To the editor;
The Founders enacted two revolutions in the late eighteenth century. The first was a war of independence against England, which they won. The second was the creation of a new system of government based on the will of the people rather than the will of royal or religious autocrats. The new government was a democratic republic based on the Enlightenment values of freedom, equality, justice and fairness for all. Although policy differences between factions would inevitably exist, the founders believed that citizens would engage in reasoned discussion that would result in bargaining and compromise for the common good. Loyalty to the fundamental values of the Revolution would cement solidarity to the Republic to ensure that differences would not destroy the state. The parlous state of politics in America calls this assumption into question.
Politics as practiced by the two major parties today has degenerated into conflict, insult and often downright hatred. The idea of bargaining to achieve compromise over disputed issues is currently unthinkable. Gridlock is the result. Although each party expresses empty fealty to Constitutional values, there is no agreement on how those values should be expressed or enacted. Solidarity forged by a common identity that would facilitate united action has disappeared. It has been replaced by affiliation to fragmented identity groups within both parties. Membership in these identity groups is characterized by resentment and rage for perceived harms. The desire for revenge and domination over the perpetrators of the offenses has assumed priority. The creation of a common good has been replaced by culture wars designed to annihilate opposition.
There are two major identity groups associated with MAGA Republicans. The first had its beginning in response to the loss of millions of blue-collar jobs due to globalization and automation. While investors profited from these trends, factory workers in the heartland suffered economic loss while government largely ignored their plight. As factories in the Rust Belt closed, small town social structure deteriorated, and the region was ravaged by opiate and fentanyl drug epidemics. The sense of abandonment and alienation in the heartland increased following the 2008 Great Recession, as the government bailed out large banks and corporations and neglected middle-class losses. The effects of these economic and social disruptions provided a fertile ground for the development of a resentful MAGA identity group comprised of white, less-educated and rural voters, who see the government and coastal elites as enemies. The second MAGA identity group consists of alienated fundamentalist and evangelical Christians. As Democrats achieved political victories on abortion rights and gender identity issues, many Christians on the far right judged that their fundamental religious beliefs were under attack. This perception was intensified as left-leaning entertainment and cultural institutions were regarded as mocking Christian values. As Christians emerged to defend their basic beliefs against “godless” enemies, they grew into a MAGA identity group. Both Republican identity groups see themselves as aggrieved and seek retribution rather than reconciliation from their enemies.
The left has long been identified with identity politics focused on feminist, racial and gender issues. Progressives have defended their advocacy of these groups in moral terms, claiming that they are oppressed groups that have been denied Constitutional rights. The ideology of these groups has hardened in recent years with a lessened emphasis on providing opportunity for the disadvantaged to seeking retribution for past indignities. They define the relationships between members of the identity group and society as a war between elite oppressors and their victims. Using their control of cultural and educational institutions, they impose “cancellation” of individuals and institutions who oppose their ideological directives. Whereas earlier social justice movements had looked to the integration of disadvantaged groups, the current identarian approach seeks to exclude and defeat their ideological enemies.
All these identity groups are characterized by animosity and rage toward a perceived enemy. Their common goal is revenge and defeat of adversaries. Although there is fierce solidarity within the identity group, there is no consideration for seeking the common good as the Founders envisioned. Without a unifying ethos, there is no other option than a politics based solely on power that seeks victory and control for their ideology. The current polarization of American politics calls into question whether we can consider ourselves a true liberal democracy. The war between identity groups prevents a solidarity that would result in actions that might benefit anyone outside of an identarian faction. The Enlightenment values honored by the Founders become irrelevant in the face of identarian conflict and we creep nearer to Hobbes’ state of nature rather than becoming a “shining city on the hill.”
Robert D. Russell, PhD
Harrisburg, Pa.
