Aiding and abetting Trump
Still hoping for truth
The Nov. 24 photo, “Dazed and not amused,” left me shocked and outraged at the two election observers pictured leaning over the shoulder of an election worker, clearly in violation of Wisconsin election observer distance laws, to say nothing of safe social distancing.
As a former poll worker who began that work after serving as an observer in the 2008 presidential election, I voted absentee this year because of my advanced age and the pandemic threat. I am dismayed at the number of President Donald Trump supporters who still believe Trump’s lies about this election and still support his outrageous attempt to throw out my vote and those of countless others in Dane and Milwaukee counties.
I am indeed dazed, shocked, outraged and discouraged, and not amused. If only these machinations would disappear on Jan. 20, but I fear they will not. However, I still believe there is hope for the truth.
This is not patriotic
Kay Augustine
Hillary Clinton obtained 3 million more votes than President Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election and conceded on election night. Trump received 7 million fewer votes than President-elect Joe Biden in 2020, and after three weeks of sniveling has yet to admit defeat.
Trump and his backers, who told me to “fear socialism,” now want to ignore this legitimate election result to keep him in office. If this is Democracy, then sign me up for Socialism! These “patriots” need to take a long hard look at themselves and see what they have become.
Michael Bauer
Hartland
Trump fighting for election integrity
President Donald Trump’s oath of office requires a promise to defend our constitutional representative republic from all enemies foreign or domestic. The president’s election fight is about the survival of the republic and the Constitution. Without election integrity, it will not survive.
Miles Dake
Waukesha
Policing needs an overhaul
Ryan J. Owens’ column on Nov. 29 continues to voice the tired fearmongering that fewer police equals less safety (“Law enforcement officers are leaving in droves”).
This is simply not the case. Perhaps one of the reasons law enforcement officers are leaving their profession in droves is that they are being asked to do many things that are not policing. Much of what police are called to do could also be handled by unarmed professionals who are experts in mental health, deescalation, child welfare, statement taking and much more.
Creating a wider-focused community response organization, locating law enforcement within it, and prioritizing officer responses to what they are hired to do would be a start in redesigning how to promote safety in our communities. And whatever innovative solution is found, it probably won’t look like the militaristic and dysfunctional system we have mistakenly been convinced is the only way to have safe communities.
It is time to take fear and egos out of the equation and work toward a solution that keeps all communities and people safe.
Ban mail-in voting
Mail in voting should be banned because of possible fraud. How are these ballots verified?
The voting process must be simple and honest, like one getting on a plane — show a valid ID, go through TSA, have a valid boarding pass. No exceptions!
If the voting process is not fool proof and defined by law for all elections, we will always have doubtful results, especially in close elections.
Jim Klement
Make legislators pay up
Julie Bock Milwaukee
The article that Assembly Speaker Robin Vos et. al. wants to take money away from schools to pay parents while children are learning virtually is another example of not caring for the whole (“Assembly Republicans offer COVID-19 plan,” Dec. 2).
I believe if we want to help parents financially, the money needs to come from the paychecks of the legislators who have not been in session for months. Let us take away their salaries and per diem and give that to the parents.
It is an insult to our educators and the districts, which have had to ramp up cleaning, change food service, provide protective barriers such as Plexiglass, etc. Teachers are teaching, not always in front of students. They do more work in a day than the Legislature has done in months.
Let those legislators who think they work harder than the educators pay parents out of their pockets. Let’s put constituents, children and educators first for once.
Joyce Gau Fond du Lac
Republican leaders in the Senate and Congress must put their country ahead of their personal political ambition by publicly declaring the 2020 presidential election results legal and valid. Not doing so does not help America and it does not hurt Joe Biden. Biden and his transition team are doing quite well despite being blocked from the usual information provided to incoming presidents.
By not defending a legal and valid election, Republican leaders are doing two things that are detrimental to the psyche of America. First, they are undermining America’s faith in the voting system, undermining our faith in democracy itself. Second, they are helping President Donald Trump gaslight his supporters.
Voter fraud is extraordinarily rare. This election, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a record number of Americans voted via absentee ballot or voted early. The unprecedented phenomenon of absentee and early voters does not bring out fraudulent voters.
Republicans are doing more harm to democracy with their silence than with words. It is time to put politics aside and stop lying to the Americans that trust the Republican party. There was no voter fraud, certainly not several million cases needed to overturn the election results. Republican lawmakers: It is time to publicly call for Trump to concede the election he legally lost.
Becky Gilligan
Waukesha
During COVID, people need therapy
As a licensed psychologist, I’m in full agreement with Talis Shelbourne’s article in the Nov. 28 paper (“Pandemic adds to mental health crisis in county”).
People need more therapy, not less, during COVID. There are ways to increase the odds a patient/client is seeing a good therapist. The therapist and patient should both wear masks (and the therapist should have a single-use mask to give the patient). Minimum distance between therapist and patient should be 6 feet. Any surface the patient/client might touch should be disinfected between patients — that applies to furniture, door knobs, railings, etc.
Try to find a therapist who does not have a waiting room, since waiting rooms may spread COVID, and the therapist and patient should be in the same room. “Telehealth” and telephone are better than nothing, but not by a lot. The therapist should help the patient think of ways to avoid crowds, including stores that may be crowded, and to distance from everyone at meals to the degree possible. One should maintain or increase social contacts, including telephone contacts, with friends and family. And, finally, the therapist and patient should have and should use disinfectant in the therapy office.
Andrew W. Kane, Ph.D.
We can save America
As a business student, I have gained extraordinary insight into economic policy and just how tough of a position the United States of America is in due to this raging pandemic. According to Congress, the unemployment rate peaked at around 14.7% in April. By May alone, more than 100,000 small businesses had closed their doors to customers, many of which have closed permanently.
Despite these facts, many corporations and global businesses have been bailed out while the American people have been hung out to dry.
So I ask, where is the stimulus? One fact that we know is that one of the main determinants of how well the economy is doing comes down to whether or not people are spending money. And if they are, how much money are they spending? Bailing out corporations is all well and good to keep chain stores’ doors open for customers, but with empty parking lots and sinking investment portfolios as well as bank accounts, how do you expect to remain in business without further bailouts?
As a student with multiple figures of debt, an aspiration to play a key role in the U.S. workforce for the rest of my life, and as an empathetic human being, I say the game has gone on long enough. Whether you’re for or against it, economic stimulus will help the economy. Let’s save America.
Please email your letters to jsedit @jrn.com, or mail them to Letters to the editor, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, P.O. Box 371, Milwaukee, Wis. 532010371.Letters should be about 200 words.
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