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We Must Make The Wise Choice For Our Grandchildren

 We in Staunton have a choice to make.  It is up to us.  Shall we choose solar energy ? Twenty one years ago, I was adopted into the Shenandoah family, Wolf Clan, Oneida Nation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (People of the Long House).   White people call them Iroquois. We are taught to listen to our elders, learn to respect and act responsibly. Oren Lyons, 93, Wolf Clan, is an Onondaga Chief, and world leader of peace who teaches —  The Earth is our Mother.  She gives everything we need for life.  Imagine a living pine tree clinging to a cliff; getting all it needs for life from the earth.  We are like that pine tree.  Our Mother Earth provides, but time is running out.  We have little time to make changes in order to survive.  The economy of nations will be broken by natural disasters.  We see more disasters every year:  hurricanes, snow melt, coastlines washing into the seas, wild fires, drought, flooding, on and on.  The haze today brings this reality to Staunton, VA. We must fol
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Rep. Ben Cline does not deserve to be re-elected

It is with a mixture of emotions that I submit the following comments, given a lifelong reticence to write or speak on public policy, and particularly politics.

As a career U.S. Army officer starting my training first at VMI, then at West Point, I was taught both consciously and by the example of my seniors through 32 years in uniform, to keep one’s political views to oneself. This made eminent sense given my career in Military Intelligence, and specifically in collecting, analyzing, producing, and disseminating highly sensitive Human Intelligence, HUMINT.

Having lived over 25 years in Virginia, including most of the last 18 years within the 6th US Congressional District, it has become increasingly distressful to witness the behavior of Rep. Ben Cline. His defense of the indefensible in regards to former President Donald Trump’s, at best, disregard for the proper handling of classified and extremely sensitive HUMINT documents, and, at worst, criminal negligence in his treatment of the same, represents behavior below the minimum standards we should expect from our representative to the people’s House.

However, such callous behavior is minor league when compared to Cline’s betrayal of his oath of office, and the voters he represents, by his vote to reject the election results submitted by legal state electors for certification on January 6th, 2021. Cline’s vote came mere hours after the abominable and disgraceful violent attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of the outgoing President.

I fear that Mr. Cline will continue to furnish further evidence between now and Election Day that he is unfit for office. The two examples above are more than enough to convince me that he should not be returned to Washington as our representative, and I strongly urge my fellow citizens of the 6th District to reject his candidacy this Nov 8.

Philippe Minez

Staunton

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