Dear Editor:
In the era of Watergate, Richard Nixon was renounced by the Republican Party, the Supreme Court, and the American people. When the number of Americans favoring Nixon’s removal from office reached nearly six in ten, and Republican members of Congress told him he would likely be impeached, Nixon resigned.
For 50 years no president has sought to interfere in a criminal investigation—until now. Former president Trump has managed to rewrite fundamental, well-established standards of law and order while simultaneously sustaining solid support within the GOP; through two impeachments, the deadly January 6th attack on our Capitol, and scores of criminal and civil indictments. Incomprehensibly, criminal charges and felony convictions seem favorable to Trump politically. What has so changed America in a short half-century?
Timothy Naftali (founding director of the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum and now a senior research scholar at the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs) nails the answer: Trump has survived because he is different from Richard Nixon in one way—“Richard Nixon had not only a sense of history, but a sense of shame. Donald Trump has never been a student of history and” (as Trump has proven over and over and over again) “he has no shame. He has no interest in protecting the honor of the presidency and clearly does not fear dishonor. It’s honor and shame that has kept our system on the rails.” We are reminded of the founders final words in the Declaration of Independence: “We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”
Martin Luther King, Jr. always believed “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Half a century later, our institutions have failed us, a president has willfully trampled the rules of law, rejected the Constitution, and breached his oath of office discarding values and principles nearly all Americans once held inviolate. Would MLK be so convinced today? I think not.
American tolerance of dishonesty, lying, and unethical behavior is exceeded only by our willingness to plunge ever deeper into the abyss of stomach-churning abhorrent corruption and the deception of our citizens and allies around the globe.
It’s no longer deniable that the United States squandered its long-held reputation as the world’s foremost constitutional government and has metamorphosed into an unmistakable Anocracy. An Anocracy is a form of government neither entirely democratic or entirely autocratic, it’s something in between. Referred to sometimes as “partial democracies” or “illiberal democracies,” it’s in such nations that most civil wars occur.
The reason the United States is in danger of becoming a full-blown dictatorship is because our people have repudiated the will to abide by our own Constitution, abandoned fundamental rules of law and forsaken the essential tenets that define democracies; commitment to the people’s welfare, to govern by representative consensus, and to advance and maintain high regard for solidarity among our citizens.
“The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.” – Plato
David L. Snell
Franklin, N.C.
David:
You have certainly nailed Trump’s superpower: his apparent inability to feel shame. An ordinary person carrying the sordid baggage he does would have been crushed by its burden decades ago. Sadly, this vile trait has proven to be contagious. It has now spread throughout the party.
Thanks for this briefing on anocracy. It’s a term with which few will be familiar, save those in academia. Down at street level, where we tend to circulate, learning of it comes as confirmation of what we’ve long suspected.
Now Roger Stone has been caught on tape saying he plans to send “armed guards to dispute the election in Detroit.” How much proof do we need?
The Editor
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What Would Be Worse Than Trump?
To the Editor:
There isn’t much that comes from the mouths of those on the right that is not pure projection. A few years back Vance described trump [sic, passim] as the “American Hitler.” It’s becoming more clear by the day that Vance is now the most dangerous threat to American democracy. Slicker, more polished, way more cunning and certainly smarter than the thuggish blustering 78 year-old buffoon, the chameleon Vance is the future of American fascism. The worst thing that could happen to us is not just that trump is re-elected. It’s that he’s re-elected, resigns shortly after taking the oath and turns the reins over to Vance. The coup, then, will be complete.
John C. Ficor
Richmond, Va.
John:
We suspect that, short of dynamite, the only thing getting Trump’s fat rump out from behind the Resolute desk would be all the accumulated Big Mac residue slithering through his circulatory system.
Vance may be smarter than his running mate, but that’s not saying much. But whether he’s an idiot, or an idiot savant, the odds do seem to favor him getting a shot at the big job before the 2028 election rolls around.
The method of the Golfer-in-Chief’s removal would make little difference. It may not even matter much which bozo is “in charge.” They’re just front men for the billionaires, after all.
