To the New Hampshire Gazette,
Shame. Shame. Our country just elected a racist, a sexual assaulter, a compulsive liar, a traitor, a convicted felon, a business fraud, a twice-impeached, disgraced ex-president with severely diminished mental abilities and judgment to the highest office in the nation. Donald Trump is all of that and worse. He is the most vile person that one can imagine. What parent would choose him as a role model for their child?
Yet we knew this, having suffered through four years of his maladministration. Some say, “I don’t like what he says but I like his policies.” And just what are those policies? He never says (though Project 2025 is a useful guide), other than repeating ad nauseum his mantra that he will make America great again. He did have his chance before. All that he “accomplished” was cutting taxes for the wealthy using borrowed money, appointing extremist judges, undermining our credibility internationally, and playing the buffoon. (He never did manage to nuke that hurricane but he did become besties with the brutal Kim Jong Un). “Yes, but he is good on the economy.” Really? He does not even understand such a fundamental principle as how tariffs work. The Chinese will pay for his tariffs like the Mexicans paid for his wall. He has no plan to reduce inflation other than doing more drilling.
Anyway, it must be emphasized that this disaster is not due to any failure on the part of the Democratic Party which orchestrated an outstanding campaign, and it is certainly not the fault of Kamala Harris who was brilliant, engaging, and nearly flawless in her time before us, bringing hope and good will to the entire country. There are always “reasons” that one party loses but that is not the most important issue. There is a bottom line that should be troubling to all who care about the American experiment: over half of us voted for a man who was obviously wholly unfit for this responsibility.
Michael Behrendt
Durham, N.H.
Michael:
Yes, indeed, the Republican Party has foisted upon us the most spectacularly unqualified creep to have occupied the White House in living memory. The grotesqueries of Lyndon Johnson, which were thought to be considerable at the time, would barely register today. Nixon’s venal machinations—trying to dodge taxes as he was hustled out the door—reveal him as a piker with a limited imagination. This guy… don’t let us get started.
The first time around would have been far worse if he had an ounce of competence. This sequel promises to be far worse. The GOP has been purged of its last vestiges of sanity. Torn-up guard rails will now be used to bludgeon the recalcitrant.
Thus far we are of like mind. We see no reason, though, to absolve the allegedly opposing party.
Harris did pretty well with the lousy hand she was dealt. Who dealt her the cards? The party.
Biden said he’d serve one term and hand over the reins. He didn’t. He clung to power until it was too late.
It didn’t help that Biden shut down one program after another—extended unemployment insurance, expanded child tax credit, free school meals, Medicaid expansion, the list goes on—that had made it possible for millions of people to actually live in this economy.
That was all in keeping, though, with Democratic policies, which seem to assume that everyone aspires to become a consultant.
The Editor
–=≈=–
Billionaires Bought Our Political System
To the Editor:
MAGA Republicans and their billionaire backers like Elon Musk have finally homed-in on a ten-point formula that works for obtaining political and economic power. And they are never going to ditch it.
Pandering conspiracy theories to high school grads rather than trying to impress college grads with knowledge of history and science is one key. Those blue-collar kids never paid much attention to social studies during their 12-year ordeal in school. Education was too boring compared to skating the internet on their phones during class. They want crazy gossip, and the more the better.
Falsely blaming others for exhibiting one’s own manifest faults works extremely well too. This is called “projecting” in the parlance of psychology and “smearing” in communist political science. Doing this upsets Democrats to no end and causes them to swoon with great anxiety and lose sight of any reasonable path to success.
Lying is the new truth-telling. We told the truth for 400 years on the North American continent, and people are clearly getting tired of it. No fun at all. Very slow path to power. We also covered up the flesh in public places, and men and women are so over that too.
Republicans will steadfastly keep AR-15s legal for the many mentally unstable citizens of our country to purchase and utilize at their own pleasure. Those violence-minded folks provide almost nightly entertainment for law-abiding citizens looking for ever-more insane true-crime stories and reality TV. All this anti-civic entertainment in turn is necessary for preventing America from returning to serious participation in democracy on any level of government. Why participate if you are just going to get shot to bits when you step out in public? In addition, all the blood and guts make us want to lean on Republican despots, authoritarians, dictators, and tyrants for security because they are the only ones who can fix things. They create the problems for sure, but then they alone can solve the problems.
Republicans will continue to elaborate the political philosophy of autocracy and monarchy. This is the idea that one human being is just so much more special than others that he must make all the laws instead of Congress making them. Furthermore, his DNA is the key to keeping stability in the nation, so it is clearly best for him to pass on the reins of government to his first-born son and establish a hereditary-style government.
