Dear Editor,
Why the voters of Mississippi need to retire Roger Wicker and replace him with a better, younger, braver man in the US Senate. Roger Wicker is a career politician. Senator Wicker has been in Washington D.C. as a politician since 1995, at the end of his current term he will have acquired a 30 year career.
● Senator Wicker is seventy-two years old. If re-elected he will end his term at 79. If you are a young voter or a forgetful voter, this year’s campaign is similar to Senator Thad Cochran’s 2014 election. That year, citizens throughout the USA were mad about the economy, our Government bailout of failing financial institutions, etc. This spawned a disgruntlement with voters. Please refer to Thad’s bio on Wikipedia, for more details on what happened.
● The scenario works like this: An old, popular, establishment Senator that may or may not complete his term is supported by the political establishment, regardless of cost. Gets elected and resigns during his term, the governor appoints a replacement, taking the vote away from Mississippians. This is how Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith both became Senators. They were both initially appointed US Senators by our Governor. Then they run for Senate later in a special election, except they have all the benefits of an incumbent and the full support of the Mississippi political establishment. Thus denying the tax paying citizen a true choice for who we would like to vote for and send to Washington D.C.to represent us.
● Senator Wicker’s current media campaign misleads and deceives voters. Just look at his voting record in D.C. Often, he votes with the democrats to help get bad legislation passed, and stifle debate. Several times, Mississippi Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith has voted opposite of Wicker, as in the case for the most recent aid package to Ukraine, Taiwan, and Israel.
● Senator Wicker has voted to send $113 Billion to Ukraine and just voted to send another $60 Billion. Thus ignoring our higher priority of securing our own country. Wicker’s TV and Radio ads say he’s written legislation to finish Trump”s Wall. Where was this legislation during 2017 or 2018 when Trump was President and the Republicans controlled both chambers of Congress. Did it take Roger Wicker 4 years to figure out the obvious? Had he supported President Trump, the wall could have already been built and new /effective immigration legislation could have been passed. Instead Wicker, McConnell, Ryan and other Republicans chose to do nothing and undermined Trump’s objectives. Thus damaging the US security on our southern border.
● Senator Wicker’s voting record shows he cares more about Ukraine’s border than our own border. Please refer to Senator Rand Paul’s speech on YouTube “You want to put Ukraine First?”. You can watch a condensed 9 min 50 sec speech on the Senate floor which will articulate our situation with Ukraine and its Government.
● Senator Wicker serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee. His media advertisement mentions the great job he is doing on the committee and how he’s stopping the funding of DEI programs in the military. Reality is quite different. Why would we have to defund DEI programs in the military if the Armed Services Committees of each Chamber did their jobs in the first place? This “DEI problem” should have never developed if there had been proper leadership and oversight. He was a member of the committee as they required service members to get the Covid-19 vaccine. Thus resulting in the discharge of about 8,400 servicemen, many of them with multiple combat tours. The Armed Services Committee allowed the Navy to use a drag queen (Harpy Daniels) in recruitment videos. All of these incidents happened while Wicker was in the Senate.
● Recruitment numbers for the military in 2023 were missed by 41,000 personnel. The USAF, for the first time in 24 years failed to achieve its recruiting goals. The US Navy also failed to meet its recruitment goals. Senator Wicker has been a contributing factor in this recruitment failure and has no plan to fix the problems in our military any time soon.
● Afghanistan 2021: No civilian nor military leader has been held accountable for the debacle of the U.S. withdrawal in Afghanistan. It has been 2.5 years, with no accountability. There were many general officers between the Joint Chiefs, CENTCOM, and Division Commanders in Theater who could have stopped this debacle and demanded a comprehensive and effective withdrawal plan. But not one single man had the moral courage to do what was right. The majority of General Officers are more concerned about their next promotion than they are about the combat readiness and welfare of their troops and the effective execution of our nation’s strategic objectives. (General Norman Schwarzkopf, mentions this in his book “It Doesn’t take a Hero”). There is no excuse for this type of military failure. This is a disgrace to our service members and all our veterans that have ever served.
● Now, if you are a Mississippi tax payer citizen that is a registered Democrat or leans Democrat please continue reading. Everything I’ve written is true, they are verifiable facts. This Primary will be held March 12, 2024. Mississippi allows citizens of either party to vote in the primary of their choice. Mississippi has not had a Democratic Senator since Trent Lott was elected to the Senate in1988.. And this year will be no different.
Historical data indicates the most outstanding Democrat nominee, might get 45% of the vote. If Roger Wicker wins the Primary in March, he will win the Senate seat in November. So if you want any input into who your next Senator is, you have a choice between Colonel Ghannon Burton or Dan Eubanks. I’ve met both gentlemen and I think both of them will perform better than Roger Wicker as a US Senator. Both men have served our state and country with integrity and honor. They have the moral courage and dedication to challenge an entrenched incumbent, not for personal gain, but for the duty and concern for our country.
However, with our current situation, in which our enemies are getting stronger as we get weaker, and the number of flashpoints around the planet intensifying, Colonel Burton is the leader we need now. He’s an intelligent, combat veteran, who fully understands the geo-political environment around the world. He fully understands 5th Generation Warfare and how it is being conducted. His background confirms that he has the integrity, and the physical and moral courage to represent the citizens of Mississippi in Washington D.C. He would represent us well, make us proud, and help our country. We are at a very critical time in our nation’s history and none of us can afford to be apathetic or complacent. Our political establishment has led us to this critical point. We can no longer trust “the experts”( who are bought and paid for everyday by corrupt foreign governments or domestic “special interest groups”) to do what is right for the United States and our citizens. If we expect and demand positive change, we have to change the leadership. And we have to change leadership at every level of government and we have to change it as soon as possible.
● The status quo and current leadership is not working. Mississippians deserve a better senator representing them in Washington. Please make an informed decision, and vote wisely. Changing the leadership is our responsibility.
Sincerely,
Spike Causey
USAF/ANG Retired Lt. Col, fighter pilot, and Iraq War Veteran
