To the editor:

How will Todd Young answer when his grandchildren ask “Grandpa, what did you do during the Trump insurrection?”

In my opinion, his honest response should be: “Well, back in those days, Republicans considered the duties of the oath of office optional.

Convicting Trump would result in mean “tweets” and a primary challenger. I simply wanted to be reelected more than I wanted to defend the country.”

Todd Young took the oath of office when he entered the Naval Academy, when he received a commission in the U.S. Marines, when he entered Congress, and again as he entered the Senate. With that oath he swore to defend the constitution of the United States from all enemies, foreign and domestic.

And yet, Senator Young, in my opinion, thinks fulfilling the oath of office is optional. He failed to perform his duties three times: when he voted to acquit Trump at his first impeachment trial in the face of evidence of guilt; when he and 44 other Republican senators voted against holding Trump’s second impeachment trial; and when he ignored overwhelming evidence of guilt and voted to acquit Trump in the second impeachment trial. Young hid behind procedure, the thinnest of fig leaves that 100 constitutional scholars argued was nonsense.

Senator Young had the privilege of attending the Naval Academy. Was the curriculum so flawed that it failed to teach midshipmen their duties and responsibilities? Did the Marine Corps fail to ensure officers understood their responsibility to defend the country? Has his time in Congress inoculated him from performing his sworn duties?

Young’s failure to hold Trump accountable is egregious and dangerous. Young let Trump get away with inciting a violent insurrectionist mob that stormed our nation’s capital causing death and injury to police, threatened violence and death to Senators, members of Congress, and even threatened to hang the Vice President. Young, thru these inactions, gave license to would-be dictator Trump‘s attempts to overthrow a presidential election and suffer no consequences while simultaneously sounding the all-clear signal to anti-government groups intent on insurrection.

Lying — no problem, obstruction — no problem, insurrection – no problem. Mr. Young, the state of Indiana expected you to uphold your oath to defend the United States. You took the test, and you flunked the course.

As we cast our votes in the 2022 election, remember Young’s failures, and drive home the lesson: The oath of office is not optional.

Joe Bradley, Brownstown