Making barrels of money and thus becoming an untouchable celebrity is the only cherished path to personal success for Republicans today, and even a few Democrats. Encouraging everybody to become a gold digger by investing in new kinds of currency and supporting wild new technologies is the perfect answer to the plodding, science-based small-business capitalism that built this country. That is so passe.
We must also turn America into a false advertising mecca. If propaganda works in Republican politics, it surely works just as well in Republican business and banking. Marketing departments must build fantastic new fantasy worlds through advertising campaigns in order to marginalize the competition and become a monopoly in the industry. Those monopolies can then more easily use the Citizens United decision to purchase the budding new Republicans they want to see governing things on national and local levels.
Religion must maintain all the doctrines that theologians and politicians cooked up during the Dark Ages to make the Roman Catholic church the ruler of all of Europe. Citizens must be charmed into swallowing them whole, never bothering to digest them, for that might cause alarm and insight. Protestant churches must also move forward toward an authoritarian system of church government that will allow them to quickly marshal their members to support Republican candidates on the national, state, and local levels.
Republicans must double-down on the idea that childless cat ladies are a problem. Those who avoid child-rearing do not understand the imperative of the aristocratic class and the monarchy to produce heirs to pass along their wealth to. Besides, child rearing in the commoner class is meritorious because it populates the underclass that must do the economic bidding of the Republican aristocracy.
If DNA works in aristocracy and monarchy, it also works in race relations. White DNA is much superior to off-white or colored DNA. That’s just obvious to every MAGA cheerleader. Besides, colored folk tend toward communism, and that must be stopped.
Kimball Shinkoskey
Woods Cross, Utah
Kimball:
Whew!
Congratulations on presenting one of the most comprehensive and terrifying visions of the U.S. not to have been delivered by the honoree during a presidential inauguration. We do wonder, though, if perhaps you may be ascribing too much intent and design to the chaos.
This is, at heart, a bunch of competing grifters, each of whom is high on his or her own supply of snake oil, vaporware, or whatever bogus nostrum they’re pushing.
That’s not to say they won’t ruin the economy, poison the environment, and accelerate the destabilization of the climate. They will do all that and more, we’re sure.
Like the bankers who crashed the economy in ’08, though, they’ll probably be as surprised as we are.
The Editor
–=≈=–
About Palestine
Editor,
The politicized purpose of Zionism was to plant the Western flag in the oil/gas-rich Arab tent as the world moved from steam-based power to petrochemicals. The tool to achieve this was England which “won” Palestine as plunder following WW I. The people who were chosen to enact this were the Jews committed to the Zionist-Supremist expansionist agenda. To this day, Israel has no defined borders, always wishing to take more. The Zionists had been moving in place for decades. and turned the tables on England when Stern and Irgun terrorist gangs bombed British headquarters at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem then rampaged through Palestine, massacring 500 villages and cities and driving 750,000 out of their homes and off their land, declaring the captured land, Israel. (Crimes not dissimilar to those charged during the 1945-46 Nuremberg Trials.)
“Palestinia,” the Terra Sancta, the Holy Land appeared on ancient Persian maps, thousands of years old. Gaza may be older. It dates from the Iron Age and was already famous when Alexander, the Great stormed the Gates of Gaza on his way to conquer Tyre, in today’s Lebanon. Before 20th century events, Palestinians had thrived since the Crusades as a multi-religious, free people from the River to the Sea, and a globally recognized tourist site. To this day, Palestinians maintain that ethos as central to their identity, embracing Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, examples include the Samaritans in Nablus. Today, Palestine’s quarrel is with the Zionist-Israeli, UN-cited, “illegal” Occupation. It is long past time to Free Palestine and desist from massacring its people and reducing it to rubble.
Genevieve Harris-Fraser
Orange, Mass.
Genevieve:
This letter is, of course, antisemitic—if one makes the error of assuming that criticism of the illegal policies of the Israeli government is antisemitic. We try to avoid making that error.
It is also unfashionable. News organizations in the U.S. have traditionally treated Israel’s foreign policy as if it were founded upon motives which are lofty and altruistic. Having our doubts about that, we welcome your perspective.
The Editor
–=≈=–
Mandate? You Call That a Mandate?
Dear Editor:
Donald Trump and his cult have been claiming that they have a huge mandate as a result of the last election to take whatever actions they wish to destroy our government. One only has to look at the list of incompetents, inexperienced, mentally impaired, sexual predators, security compromised, and religious fanatics he has nominated for various Cabinet and other highly sensitive positions in government to be very concerned about the future of our Republic.
