If the outgoing President of the United States, Barack Obama, ever actually took the time to read a letter of concern from one of our dedicated military members, then one would hope that human nature would tell him to take those words to heart.
The only problem is that you have to have a full heart, and not an ideological one.
Retired Army Major Matthew Wadler is one of those with a full heart, and he is also a man that feels betrayed by the president.
Wadler penned an op-ed (click the link to read the full letter) on Thursday for the website, OpsLens, explaining to Obama why he was severely disappointed in the president’s decision to commute the sentence of traitor Bradley "Chelsea" Manning.
Wadler wrote in the letter:
Let us look at Bradley Manning for a moment, Mr. President. PFC Manning took classified documents because he apparently wanted to stop the war by showing just how convoluted and horrible war can be. What he actually did was potentially cost the lives of his fellow soldiers. The democratic party wants to parade President Trump as a recruiting tool for the Islamic terrorists, yet how many killers did this turncoat help to recruit? How many men and women will never again return home due to him? Of course, this is not a concern of yours. After all, there will always be a round of golf to help take your mind off such things of inconsequential magnitude.
Wadler very eloquently wrote how he has given Obama a pass up until now, because he was charged with defending this country and protecting the freedoms that the Constitution enables the people to have.
Wadler wrote:
For example, when you lowered yourself to not only campaigning for Hillary Clinton but making snide comments to Trump (“At least I will go down as being a president”), I basically ignored it. Or when earlier in your presidency you called out the police for “[acting] stupidly,” and then later made the office of the president look moronic for completely misrepresenting the facts, I basically blew it off. I was even able to overlook how you stated that there was a red line with Syria that you ignored, allowing countless people to die a horrible death and doing nothing about it, making us look pathetically weak to our enemies and allies alike. Even with all of this, you were my president, and I respected the office you held. After all, with the oath I took, I swore to protect the Constitution against all enemies, and you were the gatekeeper of that oath.
The retired Army major knows that no matter how much you may disagree with the things the president does, he also knows that there is a time and place for criticism.
What Obama doesn’t understand by making such decisions is how it affects the people that essentially not only work for the people of this nation, but also for him.
Some of Wadler’s closing thoughts should haunt Obama for the rest of his days if he ever took anything that someone who disagrees with him to his ideological heart.
President Obama, I cannot begin to express to you the outrage and betrayal I feel. My nation has turned on all of us who swore to protect it—remember you are not a man anymore but the embodiment of all that this great nation represents.[…]I guess the joke is on not just me, but all of us who have served under you.
H/T: Allen West