Mash Notes, Hate Mail & Other Correspondence

by Lawrence Wittner In late May of this year, President Donald Trump’s special envoy for arms control bragged before a Washington think tank that the U.S. government was prepared to outspend Russia and China to win a new nuclear arms race. “The president has made clear that we have a tried and true practice here,” he remarked. “We know how to win these races and we know how to spend the adversary into oblivion.” This comment was not out of line for a Trump administration official. Indeed, back in December 2016, shortly after his election, Trump himself proclaimed that the United States would “greatly strengthen …

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Dear Editor, Everyone is pleased the May unemployment rate dropped to 13.3 percent from 14.7. But no one was more pleased than the President who crowed, “There’s a great thing that’s happening for our country.” Not to be outdone by his own rhetoric, he concluded his June 5th presser with, “Today is probably, if you think of it, the greatest comeback in American history.” Nevermind that 30 million people are still unemployed, and Black and Asian American unemployment actually rose. I don’t trust Trump’s celebratory numbers. Remember when Florida’s Governor DeSantis announced on May 20th that a Department of Health data analyst was fired for …

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Idiocracy, n; (1) the political system of the United States; (2) the system of governance in practice in the United States; (3) the culture resulting from such a political system of governance. Related: Idiocrat, practitioner of said system; Idiocratic, adj; Idiocratically, adv. Example:“Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, and Brett Kavanaugh are living proof that the United States of America is an idiocracy.” — W.D. Ehrhart

To the Editor: Fox News apologized (shocking) for the “insensitive” (on Fox News?) post showing the increase in the S&P 500 with a shooting death of a black person. The awareness of Fox News is quite a surprise in itself, but the posting actually revealed a disgusting truth about the financial industry—the stock market really does thrive on racial violence. Why do we place so much faith in this epitome of our vaunted capitalist economy? Is this who we are? Dan Mannschreck Barrington, N.H. Dan: We plead “not guilty” to the charge of having faith in this economy. The Editor

To the Editor: Everyone knows the President was walking slowly down the ramp at West Point due to his bone spurs. The cause of his trouble drinking water is not as widely known, however. He acquired that disability saving Puerto Rico from the hurricane. He was injured throwing paper towels! Case closed. Have a little sympathy, will ya folks? K. Fowle The Skunk Farm Hillsborough, N.H.

To the Editor: To paraphrase the golden rule, treat others as you’d like to be treated. When I was a child, my mother explained that freedom did not mean you could yell “Fire!” in a crowded theater. I took that to mean that I couldn’t do what I wanted, when I wanted if that put others in danger. Rather, I had a responsibility to others to take their well-being into consideration. This was just common sense. Tell the truth. Don’t unnecessarily endanger others. It is not freedom to possibly harm others by ignoring public health warnings or by treating others as you would not want …

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