In fact, the notion that Trump’s election win was a tremendous mandate is a myth. The numbers speak for themselves. As of today, Trump received 76,942,246 votes, or 49.87 percent of the popular vote. Harris received 74,450,212 votes or 48.25 percent of the popular vote. All the other candidates running for President received in total 2,548,385 votes or 1.7 percent of the popular vote. Trump received only 1,492,034 more votes than Harris, while Trump received fewer total popular votes than all the other candidates combined, 76,942,246 for Trump to 76,998,597 for all others—not exactly a resounding mandate. In fact, this election was one of the closest popular votes wins in history. While Trump did comfortably win the Electoral College vote 312 to 226, which is how we determine Presidential elections, this does not reflect the actual feelings of the majority of the American electorate.
With his mantra of a huge mandate, Trump is working hard to put in place the mechanisms that will, if allowed, destroy our Republic. Since the Supreme Court has granted Trump criminal immunity for any “official acts,” he will have almost unlimited power to achieve his stated goals. Our only hope is that at least four Republican Senators stay true to their oath to protect the Constitution and faithfully perform their duty: advise and consent on Trump’s various nominations, and put the nation above Trump. It is also critical that the military follow their oath to protect the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic if Trump attempts to use his power by issuing illegal orders to use the military in a manner contrary to the Constitution.
We are at a critical point in the history of our nation. Never before has the threat of authoritarianism been so close to becoming a reality. Only a few people have the power to make the difference that will determine if we keep our democracy or not.
Rich DiPentima
Portsmouth, N.H.
Rich:
Thanks for making this essential point. The Blowhard-in-Chief and his toadies are doing their best to manufacture a mandate out of a squeaker. The corporate media will, by and large, let them get away with it. We need to remember it, and remind others when we can.
The Editor
–=≈=–
He Knows Not What He’s Doing
Dear Editor:
President elect Trump plans to “drain the swamp.” He’d drastically cut down employee numbers in our federal government. To most of us, this is murky territory for envisioning. Think of someone without mechanical experience opening the hood of a this-century vehicle. Golly! Many wires and plug-things! Let alone computer-related systems. Under my own hood—much is covered. Pry those open! Just throw out what I don’t recognize. I know dipsticks, where to pour windshield wash. After I throw out what I don’t recognize (my experience is limited) and I need my car—it won’t go. There’s the problem with “fixing” minus system-knowledge.
And about that swamp. Now we call it “wetlands.” Most towns support wetlands protection. Why is that? Wetlands give value, they: 1) naturally improve water quality; 2) give flood protection; 3) help control shoreline erosion; 4) offer recreation and aesthetic opportunities (bird-watching, fishing!). When I lived my high school years in Upstate New York, on Lake Champlain, we recognized (as did the fishermen), that the wetlands, starting with small aquatic insects, nourish shellfish and small fish that are food for and make way for larger fish.
Scary—Trump monkeying with our agencies that are as complex as bee hives, with occupants dedicated to niche-jobs and problem-solving. I remember my doctor-father’s Upstate New York county health department. He was head of it, with nurses and inspectors going out to solve the problems that inevitably come with thousands of people living their lives and having their businesses. Health related, in my father’s agency’s workload. Looking at his office space from the outside, it was another business building with cars coming and going. Anything looked at from the outside only can’t give a true picture. We need Trump to learn a respect for agencies that evolved because of people’s needs.
Lynn Rudmin Chong
Sanbornton, N.H.
Lynn:
Listen to yourself. Trump? Learn? Hand us that spliff, you’ve had enough. Trump respects nothing. Agencies will either bend to his will, or he will try to destroy them.
The Democrats may or may not develop a strategy that will reduce the damage that’s coming. Their track record on this is not exactly inspiring. The GOP’s decades-long capture of the Supreme Court is but one example.
What we neo-peons need is to refuse to accept the platter of gold-plated horseshit being put before us. Just what form that refusal might take will depend upon the circumstances.
We can hear the quailing and kvetching now: “What can I do? I have no power.”
Well, neither did low-ranking, anti-war GIs in Vietnam—beyond their own solidarity and small arms, of course. And yet that war ended after Pentagon generals realized that they could no longer depend on their troops being willing to die in a war that could never be won.
Let us hasten to add, we are not promoting armed rebellion. That would be futile as well as illegal. Vietnam was a special circumstance. Despite the NRA’s best efforts, we’re not there yet. Any armed rebellion that overturned Project 2025 would be a cure far worse than the disease.
