The vast majority of my blogs aren’t political. They are about my life, or the lives of my friends and extended family. After the recent events in Belgium, England, and Finland, I felt compelled to write this piece.

We can argue about the environment, abortion, trade, the economy, health care and any number of other issues, but as a veteran and a patriot, I’m embarrassed by the events of the past week. I don’t understand our current president and his views about Russia and our European allies. When did it become patriotic to denigrate our allies and embrace our enemies?

If you have studied history at all, you know that NATO is a major reason that we have had peace in Europe for the last 70 years. Is NATO perfect? No. Are there issues? Sure. But to belittle the organization is ridiculous. And then to specifically go after Great Britain (May) and Germany (Merkel), two allies that have stood with us not only in Europe, but also in Iraq and Afghanistan is nothing short of foolish.

Fast forward to Helsinki. The president’s comments at the press conference were distressing. First, he supports Putin, a man that wishes nothing but ill will not only for our country, but for all nations in the West. He has poisoned people, interfered with elections (not only ours, but others as well), caused issues in Crimea and the Ukraine, imprisoned internal opposition candidates and murdered Russian citizens. Then, our President takes it a step further and talks badly about our own intelligence agencies, blames the US for the poor relations between our countries, and again supports Putin in his allegations. The press conference could not have been more favorable to Putin, if Putin had scripted it himself. And this is our great deal maker?

I am glad to see politicians of both parties have called our president to task for his poor performance in Europe, but that’s not enough. We as citizens all need to express our concerns and ensure our voice is heard. Write your elected officials, write the White House, talk to your neighbors, protest peacefully if you are so moved, but above all, vote.

As an American and a veteran, I’m embarrassed by our president’s performance in Europe, When I was in the Army, I spent almost nine years in Europe as a part of NATO defending this country. I understand that times change and the “Cold War” ended many years ago. For our president to not understand that these times are equally treacherous and that history repeats itself is not only unfortunate, but could prove tragic for us.

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