The Editor
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He’s a Cowardly Bully
Dear Editor,
Some admire trump [sic, passim], thinking he’s a “tough-guy” who can control the world’s dictators. How is a tough-guy different from a bully? A bully intimidates timid weaklings, like Kevin McCarthy and Mike Johnson, but easily folds when confronted by real tough-guys. Trump yielded to Putin, publically, saying he believed Putin over our national security agencies, in Helsinki, July 2018.
Five years ago, in October, 2019, trump surrendered to Turkey’s strongman, Erdogan, pulling our troops that were guarding our Kurd allies, who successfully defeated ISIS, from Northern Syria. That left a vacuum for Turkey to ransack the Kurds, and for Russia to move into Syria.
Trump ain’t no tough-guy. He’s a cowardly bully who flatters dictators almost as much as he flatters himself. As President, Kamala Harris will stand up to dictators and bullies with calm, strong stability that restrains our enemies and strengthens confidence in our allies, to maintain world order.
Bruce Joffe
Piedmont, Calif.
Bruce:
Before the Reagan-induced brain-rot set in, it was common for working class Americans to despise the overprivileged. This was in part because they were thought to have missed, in their youth, some essential life lessons. In the former president, we have proof that this was sound judgment.
The Editor
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What Would Solomon Think?
Dear Editor,
The October 7th Hamas attack on Israel was truly horrific, but not unlike the “Mowing of the Lawn” assaults inflicted on residents of Gaza on a semi-regular basis pre-October 7th. Now Israel inflicts all-out genocide and has begun a similar treatment on the West Bank and Lebanon.
Live by the sword, die by the sword. The Nakba and its 76-year aftermath may double back as karma does and hit Israel when they least expect it. Their only hope is to give peace a chance and to realize the beautiful humanity of the Indigenous people of the Holy Land.
The brutality Israel inflicts reminds me of Solomon’s wisdom regarding the true and false mother. As Israel bombs, bulldozes, and tears the heart out of parts of the Middle East, she reveals to all who is the true mother, and who would tear the baby apart. Is Israel capable of change? I hope so.
Genevieve Harris-Fraser
Note: Harris-Fraser is the author of a book of poems and essays, Palestine: Waiting by Lazarus’ Tomb.
Orange, Mass.
Genevieve:
What is more powerful than dehumanization? Back in the day, young American men—boys, really—were trained to lust for the opportunity to thrust a bayonet into the guts of… persons of a different race. As it happens, Drill Instructors were unable to ascertain exactly who their trainees were imagining those stuffed dummies were.
The Editor
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It’s Still The Economy
To the Editor:
Strange: In poll after poll Americans tend to see Republicans as better on the economy. Yet, ALL the evidence points to the opposite.
A few examples: Bill Clinton reduced the deficit created by Reagan’s tax cuts to the wealthy; balanced the budget; and left his successor, George W. Bush, with that unicorn of American government—a surplus!
Bush blew through the surplus in record time. He pushed through a massive tax cut for the wealthy and borrowed hundreds of billions by launching a major war against Iraq. And the deficit went up again. When Bush left office, the U.S. was in the deepest recession since the Great Depression.
Obama took over; rescued the economy; put people back to work; and overhauled the health care system.
Along came Trump who, like Bush and Reagan before him, pushed through a massive tax cut for the wealthy, again greatly expanding the deficit. Under Trump’s erratic leadership, the economy was in turmoil—before Covid.
Biden, through strategic economic legislation, restored the economy that Trump didn’t understand. Under Biden, the inflation rate steadily decreased despite increases in some areas such as food. In fact, under Biden, the U.S. inflation rate has been consistently the lowest among all industrialized countries!
Now, employment is way up; particularly with huge increases in factory jobs; and wages are strongly up.
The half-baked policies Trump now promises, including massive tariffs and more tax cuts for the rich, would be disastrous. Want sound economic policy? Vote for Kamala Harris.
Michael Frandzel
Portsmouth, N.H.
Michael:
Of all the things that we find both vexing and perplexing, few are so nonsensical yet persistent as this insane folk belief that somehow Republicans are more careful stewards of the public purse than Democrats. The Nixon administration proved otherwise, and their GOP successors just doubled-down.
