Trump behavior Abuse of power
Re “Pandora’s box” (Your Views, Oct. 11): Dominick Rascona took as proof of our evil nature the fact that a TV audience laughed about President Donald Trump contracting COVID-19, but not about Gov. Ralph Northam having done so. He apparently forgot that Trump insisted for months
(and continues to do so) that the virus wasn’t anything about which we should be worried. That’s called irony, which isn’t just the opposite of wrinkly.
He also considers Washington, D.C., to be “godforsaken.” Since religion is specifically not part of our political makeup, I’m not sure why that disqualifies D.C. from becoming the equivalent of a state. He is concerned as well about the “dissolution of any value for American citizenship,” when all it take to become a citizen is being born on U.S. soil.
Finally, he views the difference between Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to be that of “liberal democracy” versus “tyranny.” However, Trump is the would-be tyrant: To quote Kristy Parker and Yascha Mounk from The Atlantic, “As president, Trump has engaged in each of these behaviors: spreading disinformation, quashing dissent, politicizing independent institutions, amassing executive power, delegitimizing communities, and corrupting elections.”
It is bad enough that we have him as president; how much worse is it to have so many people still supporting him?
Nancy Kiel, Williamsburg
Re “Pandora’s box” (Your Views, Oct. 11): The irony of Dominick Rascona’s letter is clear in his closure: This election is a choice “between liberal democracy and tyranny.” Unbelievably, he casts “evil”
Democrats as his would-be tyrants. Yet, it is President Donald Trump who openly admires dictators and is trying hard to become one.
To this end, Trump, instead of governing for the people, has spent his term praising himself; enriching his personal coffers; spewing over 20,000 false or misleading statements; demeaning our military, immigrants, and scientists; eroding efforts to combat climate change; alienating our democratic allies while courting Russia; dividing our country; and now threatening the integrity of our elections.
The hallmark of tyrants is to demand personal loyalty above all. Just look at the number of people Trump has fired for allegedly not kowtowing to him, and look at those who have quit in disgust. Sadly, Trump has been propped up by his party, but also — alarmingly — by “his” attorney general, William Barr, who has long touted a “unitary executive” with few checks on his power and ability to bypass Congress. Doesn’t sound like a democracy to me. The hallmark of a good leader is to encourage appointees and staff to present accurate facts and to challenge the boss when he/ she might be wrong — not something our erratic president understands.
Patriotic Americans should be horrified by Trump’s (and Barr’s) abuses of power. Indeed, my prayer is that thoughtful, informed citizens will cast wise ballots for democracy, not tyranny.
Virginia S. Dopp, Williamsburg