Dangers of drinking the Kool-Aid
To the Times:
It’s unfortunate that it took the death of a great man to show us the kind of a nation we should be.
John McCain’s funeral was attended by Americans of every political persuasion (except one, of course) and demonstrated to the world that our strength lies in our union and in our esteem for those who are able to rise above petty quarrels in the pursuit of our ideals.
And there was no truer sentiment than the one expressed by McCain’s daughter Meghan. In her eulogy to her father she said, “The America of John McCain has no need to be made great again, because America was always great.”
“Make America Great Again” proposes to tell us that somewhere along the way America stopped being great, a notion invented by a man who thinks a great nation is one who separates children from parents; a man who threatens to abandon our NATO allies unless they pay up; and a man who believes that among those carrying burning torches and wearing Nazi symbols are “some fine people”; and a man who would have much to explain to Thomas Jefferson, who said many times that “Our Liberty cannot be guarded than by freedom of the press.”
In the Aug. 30 edition of this paper, one follower wrote the following comment: “The Democrats really make me laugh. They want to impeach the greatest president we’ve had (are you sitting down?) since Abraham Lincoln.”
Such is the misguided fervor of drinking tainted Kool-Aid.
Larry Owens, Prospect Park To the Times:
The auto industry is between a rock and a hard place. They have lobbied the Trump Administration to relax the strict Obama-era fuel efficiency standards to increase fuel economy to 54.5 mpg for model years 2022 through 2025. The Trump Administration rationale is that it would be too expensive to implement and people would hold on to their older, less fuel-efficient vehicles longer. They want to flat line fuel economy for models produced in 2021 to 2026 to standards set to 2020.
California has always been in the forefront of auto efficiency standards given the impact climate change has had on their state. They received a waiver from the Clean Air Act to set their own stricter standards. Other states, including Pennsylvania, adhere to California’s stricter rules creating an awkward marketing situation. Now the Trump Administration wants to revoke their exemption.
The Attorneys General in Pennsylvania and 18 other states are legally challenging the rollback pending a 60-day public comment period. Let your voices be heard and submit a comment at http://bit.ly/CleanCarsComment until October 23.
Mary Ann Mack, Phoenixville