Flotsam & Jetsam
“The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line.” – W. E. B. Du Bois, at the Pan-African conference in London, 1900.
Mash Notes, Hate Mail & Other Correspondence
The Other Phone Call
To the Editor: Call it treason; call it Sedition; call it illegal (a breaking of laws); call it an Impeachable Offense…but don’t call it “just Trump being Trump”! The widely-publicized extortion call President Trump made to Georgia’s Secretary of State and other Georgia election officials (his 19th attempt to reach and threaten them to “find 11,780 votes” to overturn the election) was/is a clear abuse of Presidential authority and power; end of story! If you do believe it is a case of “Just T being T,” then you must not believe any of President Trump’s efforts, behaviors, or actions are to subvert and undermine our …
An Open Letter to Senator Susan Collins
Senator Susan Collins: I join millions of New Englanders and hundreds of thousands of your Maine constituents in calling on you to demand the removal of President Donald Trump by the provisions of the Twenty-fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution. This man is guilty of sedition, pathological dishonesty, hate speech and insurrection against the United States government and his people. Donald J. Trump has violated his oath of office in countless ways. It is time for you to uphold yours. Reread the Preamble to the Constitution, madam Senator. Do what is your duty: to establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, …
No Respect for War Crimes Don’t Fear Change, Embrace It
To the Editor: Those of us who watched the invasion of our nation’s Capitol were horrified, but many commentators have reported it was shocking but not surprising. Many who watched Donald Trump campaign and “govern” didn’t have to be warned that something like this might happen. I have followed the growth of fascism in other countries since my pre-teen years. Political change doesn’t happen quickly. Authoritarians need to dehumanize their “enemies” first. I have seen this personally as many in my grandmother’s Jewish family were killed as a result of the work of authoritarian rulers. In New Hampshire, Dawn Johnson, a newly elected representative to …
Healing Our Country
To the Editor: The attack on the U.S. Capitol yesterday was a brazen attempt to prevent Congress from certifying the presidential election results and to overthrow the will of the American people. It was an assault on far more than the U.S. House and Senate: it threatened the very foundation of our republic. We’re all shaken by this violent reminder of our broken politics and how urgently we need to find a way forward. Our problems have deep and complex roots that go far beyond electoral rules. But making our representative democracy work demands changing the incentives of how to get elected and stay in …
No Respect for War Crimes
To the Editor: It is never right to celebrate war crimes. Regardless of the cause, it is wrong to justify the murder of civilians (men, women and children) in a war zone, just because the perpetrators are intimidated in a foreign environment that they voluntarily put themselves into. Pardoning someone who has committed such a crime, which under international law is a war crime, is an outrage and does great harm to the reputation of the United States worldwide including our military. But that is exactly what President Trump has done. He did this by deciding to pardon four Blackwater contractors, including Rochester native Evan …