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Letter to Senator Tillis Regarding Mr. Trump’s Nominees
A perspective from Mark Hainline
Senator Tillis,
I am writing to you today regarding three of President-Elect Trump’s cabinet nominees. All three are dire threats to our national security — a topic that I know is dear to your heart. I hope you will vote against these nominees and insist that Mr. Trump nominate instead people who are fit to fill these critical posts.
My first concern is Peter Hegseth, nominated to be Secretary of Defense. Mr. Hegseth has no experience whatsoever to prepare him to lead our Armed Forces and the vast structure that supports them. His personal history and current attitudes suggest that he will be incapable of leading a military filled with people of different races and ethnicities. I cannot imagine him responding effectively if a major war involving the United States should break out. In particular, defeating the many challenges posed by a Chinese attack on Taiwan would be a demanding task for the best of our leaders — and he is clearly not one of them.
My second concern is Tulsi Gabbard, nominated to be Director of National Intelligence. Ms. Gabbard has no experience whatsoever to prepare her to lead our intelligence community. She is widely reputed to be an asset of a foreign power. While that may very well not be true, the assertion merits the widest and deepest investigation possible — something that the incoming Administration has declined to do. That alone makes Ms. Gabbard unfit for the position. Suspicion about her allegiance will make many members of the intelligence community reluctant to work with her or to share the most sensitive intelligence, preventing her from being as effective as we need our DNI to be. In addition to that disqualification, Ms. Gabbard has made many statements that suggest she will impose her own views on the intelligence, rather than following the intelligence to an informed conclusion. That is a further compelling reason to avoid placing her in this key role.
My third concern is Robert Kennedy, Jr. nominated to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. There are many reasons to vote against Mr. Kennedy, but I am writing regarding his potential impact on national security.
As I’m sure you know, Mr. Kennedy is a notorious opponent of vaccines. A plain and unbiased reading of history demonstrates that vaccines can be one of the most effective health interventions ever invented. As I am sure you also know, avian influenza is active in our country and abroad. It has not jumped to become widely infectious to humans, but that is a clear possibility. If it does so, a crash program to prepare and administer a vaccine will be imperative.
I ask you to imagine a world in which Mr. Kennedy prevents the United States from creating a flu vaccine, and then China decides to attack Taiwan. Our ability to field and support an effective naval and air force to counter the attack might well be damaged beyond our ability to recover. Nothing would prevent China from developing a vaccine and using it to keep its forces in fighting shape. As you may know, a key factor in the failure of Germany’s last offensive in 1918 was the impact of the Spanish Flu on its army. We should not risk a similar impact on our military.
In a world that seems to grow more dangerous by the day, the United States cannot afford to appoint such unfit people to such critical positions. Please vote against approval of each of them.
Thank you for your time, and for your service to our country.
Mark Hainline
“Viewpoints” on Chapelboro is a recurring series of community-submitted opinion columns. All thoughts, ideas, opinions and expressions in this series are those of the author, and do not reflect the work or reporting of 97.9 The Hill and Chapelboro.com.
Dear Mr. Hainline,
Thank you so much for writing this letter to Senator Tillis! I wrote something similar to both our senators but not with as much detail. I hope everyone who opposes the irrational appointments by the incoming President will write letters to our senators.