This whole mess has been too tragic already. Let a thousand farces bloom. There are worse fates than to die laughing.
The Editor
–=≈=–
… An Appeal in an Unearthly Tongue …
To the Editor,
I knew it was possible; I didn’t think—hoped—it wasn’t probable. But it has nevertheless come to pass. Perhaps the last three lines of Czelaw Milosz’s poem, “On Angels,” is all the recourse left to us for the next four years:
day draws near
another one
do what you can.
John Simon
Portsmouth, N.H.
John:
Exactly. Absolutely.
The Editor
–=≈=–
Outdoing Caligula
To the Editor:
In the year 41 A.D., the Roman Emperor Caligula, in a demonstration of disgust and insult towards his Senators (many of whom he later executed), allegedly planned to promote his favorite race horse, Incitatus, to consul (the highest civil and military position) and to a seat in the Senate. Apparently, his plan failed merely because Caligula was assassinated shortly thereafter. This kind of behavior may sound outrageous, but consider the recent Trump selections to his future Cabinet: Matt Gaetz (Attorney General), Pete Hegseth (Secretary of Defense) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (HHS Secretary). None of them have any better qualifications than Caligula’s horse for the positions they were appointed to. We Americans seem to believe that our great nation will exist forever. Unfortunately, history has repeatedly revealed that most former world empires (Persian, Greek, Roman) disappeared from the globe mainly due to internal conflicts and total incompetence by their respective leaders. There is no reason to assume that this fate will not also happen to our country. I sincerely hope that during the confirmation hearings, the Senators will have the courage to reject these totally unsuited nominees and thereby fulfill their oaths to defend and protect its citizens from danger and harm. Otherwise, we most likely will continue to go down the same path as all other earlier superpowers.
Dr. Imre Somssich
Cologne, Germany
Imre:
Caligula got a bad reputation for allegedly appointing just one horse—the slacker. Trump is a man of vision and ambition. He wants to appoint a whole herd of horses asses.
The Editor
–=≈=–
Concern About Trump is Justified
To the Editor:
Mr. [Alan] Forbes, the Portsmouth Republican Chair, in a recent local editorial, seems oblivious to many of President-Elect Trump’s documented actions and words. In his letter he overlooks the January 6, 2021 insurrection that Trump inspired, as well as his theft of Top-Secret documents—a crime for which a recent National Guardsman was recently sentenced to 15 years in prison.
With multiple felony convictions (related to election fraud, fraudulent business records and conspiracy) for sexual harassment and defamation, and of falsifying business records, Mr. Trump has lost all credibility. The message of Mr. Forbes letter is (if in fact he is the author, instead of the National Republican Party) “Don’t worry, there is nothing to fear from President Trump.”
But there are already incidents nationwide that contradict his message. Here in Portsmouth, a few days after the November election, our local Portsmouth Democratic Committee received its first threatening email. The message made numerous insulting comments, threatened Harris voters with retribution and insisted that President Trump will deal with them. Local law enforcement was notified and has been investigating. So far it appears the email was sent from an address that belongs to a person working at a federal prison somewhere in our country. Steps to address this and other possible future threats are being taken. I encourage every organization and individuals who receive such threats to immediately contact their local police.
We as residents must be vigilant to any threats that may emerge and take actions to protect our neighbors and our communities.
Peter Somssich, Portsmouth Democratic Outreach Committee, a Subcommittee of the Portsmouth Democrats
Portsmouth, N.H.
Peter:
Such an example of unfounded optimism has not been seen since Pollyanna was published in 1913.
His candidate threatened to use the powers of government to seek retribution. The so-called brains behind him—his own being barely operable—are ready to act on a plan to decimate the federal workforce, and politicize the survivors. His economic program is sure to result in havoc.
Forbes’ response to all this is to treat Herald readers to a text-based impression of the late Leslie Nielsen in “The Naked Gun,” waving his hands in front of a scene of chaotic destruction, saying, “Please disperse—nothing to see here.”
–=≈=–
A Poem for Palestine
To the Editor:
Seeking God I Found Palestine
Battered and bruised crossways the path
Weeping blood from gaping wounds
Crying for help and slipping fast
Ancient bloodlines seep into rivers
Her yet proud head contorts in pain
Softly chants epoch passages
Reverberating still in hill and plain
Embodied in her Terra Sancta
Her people’s misery is ours to claim
To broker the peace
Which passes all understanding
Is to work to undo
Our national shame
For God’s sake…
Free Palestine!
Genevieve Harris-Fraser
Orange, Mass.