Robert:
You have framed the Revolution as a high-minded philosophical exercise. The Founders certainly cast themselves in that mold. Equally important, we believe, but left out of their voluminous correspondence, was their widespread interest in the development of land west of the Appalachian mountains, which had been prohibited by the British Crown. This oft-ignored but fascinating topic is fully explored in William Hogeland’s Autumn of the Black Snake: George Washington, Mad Anthony Wayne, and the Invasion that Opened the West. It’s a real rip snorter, which we can’t praise highly enough.
The degeneration of which you write is all too real. Your even-handed description of it, though, seems to imply that the parties are equally guilty. In our view, regular order disappeared about thirty years ago: one party showed up with arguments, ready to debate, and got jumped by the other, wielding switchblades. When Democrats adopted Republican-lite policies, they did the GOP the favor of stabbing themselves.
You criticize what you call identity groups for their “animosity and rage toward a perceived enemy.” We would remind you of the power imbalance at work here. The Republican Party—now 100 percent enmired in MAGA fanaticism—has embraced Christian Nationalism. Worse still, these people are talking about running the country on Old Testament values. Jesus? That “turn the other cheek” guy? Never heard of him… .
Neoliberal Democrats are worthy of your scorn, but the targets of the MAGA movement are not the problem here.
The Editor
–=≈=–
Needlessly Cruel: Is That The N.H. Way?
To the Editor:
In 2012, President Obama announced a new program that offered relief to a small portion of the 11 million undocumented people living in the U.S. at the time. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) provided recipients with temporary protection from deportation and permitted work authorization. When the news came, I was a 25-year-old undocumented Granite Stater working a variety of caregiving and hospitality jobs and closely followed the immigration reform stalemate in Congress.
For years I struggled to make ends meet, had no savings and relied on loved ones and limited public transportation to get around. I couldn’t afford dental care or regular doctor’s visits. I relied on home remedies to treat illnesses and faith to prevent injuries. The only affordable medical care I could access was through Planned Parenthood where I received compassionate but limited care.
New Hampshire is home to 230 DACA recipients,1 (loved ones, friends, colleagues and neighbors) who are now the target of the state’s recent decision to join a lawsuit challenging the Biden administration’s decision to expand eligibility to publicly funded health insurance programs for DACA recipients. 2 The lawsuit, Kansas et al. v. the United States of America et al., paints a harmful and inaccurate picture of DACA recipients, using discredited data from the notoriously anti-immigrant Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). 3 The complaint inaccurately paints DACA recipients and undocumented immigrants as drains on the resources of “real Americans.” However, many reputable studies cite the opposite: immigrants, including those without lawful status, significantly contribute to the social and economic fabric of the U.S., including N.H., as community members, workers, taxpayers, and consumers. 4
—
1 https://shorturl.at/7TfLM
2 https://shorturl.at/2Yi1Y
3 The Cato Institute, a Libertarian think tank, condemned the FAIR methodologies that this lawsuit relies upon for data: FAIR’s “‘Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration’ is Fatally Flawed,” Cato at Liberty, Cato Institute (Sept. 29, 2017) at https://shorturl.at/H4QvH.
4 See, for example, “The Fiscal Impact of Immigration in the United States,” Cato at Liberty, Cato Institute (March 21, 2023) “In our recent paper, ‘The Fiscal Impact of Immigration in the United States,’ we investigate this question and find that immigrants pay more in taxes than they consume in benefits, on average.” https://shorturl.at/LOObt. See also, “Immigrants Contribute Greatly to the U.S. Economy Despite Administration’s ‘Public Charge’ Rule Rationale,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (Aug. 15, 2019) at https://shorturl.at/RZa7x.
Grace Kaseke Kindeke, Program Coordinator, AFSC-N.H.
Manchester, N.H.
Grace:
We Americans supposedly pride ourselves on our initiative. How much initiative is involved in falling out of a birth canal in a particular location?
We’re not surprised to see statistics—from Cato, no less—proving that immigrants contribute more to the economy than the average person.