The Editor
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Craig’s Qualifications Run Deep
Dear Editor:
Previously I have written about why voters should not vote for Kelly Ayotte for Governor. However, that tells only half of the story. People need to know the many good reasons to vote for Joyce Craig for Governor.
Ms. Craig served as the Mayor of Manchester, the largest city in New Hampshire, with a population over 115,000, or almost nine percent of the state’s population. Unlike most other cities and towns in N.H., Manchester has a strong Mayor form of government. Manchester does not have a City Manager to actually run the day to day operations of the city, that is the job of the Mayor. The Mayor of Manchester oversees 35 departments with a total of 1,200 employees, and a budget of almost $350 million. City policy is developed by the Board of Mayor and Alderman, which is then implemented and managed by the Mayor and the various department heads who serve under the Mayor.
Having very successfully managed a city government as large and complex as Manchester has prepared Ms. Craig well for the executive responsibilities of Governor. She is a pragmatic leader who knows how to govern effectively and who can negotiate across party lines with Aldermen to reach consensus and get things done. Manchester is the most racially, ethnically, culturally and economically diverse city in N.H., and Ms. Craig did an excellent job bringing these diverse groups together to improve life in Manchester.
Joyce Craig can also be counted on to be consistent on her positions, not changing them to comply with the changing political winds. Her integrity and values are what N.H. people expect and demand of their leaders.
For these reasons N.H. needs a Governor who has the requisite executive experience, knowledge, integrity and temperament to meet the growing complex needs of this state.
Rich DiPentima
Portsmouth, N.H.
Rich:
Having long ago written off Ayotte as unacceptable due to her anti-abortion stance alone, never mind her tendency to obfuscate and dissemble, we’re grateful you’ve provided us with positive reasons to vote for someone else.
The Editor
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Impossible to Imagine
To the Editor:
As I was in our Unitarian Universalist church service the other day, saying the following Unison Benediction at the end of a wonderful service:
Go in peace, speak truth, give thanks each day.
Respect the earth and all creatures, for they are alive like you.
Care for your body; it is a wondrous gift.
Be gentle with yourself. Live simply. Be of service.
Be guided by your faith and not your fear. Go lightly on your way.
Walk/Move in a sacred manner.
…this thought suddenly entered my consciousness:
Wouldn’t it be amazing if candidate and former President, Donald Trump, exhibited even one of those attributes… or one from another faith/religious practice?
Herb Moyer
Exeter, N.H.
Herb:
The day the ex-president performs a selfless act, water will run uphill.
The Editor
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Ayotte Would Further Burden Homeowners
To the Editor:
Kelly Ayotte proudly proclaims she will not allow any new taxes. What she fails to say is she will support increasing existing taxes, especially your property taxes. Kelly Ayotte has stated that she supports Sununu’s appointment of Frank Edelblut as Education Commissioner and his policies. The Education Trust Fund is being drained by the School Voucher Program by handing over money, with little oversight, to families sending their children to private schools or for home schooling (“educational” trips to Disney World). The diverted money must be made up by increasing property taxes to fund our public schools. This is why I will vote for Joyce Craig for N.H. Governor.
Salme Perry
Rollinsford, N.H.
Salme:
Is Ayotte backing Trump today, or not? We can’t keep track.
It’s obvious that the New Hampshire Republican Party—deeply influenced, if not controlled, by its Free State caucus—is out to destroy public education.
The Editor
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Washing Away the Past With Blood
Editor,
Israel is at war with six countries, Palestine, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen, and recently attacked UN forces. Israel is governed by folks primarily from Western countries who moved to an Arab region, surrounded by Arab countries… (check out the Arab peninsula on a map.) If Israelis feel uncomfortable in that setting, they could leave. Many have dual citizenship. Netanyahu’s father was born in Warsaw, but the Prime Minister was raised in West Jerusalem and the United States. Born to secular Jewish parents, he returned to Israel in 1967.
I hate to admit it, but I am older than the state of Israel. It is a new country surrounded by 1000s-of-years-old countries, also known as the Holy Land. Gaza is 4000 years old, an Iron Age city with streets laid out with intersections and meeting places. In 332 BC, Alexander the Great breached the walls of Gaza on his way to the siege of Tyre. Unfortunately, Israel has bombed the hell out of Gaza and attacked Tyre, Lebanon, threatening to erase or “cleanse it,” as they have in Gaza. Though they may never be able to erase their past, what Israel is doing is washing the region in precious Indigenous blood.
