Jon Paul: Individuals must get out and vote for the future of the US

To The Daily Sun,

Our country is better than this. The USA has a very long history of abiding by military rules of engagement and the Geneva Conventions, that is until Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump came around. Certainty, no one wants to see drugs flooding streets again, but we also don’t need to deviate from expected norms and start a war without Congressional approval. Brutally killing drug mules and blasting them out of the water when they appear to be surrendering is beneath what this country stands for. Hegseth and Trump recently gave only one directive to our military leaders ― unfettered, unquestionable loyalty to Trump. Not our country or constitution, just Donald Trump.

True leaders don’t order the killing of their own people and foreigners by cruel means with complete disregard to international laws. Apparently none of this registers with Trump and his minions. One of Trump’s idols is the former president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte. Duterte approved of and used the Davao Death Squad, which killed thousands of Filipino adults and children who used, or were suspected of using drugs or doing other petty crimes. No due process, just a bullet to the head. The majority of those slaughtered were unarmed and many were innocent of any crime. Duterte currently has an international warrant for murdering and torturing his own people while in power.

Is this where our country is headed next? If people really care about the future of our country, they must get out and vote. That is our only tool since we can’t rely on Congress or the Supreme Court to do the right thing anymore.

Jon Paul

Alton