What would be surprising would be evidence suggesting that facts and rational thought had outweighed prejudice in right wing politics.
The Editor
–=≈=–
Is This Progress?
Dear Editor,
“Child care is… child care.” — a snippet of the word salad vomited into the microphone at the Economic Club of New York, September 5, 2024, which received enthusiastic applause from the stupidest rich people in the planet.
John C. Ficor
Richmond, Va.
John:
Funny, isn’t it?
Fifty-four years ago Donny Hathaway sang “Everying is Everything”—and said everything in three and a half minutes. Now an ex-president’s pie-hole can flap for an hour and half and the country only gets dumber.
OK, maybe it’s not so funny after all.
The Editor
–=≈=–
They’re Coming For Us
Dear Editor:
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” This quote is often attributed to the Irish Philosopher Edmund Burke, but there is no proof that he actually said it. Regardless of the source there is a great deal of truth and historical evidence to support this notion. For example, Martin Niemöller, a German Lutheran cleric who was imprisoned by Hitler stated, “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
Rev. Niemöller’s words ring as true today as they did in the 1930’s. Today we have a presidential candidate and major political party demonizing and spreading disgusting lies about any group that they disagree with. They are coming for immigrants by calling them rapists, murderers, and now claiming that they are abducting people’s pets and eating them. They are coming after transgender people, claiming that children are getting gender-changing operations in schools. They are coming after women, claiming that they are killing babies after they are born, and taking away their right to control their own bodies. They are coming after Democrats, calling them Communists and war mongers. They are coming after veterans, calling them “losers and suckers.” They are coming after our allies, saying that Putin can “do whatever the hell he wants.” They are coming after the rule of law and our system of justice, by nominating a convicted felon for President and threatening to jail their opponents. They are coming after the Constitution by appointing radical judges to the courts. And they are coming after democracy, with their draconian plans to enshrine the Mandates for Leadership of Project 2025.
Unfortunately, like with Rev. Niemöller, too many of us are not speaking out to oppose what Trump and his followers are doing. We are saying, either because we are afraid, or we think we are not among those they are coming after, that we are simply too complacent and busy to get involved. Or, sadly, we believe and support what they are saying and doing.
In less than two months the fate of our democracy will be decided. If we choose wrongly, who will be left to speak for us because we did not speak out to protect ourselves? Not speaking out in the 1930’s did not end well for Germany and the world, and not speaking out in 2024 will not end well for America and the world.
Hon. Rich DiPentima
Portsmouth, N.H.
Rich:
Strangest of all, the “they” to whom you refer insist on hollering from the rooftops—while claiming they’re being censored—that you are coming for them.
Right wing insanity has more layers than an onion.
The Editor
–=≈=–
Unhinged and Delusional
To the Editor:
Trump: “Migrants and crime are here in our country at levels never thought possible.” “You’re being overrun by criminals.” *
Reality: Crime has dropped dramatically since Biden took office. Much lower than when Trump was president. Illegal border crossings are way down.
Trump: “I better win or you’re gonna have problems like we’ve never had….[If I don’t win] It’ll all be over, and you gotta remember…Trump is always right. I hate to be right. I’m always right.”
Reality: Trump is often wrong. Example, Covid: “It will be over by Easter.”
Trump: “Can you imagine you’re a parent and your son leaves the house [for school]… and comes back with a brutal operation. Can you even imagine this? What the hell is wrong with our country?”
Reality: What the? Surgery performed at schools! Do I really have to tell Trump supporters that this has never happened—except in Trump’s mind.
Trump: Trump claimed that mothers are executing their babies after birth.
Reality: No, they aren’t. That would be murder, and murder is against the law in every state, even in Democratic states. But not in Trump’s delusional state.
We have a major party candidate who is unhinged and delusional. He is untethered to reality. He should not be in any position of power!
*All quotes and examples are from a speech Trump gave in Mosinee, Wisconsin on September 6th.
