The fireworks continue
The Fourth has passed, but readers bursting with responses to Trump and his celebration
Celebration just a campaign backdrop
I AM OUTRAGED at the diversion of $2.5 million by the National Park Service to cover Trump’s Fourth of July celebration at the Lincoln Memorial. These diverted fees normally would go to cover improvements to parks across the country, including road and bridge repairs and habitat restoration.
Per Park Service records, the cost for the Celebration on the National Mall usually costs $2 million total. Note, none of this additional money was requested in 2017 or 2018. No, it is being requested this year in a lead up to the 2020 election. The “extras” this year include military hardware displays, flyovers by jets and extended pyrotechnics displays.
The secretary of the Interior has yet to give full accounting of all the expenditures, however the Republican National Committee as well as Trump’s reelection campaign have confirmed the handing out of VIP passes for Trump’s speech at the memorial.
So, yes, ladies and gentlemen, the nation’s birthday celebration has been hijacked as backdrop for Trump’s reelection campaign. The carnival barker plays on at our expense. If you’re not outraged, you should be!
MARILYN LOHR
Albuquerque
Outrage over parade is misplaced
TWO WEEKS AGO in Sacramento, California, a young female police officer (Tara O’Sullivan) was shot and killed while assisting a married woman fleeing an abusive marriage. While erecting tape barriers around the crime scene, females in the neighborhood were heard screaming at those officers that they should be shot also (lawenforcementtoday.com, June 25). One would think media coverage of this would have gone viral; instead it hardly received a mention, getting lost in the ridiculous messaging of the Fourth of July parade. A strong example of why very few people trust the media.
STEVE BISHOP
Corrales
Military display poor use of tax money
... RE: THE PRESIDENT was determined to have a display of military power as a part of the Fourth of July/Independence Day events in Washington, D.C. I am strongly opposed to this. It is a poor use of tax money and historically is more the behavior of governments run by the military than of the United States government. This same behavior was attempted earlier in Trump’s tenure; it was stopped then, and should have been stopped now.
RANDY GENTHE
Bent, New Mexico
Democrats have much more to hide
THE TAKE-AWAY from Bill Clinton is that he was amoral. The take away from Richard Nixon was that he was immoral. Where does Trump fit in? Amoral, Trump is not, nor is he immoral.
If Bill could have sex in the Oval Office, what else wouldn’t he do? Nixon had much to hide, or thought he did, and then compounded it by ordering a break-in into the opposition party’s headquarters. Trump doesn’t fall into either of these extremes. He is who he is, straight up. That’s what throws people.
The bigger picture is that, like Nixon, the Democrats have much to hide and then have compounded it by ordering a break-in into Trump’s underwear drawer. Nixon was afraid of his reelection, following the bombing of Cambodia. Democrats are afraid of the exposure of their collusion with Russian oligarchs to take over Russia. To cover this up, Democrats followed Nixon’s lead, but with a twist. Trump kind of spoiled their plan, so they blame Trump for cousinly crimes.
The final question: how many Democrats does it take to go through Donald Trump’s underwear?
FRED STEWART
Grand Junction, Colorado
Why shouldn’t Trump have tanks too?
IF (CHINA’S Deng Xiaoping) can take tanks into Tiananmen Square, why shouldn’t President Trump be allowed to bring tanks into our capital city? Is it because our streets aren’t as good as China’s? And also, since President Trump is the savior of our country, I think it would only be proper to line the streets of the capital with Baby Trump balloons to remind us of his coming. It would be just like Christmas on the Fourth of July.
AL LONGEE
Albuquerque
‘We the people’ needs redefining
THE FOURTH OF JULY is the latest of our national holidays to give us pause, questioning who we are as a people.
We can certainly claim title as the world’s largest military empire. With a whopping 67% of federal budget dedicated to military spending and 1.2 million troops stationed in 177 foreign countries, no other country or even combination of countries comes close. We can also pause over the fact that we as a nation (are) founded on some excellent principles of governance. But we tend to move swiftly past other factors that have defined us as a people — genocide and ethnic cleansing of Native Americans, enslavement of black Africans and the conquest of most of the West, taken from Mexico and Spain.
Since the definition of “we the people” is constantly being shaped and reshaped, we can at least pause to add our hope for development at this time of national celebration of our founding. I would hope that some of our excellent principles of governance might return to define us more clearly in the future — principles like equality, democracy, liberty for all, a nation that welcomes all persons seeking asylum from tyranny. I invite your readers to contribute their input to this redefinition . ...
WILLIAM HERSHEY
Albuquerque
Trump to help us rethink democracy
DONALD TRUMP is good for democracy. He has caused us to think about how we wish to be represented at home and abroad. Citizens have begun to realize much is at stake when we hear our leader speaking potty-mouth, mocking women and men he does not like.
Who cannot wonder about this man in leadership who always seems to put himself ahead of the common people? Who has less oratorical ability than a fifth-grader? Who lies to cover up his constant foibles? Who denigrates immigrants, low-income people and non-whites around the world while praising billionaires and corporate takeovers? Yes, he may be good for democracy indeed, once people rethink what American democracy is supposed to be and are challenged to make it to voting booths to regain faith in themselves and our form of government.
BRUCE A. NOLL
Albuquerque
Parks, monuments robbed for glory
SOMEONE PLEASE explain to me why the American tax-paying public is not totally outraged that President Trump has taken $2.5-plus-million out of the National Parks budget to put on a ridiculous show of might for himself over the Fourth of July holiday. Our national parks and monuments have painstakingly been preserved for hundreds of years at the hands of several American presidents — Democrat and Republican — for all of us. We have been under the impression that these treasures will always be protected for future generations, yet President Trump previously closed them down, cut their budgets and now robbed them for his selfish pleasure. Our national parks and monuments are not being maintained and manned as it is. Robbing their budgets of $2.5-plus-million will no doubt cause more damage and turmoil. Does this action “Make America Great Again?”
RUTH CONNERY
Albuquerque