore no reason to believe otherwise. But, you deserve more from your representatives - a lot more. You deserve leadership that does not first look to the party leadership before taking a position, you deserve representation that takes a position based on what’s right. Senator Lee is part of the diseased institution that pervades U.S. leadership today at the highest levels and supports the activities of President Trump relative to recent Ukrainian coercion.  Senator Lee does not denounce President Trump’s activities as inappropriate, he supports them.  Senator Lee, “You’re a good Republican soldier – loyal, but with a misguided sense of ethics and a lost moral compass.”  He does not get it. We deserve better. We deserve a man in the arena (Citizenship In A Republic: https://constantrenewal.com/man-in-the-arena/)  

We can fix this.

Senator Lee does not address why the President is so ineffective in using his Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, to carry out transparent international diplomacy and policy.  Mr. Lee does not address why Mr. Trump and Mr. Pompeo have still not installed a U.S. / Ukrainian Ambassador – who is tasked with the President’s relaying to foreign governments U.S. policy - on the record and transparently.  Senator Lee has not addressed why it’s okay for the President to use his personal private lawyer (Rudy Giuliani) to meet in Europe with foreign agents to shape American policy outside the established, and transparent, State Department infrastructure.  Senator Lee should be removed from his elected position during the next election cycle together with all “card carrying” Republicans, and Democrats, who are unable to separate themselves from corrupt parties and who fail to work to purge inappropriate behavior in favor of candidates who will “Do the Right Thing” and put their oaths of office first, before their personal interests.

Folks, I get that President Trump wants to “drain the swamp.” And, there is plenty of merit in intentions to “reset” our institutions. And, I understand that the President has limited time to achieve results. Having been a State Department employee, and military officer, in embassies around the world, I can empathize with the President’s dislike for the State Department. Though there are plenty of good folks within the State Department, its undeniable liberal leaning culture, and the lack of conservative balance, and suspicions that some in the institution may undermine our elected officials agenda by stalling initiatives and “waiting them out” is not a new criticism. But the State Department is his tool to mold and shape to execute the President’s foreign policy. Whether you feel the President’s Ukrainian activities are blatant corruption, or a guy just trying to do his job, it’s clear he is mismanaging and demonstrating incompetent leadership. An attempt to use unofficial friends (his personal friend Rudy Giuliani), and attempt to be the lone American diplomat (he continues to leave scores of Embassies adrift with no Ambassador appointments), is demonstrating incompetence in being able to use the tools available to him to achieve his ends three years into his tenure, and causing chaos and confusion on the international stage - which America has led for the last 100+ years, and should continue to lead for the sake of our, and our allies, security interests. America has so many matters that warrant presidential attention and leadership. Failing to properly wield his office and power intelligently, prioritize, and leverage established institutions to carry out his policies transparently, that no one man can effectively do alone, is either a corrupt panicked effort to retain power, or incompetent behavior. Either way, you deserve better.

Unfortunately for the majority of us regular folks in the middle, we continue to get governance that falls short of our expectations and desires, right?! This is because we keep electing republicans and democrats to office who do not act in your best interests at the senior levels. Sure, you’ll get idealists and well-intentioned young college graduates who want to “do-the-right-thing” and who have America’s best interests at heart when they self-identify as republicans and democrats and choose a career path of civic engagement. There’s nothing wrong with their desires to make a difference and make America a better place. They are good folks. But when the parties decide which of those well-intentioned young leaders will get the chance to emerge as a senior candidate, and have the funding necessary to be electable, the senior party leaders at the top ask themselves which of those junior leaders who they feel are “emerging” will ”play-ball.” It is self evident that the party leadership is more interested in party candidates who will participate at the senior level and behave in ways that does not disrupt the party status quo, and all that is undesirable about it, and that we routinely complain about. This is why good leadership is so difficult to find.

So, if you want to send a message that you want clean, transparent governance that behaves responsibly on the global stage, that retains America’s position of moral authority among world leaders, and is perceived as the responsible and non-corrupt light and example to the world, placing your voting power in the hands of independent responsible candidates that will “do-the-right-thing” is what you may want to consider doing. NOT voting for republicans or democrats who at the senior levels put their own self-interests ahead of America’s interests. And, as level headed as I try to be, a sitting president who’s demagoguery suggests provocateurs in the U.S. Government are engaged in actions that amount to a “coup” and place America on the threshold of “civil war” is absolutely irresponsible unprofessional. It’s a display of incompetent leadership. When America should be standing for what is legal and right on the global stage, enabling our allies to confront a rising party dictatorship (China), who just a few days ago displayed for the world their military power in their 70th anniversary parade (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-49891769), and strengthening our global leadership position, republican leadership is undermining American power - and our adversaries are laughing at us.

I know, perhaps I have digressed, but I have tried to underscore where and why we are being mislead - including by elected officials who continue to support weak, self-interested leadership. The stakes are very high. So, in summary, support for Senator Lee, as he continues to put party, self-interest and flawed leadership before America’s interests first, is maybe not what you want… maybe you want better?  

 Utah, America, the choice is yours.  Do you deserve better?  Do you want candidates that will “do-the-right-thing?” 

Extreme views? I think not.

If the answer to the former questions is yes, consider a candidate who will do the right thing for America and you first, not a party first. COL Mike Seguin, Utah Bull-Moose Party, Utah Senate 2022.