Michael Frandzel
Portsmouth, N.H.
Michael:
The position he should be in is seated—in a padded cell.
The Editor
–=≈=–
“I Am Never, Ever Wrong”
Dear Editor,
Many who like Trump overlook his faults because his policies are so good. Besides, he says Kamala Harris is a communist.
Slowly backing out of America’s endless wars and quickly shoring up the southern border are not bad ideas. And tax cuts can help a lot of people if done right.
However, Trump’s recent resorting to “red-baiting” should disturb MAGA supporters. Republican Joe McCarthy employed it in the 1950s to advance his personal interests and destroy the lives of liberals. He hurt a lot of people.
Trump recently said, “Trump is never wrong. I am never, ever wrong.” Funny, that is the same gospel that communists in Russia and China used to get themselves into totalitarian power.
In America, only the God of scripture is accorded the status of never being wrong.
Donald Trump wants us to change the motto on our money to “In Trump We Trust.”
Kimball Shinkoskey
Woods Cross, Utah
Kimball:
Thanks a lot. We just spent five minutes thinking about voters who decide to overlook a repugnant candidate’s criminal behavior because they want so badly to lower taxes for billionaires, and it damn near broke our faith in democracy.
You’re probably right about the Felon-in-Chief’s wanting to see his name inserted into the motto on our money. We’d prefer to see that motto expunged altogether.
The Editor
–=≈=–
N.H. Should Do More To Prevent EEE
Dear Editor:
Considering the number of mosquito pools testing positive for Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) and other arbo-viruses, the number of horses infected with EEE, and the unfortunate human cases, I think it is time to do more than just warn people of the serious risks posed by EEE. Dr. Chan, the State Epidemiologist has stated that “We are very concerned.” … “These are very serious diseases.”
While the State only provides information to communities and assists with mosquito testing, it does not mandate any community mosquito control measures. In the absence of such State mandates, it is up to each community to make those decisions. Unfortunately, that is not an effective prevention strategy. Mosquitoes do not respect town and city boundaries. If one community decides to initiate a more aggressive mosquito control program including the spraying of pesticides, it will help that community, but adjoining communities are still at risk, and infected mosquitoes will continue to move between communities.
We are at the point with EEE that, if it continues to increase, a state of emergency should be declared by the Governor in those communities where the number of infected mosquito pools is greatest. The State should provide financial and other assistance to those communities, to increase mosquito surveillance, perform mosquito larviciding, and conduct evening or early morning spraying. Local health officials must alert people to the risks of having any standing water on their property, and take actions to eliminate those standing water mosquito breeding locations.
When I was the N.H. Chief of Communicable Disease Epidemiology, we had concerns about EEE but they never reached the level we are now seeing. Back then, we could expect a hard frost that would end the mosquito season by September 25th. Today, because of global warming, a hard freeze here in Southern New Hampshire comes around October 25th.That gives mosquitoes an additional month to spread very serious diseases and, in the case of EEE, kill 30 percent of its victims.
It is time for State and local government officials to do much more to protect the people and our economy. With the threat of these diseases, and little being done to control it, tourists will avoid N.H. at a very high tourist season. That may protect tourists who stay home, but not those of us living with an ongoing threat.
Rich DiPentima, RN, MPH
Former N.H. Chief of Communicable Disease Epidemiology
Portsmouth, N.H.
Rich:
What a quaint notion: that the government ought to do more to protect public health. Don’t you know that government is now old hat? The free market is where it’s at! It’s the ’Murican Way!
If you don’t want to die from some bug-born disease, well, that’s your choice. Build yourself an off-road vehicle—stay off those socialist roads—and spray the swamps and wetlands with whatever home-brew you think will protect you.
The Editor
–=≈=–
Are They Kidding?
Dear Editor:
Passing through Danbury on Monday, I saw a yard sign: Law and Order / Vote for Trump. Pity the one who put that there. If anyone doesn’t represent law and order, it’s Donald Trump.