Genevieve Harris-Fraser
Orange, Mass.
Genevieve:
We’re hoping that what now passes for civilization will last long enough for someone to write a parallel history of what Trump and Netanyahu did to avoid being brought to justice—because that’s the motivation behind 90 percent of what’s going on today.
The Editor
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MAGA’s Savior
Dear Editor,
It was inevitable. Donald Trump recently revealed that he is prophet and savior of the world. He neatly divided up the electorate into two distinct categories and announced how he will save them both.
To women he recently said, “You will be protected. I will be your protector. You will no longer be anxious.”
To men he announced, “We will massively raise wages.”
Wow, promising the moon when we can’t even get astronauts back to earth from the space station.
See what the power to direct the affairs of the wealthiest nation on earth can do to a person? It can turn them into Jesus incarnate.
However, the real Jesus helped women and men on an individual level using healing and teaching, not on a national level using political promises.
Kimball Shinkoskey
Woods Cross, Utah
Kimball:
Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t. We can’t say, we’re only 269 years old. We can guarantee that the other guy can’t do what he promises, and probably wouldn’t bother if he could.
The Editor
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Many Reasons to Vote for Harris/Walz
To the Editor:
I strongly support Kamala Harris for President and Tim Walz for Vice President because I think this is an election that expresses a worldview.
Regarding foreign policy, I believe in negotiation not victory through strength. I don’t think that works. Regarding immigration, I believe that we should take care of each other, not in following the racism and lying of Donald Trump and JD Vance. Regarding the economy, while I don’t like paying a lot for groceries, I read a column in the Boston Globe by Michelle Singletary which said that inflation happened under several different presidents both Republican and Democratic. Presidents have little power over inflation. Regarding Democracy, I believe in many people contributing to how I live my life not just one.
There are also issues like abortion, crime, climate change, gun control, and public education that I find I differ with Trump/Vance. I’m sure there are others. I would add truth and the rule of law to my list of what I believe in. If you share some or most of these same values, then I expect you’ll be voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz too.
Judy Ullman
Portsmouth, N.H.
Judy:
Yes, there are innumerable positive, policy-based reasons why the Democratic ticket would do a better job managing the Executive Branch than the slate put forth by the opposing party.
Since soul-less miscreants are now actively ripping the nation apart so as to suck the very marrow from its bones, we find it difficult to focus on them.
So, thanks for trying to cover that base for us.
The Editor
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Let’s Get Real About High Prices
To the editors:
Voters who are unhappy with the economy as they experience it, might do well to consider the causes of the inflation affecting them. There are four primary causes of the higher prices we are all paying: 1) the effects from Covid; 2) the effects of climate change; 3) the war in Ukraine and elsewhere, and: 4) temporary price increases that have not been rolled back—price gouging.
Covid did so much more than just disrupt supply chains, it caused many enterprises to fail, resulting in permanent decrease of the goods they supplied.
Climate change has rendered many areas of the world unable to grow food supplies, resulting in less food to feed the world’s population. Hence higher food prices.
The war in Ukraine and elsewhere has reduced the worldwide supply of agriculture products and blocked and/or stopped delivery of goods such as petroleum products.
Raised prices are a natural consequence of supplies not able to meet demand, and gouging occurs when supplies stabilize to meet demand and costs retreat, but suppliers don’t reduce prices accordingly.
Rather than trying to attach blame to any administration, voters would be better served by looking forward and carefully considering the policies advocated by candidates running for election. Lower taxes for the richest people and large corporations, and tariffs on goods produced outside our country will hurt the general population, while tax breaks for working class people and families, subsidies and other incentives for small businesses, and investment in major sectors of the U. S. economy will help the general population.
Do your homework and then get out and vote.
Paul Cully
Dover, N.H.
Paul:
We blame the media—the corporate, capitalist media. Since approximately forever, they’ve been telling us what they think we think.
Lo and behold, according to them, our thinking tends to remain within certain parameters. By an amazing coincidence, those parameters make it possible for the owners of media corporations to become filthy rich and pay no taxes.
