One Oath, Two Choices
Voters in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District have two choices for their congressman. Both candidates, Derrick Anderson and Eugene Vindman served as U.S. Army officers. Both swore an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of The United States.”
Oaths are not fair weather things. They bind professional and personal conduct. They guide us when emotions and circumstances tempt us to act otherwise. How we act, given oaths we take, is an exceptional measure of character.
The army instilled in both men its Core Values of Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal courage; values that shape—or should shape—the character of those who honor them.
How well have these Derrick Anderson and Eugene Vindman honored their oaths and upheld those values?
Anderson boasts endorsements from Donald Trump and other architects of the January 6th insurrection and “Big Lie” that the 2020 election was stolen. Anderson approves Trump’s actions after he lost that election, which culminated in the attack on the Capitol and he death of five people and serious injuries to more than 100 Capitol and Washington DC police officers. Trump now promises to pardon persons convicted of crimes during the attack, and Derrick Anderson seems okay with that. To this day, he endorses Trump’s “Big Lie” that ignited the insurrection. Indeed, he attacked his GOP primary opponent for not endorsing it enough!
In courting support from people who tried to steal an election Anderson betrays his Army oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic.”
Incidentally, during the GOP primary, Anderson criticized his principal opponent’s service in the Department of Homeland Security during the Biden administration, as evidence of insufficient conservatism. He disparaged the non-partisan civil service that has served our country well for 150 years, as well as the thousands of civil servants he hopes to represent. Clearly, Anderson will help Trump turn our professional Civil Service into a patronage gig for personal loyalists.
Eugene Vindman offers a sharp contrast. He honored his oath as an Army officer when, under enormous pressure, he demonstrated personal moral courage when he alerted authorities that Trump likely broke federal law when–for political gain–Trump tried to extort Ukrainian President Zelenskyy over critically needed military supplies. Vindman did his duty when he reported Trump as the law required. Trump retaliated, ruining Vindman’s and his brother’s Army careers.
On January 3rd, 2025, one of these men will take an oath that is nearly identical to the oath they took in the Army, as they enter the House of Representatives. Eugene Vindman kept, and keeps, faith with his oath and honor. Derrick Anderson chose fealty to Trump over fidelity to his Country and oath.
The candidate who honored his oath, and still does, Eugene Vindman, deserves your vote.
Denis Kaufman, Senior Chief Petty Officer, US Navy (Ret), Orange County, VA
The Evidence is Clear, as Are the Stakes in November
There is more than enough evidence to know that Kamala Harris has the experience and the mindset to lead our country into the future. Like Joe Biden, she will work to support the poor and the workers of the middle class. Her entire life and career have been dedicated to justice and opportunity for all people, not just the wealthy and powerful. But even if she didn’t have such an amazing and accomplished record, she would still deserve our votes!
I say that because the alternative is a self-absorbed criminal who seeks to end our democracy and thus our fundamental rights to vote and decide who our leaders will be and how our country will be led in the future.
It is incredible that so many Americans are following and favoring a candidate who has amassed such an extensive criminal record, has been impeached twice, and has led an insurrection in an attempt to hold onto power when he had lost an election for the presidency! And now he seeks our votes for that office again!
The similarities between his behavior and the rise of fascism and World War II are unmistakable! This election may be our last chance to save our democracy and preserve the greatest form of government that has ever existed in human history.
Please vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz and Democrats this November. Until the Republican Party can come back to its basic core principles, this is our country’s only hope for the future.
Robert S. Lowry Jr, Fredericksburg
Subscribed
Local Obituaries
To view local obituaries or to send a note to family and loved ones, please visit our website at the link that follows.
Support Award-winning, Locally Focused Journalism
The FXBG Advance cuts through the talking points to deliver both incisive and informative news about the issues, people, and organizations that daily affect your life. And we do it in a multi-partisan format that has no equal in this region. Over the past month, our reporting was:
$8 a month supports great journalism
- First to report on a Spotsylvania School teacher arrested for bringing drugs onto campus.
- First to report on new facility fees leveled by MWHC on patient bills.
- First to detail controversial traffic numbers submitted by Stafford staff on the Buc-ee’s project
- Provided extensive coverage of the cellphone bans that are sweeping local school districts.
- And so much more, like Clay Jones, Drew Gallagher, Hank Silverberg, and more.
For just $8 a month, you can help support top-flight journalism that puts people over policies.
Your contributions 100% support our journalists.
Help us as we continue to grow!
Support FXBG Advance for $8 a month