Now Fox News aired on Sunday, Trump’s claiming he “had every right to interfere with a presidential election,” alluding to the January 6, 2021, attack he called for on our Capitol and his demand of Vice-President Pence that, in his capacity of overseeing the election certification, he prevent Biden from taking office. Remember his mob’s shouting out, “Hang Mike Pence!” and the gallows they took with them?
A trimmed back wording of the case against Trump is moving forward. His SCOTUS had helped him out, with their first handling of it. Let’s see what they do now. Is a president above the law? A king or a dictator is above the law.
Lynn Rudmin Chong
Sanbornton, N.H.
Lynn:
Regarding the sign you saw in Danbury, we can almost smell the homeowner’s burned-out synapses from here.
The Editor
–=≈=–
Vote For Their Interests, Not Your Own
To the Editor:
If you’re poor in America and don’t want to be, stop voting for Democrats. If you care about America’s poor, don’t vote for Democrats. Democrat politicians believe they locked in poor people’s votes; to keep them poor, Democrat politicians deny them good educations and jobs.
To escape poverty you need a job. Unemployment rates and incomes generally relate to education levels, higher education levels generally provide higher incomes and lower unemployment rates.
High school graduates typically earn 25 percent more than people who didn’t graduate, college grads earn more than twice as much. Unemployment for high school dropouts is almost 50 percent higher than high school graduates, and 2.5 times higher than college grads. (https://tinyurl.com/5exymbsn)
Yet America’s public schools, especially in poor areas are frequently very bad with high drop out rates. Many, if not most, students from America’s poor schools will struggle financially.
The Democrat party controls America’s public school system. Democrat leaders could make sure everyone gets a good education, they don’t. Democrat leaders care more about public school jobs and indoctrinating children with Marxism, racism, gender theory, and disdain for our country than about preparing students to be successful Americans.
Democrats fight efforts to provide students with opportunities to escape public schools to get good educations via alternative sources.
Republicans promote school choice so everyone can get a good education and hopefully incentive [sic] public school improvements. Republicans want our children educated honestly to appreciate our country’s greatness, especially our founding principles, while recognizing that humans make mistakes. Despite our mistakes, our country is still increasingly delivering on the goals of our Declaration of Independence.
If you want all Americans to prosper, vote for President Trump and Republicans who support his pro-education, pro-prosperity, pro-rule-of-law, pro-peace, and pro-freedom agenda.
Don Ewing
Meredith, N.H.
Don:
Is this all just an elaborate hoax? Will we some day awaken only to learn that all this time, you’ve just been putting us on?
Or do you really believe that other people are stupid enough to believe this hogwash?
Since it stole the Presidential Election of 1876, the Republican Party has catered to the interests of the wealthy elites—and used rubbish arguments like yours to hornswoggle their victims. The Democrats, of course, have been rotten in their own ways—primarily in their virulent racism.
LBJ tried to redeem the party through his civil rights and voting acts. A few years later Nixon came in with his Southern Strategy and scooped up all the marbles. Ever since, you and your fellow travelers have been trying to re-write history, claiming that the Democratic Party is still racist. In fact, a horde of racists fled the Democratic Party and became Republicans.
So, now, despite all your sputtering and sand-throwing to the contrary, the Party of Lincoln is the party of billionaires and racists.
The Editor
–=≈=–
Correction
To the Editor:
Over the last few years I have noticed even well-edited publications often misstate the date of #45s insurrection. It was January 6, 2021, not 2020. The most recent example coming to my attention is in Mr. Prizio’s letter published on page 5 of your August 23rd edition; it went unchallenged (or incorrectly reproduced).
A Diligent Reader
Diligent:
We constantly strive for perfection, but, being human, inevitably fall short. When things like this are brought to our attention, we are grateful. Thank you.
The Editor