The concept we now know as trickle-down economics was first promoted by Andrew Mellon. A filthy rich banker, he was also the Secretary of the Treasury under Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover—a fact which alone should have doomed forever that idiotic ideology.
But nooo… . Saint Ronald trots it out, and the press treats it seriously. The deficit explodes, inequality explodes, cities rot, rural towns die—trickle down fails and it fails and it fails and it fails, and nobody seems to notice. Nobody in the press, anyway. They’re too busy repeating GOP-fostered myths suggesting that the president’s desk has a secret dial that controls inflation, which Democrats are too stupid to locate.
Thanks for your letter. It’s the sort of antidote we need.
The Editor
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Soldati Needed On The Executive Council
To the Editor:
When you last voted in a New Hampshire State election, did you leave blank the selection for Executive Council? You’re not alone. Too many of us have no idea what the Executive Council (EC) does.
The EC is one of the most powerful agencies in the N.H. government. There are five councilors, each elected for a two-year term. They approve all contracts over $10,000, the receipt and expenditures of state and federal funds, and budgetary transfers within departments. Among other powers, the council confirms the governor’s appointments to the executive and judiciary branches (such as judges), with the obligation to ensure those appointed are qualified for their position and not beholden to special interests.
The Republican members of the EC voted to slash funding for affordable health care for N.H. women and confirmed the appointment of Frank Edelblut head of the Dept. of Education. Edelblut has been systematically destroying our public schools. His education vouchers are draining the education trust fund to subsidize people of means who send their children to private or religious schools. The result will be higher local property taxes to support our public schools. To save our schools and keep local taxes within reason, Edelblut’s contract, which ends in March, must not be renewed.
One of the Republicans on the EC is from our own EC District 1. Democrat Emmett Soldati, a small business owner and long-time resident of Somersworth, is running in EC District 1. Let’s give him our support.
Lorraine L. Hansen
Rollinsford, N.H.
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Reproductive Freedom a Men’s Issue, Too
To the Editor:
Too often in daily public discussions surrounding the issue of reproductive rights, including abortion, the issue is presented as only a women’s issue. However, for husbands, fathers, grandfathers, boyfriends and families of all types, these issues directly impact every relationship.
Of course, women are the ones most impacted. Their lives are directly changed by a child, possibly even their health is impacted, and a woman’s dreams for the future are changed and possibly even put out of reach.
But at the same time, the needs of a child are significant both financially and emotionally and require the efforts of many adults, including men. And families of all types are the essential element to provide society with both stability and security.
Without protecting the right of women to make their own decisions about their families, men can also be negatively impacted. One only needs to remember a time when birth control was not readily available, and many families had more mouths to feed than they could afford.
That is why all men should show their love for the women in their lives by supporting women’s reproductive rights.
Peter Somssich
Former N.H. State Representive
Portsmouth, N.H.
Peter:
Well said. Funny how often the GOP manufactures issues to divide people.
The Editor
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Scapegoats vs. Real Problems
Dear Editor,
Donald Trump has a habit of stirring up hatred against whatever group of people he can bully to make himself look like a hero.
He has gone after African Americans, Muslims, Hispanic immigrants, Jews, Haitians, veterans, military brass, the City of Detroit, NATO partners, Democrats, whistleblowers in his administration, women who are not his type, Chinese perpetrators of the China flu, welfare recipients, the Central Park Five, Native Americans, abortion getters, LGBTQIA+ folks, non-MAGA Republicans, pacifists, unions, liberal protesters, the media, people who deserve to get fired, lousy golfers, you name it.
All these groups and many more have become scapegoats in Trump world to cover over the real difficulties besetting the country, which include politicians who thrive on hate to advance their careers, judges who trash the Constitution, churches that are silent when Jesus would not be, monopoly media corporations that drift in whatever direction the wind is blowing, companies offshoring manufacturing, fossil fuel fanatics, non-existent civics education in the public schools and colleges, addiction and ill health, hyper-materialism, virulent factionalism in politics, legalized sports gambling, federal pre-emption of state police powers, billionaires, Jim Crow discrimination in policing, the Citizens United court decision… .
Kimball Shinkoskey
Woods Cross, Utah