By Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-33)
Never one to miss a staged photo opportunity with the media, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro recently joined Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Sen. Bob Casey in Scranton. While there, in an unprecedented and disturbing manner, Shapiro was pictured with a sinister grin signing an artillery round that will be used to kill people with whom the United States is not at war.
For me, as a combat veteran and chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee, Shapiro’s photo opportunity is disturbing. It brings thoughts of yet another elite politician eagerly displaying a willingness to send other people’s children to fight and die in another losing war. It is the height of arrogance to watch this sort of warmongering from Shapiro, especially considering he has never served in the military.
Every day I honor Pennsylvanians who gave the “last full measure of devotion.” It is heartbreaking to see how young these precious men and women were when they died. I knew some of them and their families. When I reflect on the outcomes of Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, all I can think about is the grief these families have endured and are still enduring over the loss of their loved ones in wars guided by politics. It’s disturbing to witness the arrogance of Casey and Shapiro, using their official office to signal an interest in sending our young men and women off to fight in another losing war. I guarantee none of their kids will see combat should that happen.
It sadly didn’t end with warmongering. The photo opportunity crossed into political campaigning. Zelensky went into a tirade, attacking the Republican presidential ticket. He said former President Donald Trump doesn’t know how to end war and J.D. Vance is too radical. “My feeling is that Trump doesn’t really know how to stop the war even if he might think he knows how,” Zelensky said. Is this not foreign interference and meddling in our election?
Remember the cry of “foreign influence” in the 2016 election? Now in Pennsylvania we have Josh Shapiro hosting a foreign public critic of former President Trump during an official visit to an arms facility in the commonwealth.
One must wonder, with President Zelensky being a focal point of this visit, is this a violation of campaign finance laws? After all, it is clearly stated that “foreign nationals” may not contribute to federal campaigns, either monetarily or “in kind.”
You can use this link – www.FEC.Gov/help-candidates-and-committees/foreign-nationals – to the Federal Election Commission website to learn more about the restriction on the involvement of foreign nationals in our elections.
Sen. Doug Mastriano represents the 33rd Senatorial District covering Adams and Franklin counties. He is a combat veteran who served in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm and was deployed three times to Afghanistan.
Media contact: Don Beishl
717-787-6701