Letters to the editor for Aug. 2

Trump is no Reagan or H.W. Bush, but he’s getting things done

I respect Col. Lee Pitzer’s service as I do Col. Bill Malec’s. I just find Malec’s letters more informed and entertaining. I still don’t know how anyone knows President Donald Trump violated national security in that Oval Office meeting. I suggested we wait for the investigation report. We know Hillary Clinton circumvented national security rules with her private server. Even FBI Director James Comey finally said she did. I’ll admit President Trump’s demeanor is not Ronald Reagan’s or George H.W. Bush’s. But the border is more secure, the military is getting more funding, we have a great constitutionalist Supreme Court justice, and the economy is improving. Clinton ran a lackluster campaign, devoid of any new ideas. Even the Obamas and Hollywood could not get her elected. Her health was shaky. She accomplished little as Secretary of State, and we almost lost Egypt. Yes, sometimes I wince, but then I remember how things might have been.

Give Trump a chance to fix the mess left behind

Donald Trump won; Hillary Clinton lost. (Get over it!)

Give him a chance to fix the big mess previous administrations left for him to cope with.

We can all help to right the wrongs and do our best to help others who can’t help themselves (handicapped, chronically ill, severely injured, etc.). That’s why we have many good charities.

Let the first responders and other do their jobs to help keep our public safer.

The protestors and complainers who don’t like our ways — they are free to leave. Unlike some places, we don’t force anyone to stay.

God bless America!

The United States needs more activism, not less

We have witnessed a phenomenon not seen since the days of the Nixon administration. Millions of people have been taking to the streets to demonstrate against or for many different issues. Millions of people have taken to calling and emailing members of Congress to voice support or opposition to legislation being debated. Some have lamented this as “obstructionism” and others as “resistance.” In actuality, it is neither; it is how a representative democracy was designed to work.

When the Constitution was written, our right to petition the government was provided for. It was decided that a representative democracy could only work if citizens were allowed to speak with their elected officials and communicate their thoughts on issues being decided.

These “activist” citizens are modeling how democracy is intended to work. Good citizenship does not include just showing up to vote on Election Day, but requires actively participating in the process of governance. This means informing yourself of the issues and regularly contacting your elected officials. By doing this, you will have a government that is truly representative, less influenced by special interests and you will drain the swamp.

The United States needs more activism, not less.

Trump campaign is willing to destroy US no matter who gets hurt

It appears that the majority of the Republican Party are afraid of Donald Trump and support communism and a takeover of the U.S. by Russia. Why can’t they admit that the Trump campaign/camp are willing to destroy the U.S. no matter who gets hurt? All Republicans who know that the Donald has been violating federal law and don’t want to do anything needs to resign. Also, where are former U.S. Army Lt. Col. John Shimkus, Marine Mike Bost and Rodney Davis on this issue? All Southern Illinois Representatives, all with no TV comments.

Obama was far from being the perfect president

To writer Lee Pitzer: Donald Trump has done nothing wrong. Maybe he does tweet a bit much, but that doesn’t mean he is doing stuff wrong. He has accomplished more in the six months he has been in office than all other presidents ever. If you Google it you will see for yourself. I don’t think he did wrong where media is concerned, so he tweeted what he did. He is very vocal with things rather than being quite like all other presidents. Could it be that some of the media is worse with Trump than any other president? If someone got really hateful with you, would you just stand by and continually allow someone to do whatever they care to do, be mean and degrade you without saying something? I don’t care who they are or if I am an important person, I would eventually stand up to them. Name one lie he has done. By the way — all presidents lie. Barack Obama’s biggest lies: “If you like your policy, you can keep it.” “If you like your doctor, you can keep them.” The ACA will be affordable health care for all. Now several states only have one company, while several have two to three companies, so how’s that all working? And one company says by next year they are pulling out completely.

It sounds like you believe Obama was the perfect president, but he was nowhere near perfect, far from it.

More history on left-wing radicalism

Addressing further the history of left-wing radicalism, we proceed to 1969 and the ’70s. The Weather Underground and the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), from Oct. 6-11, 1969, cost Chicago and Illinois $183,000, with the Days of Rage Riots. John Jacobs, a leader of both groups, in a speech after the bombing of the Haywood police memorial, stated: “We’ll probably lose people today ... We don’t really have to win here ... just the fact that we are willing to fight the police is a political victory.” In the ’70s the Weathermen bombed the Capitol and the Pentagon.

In 1973, Assata Shakur, a member of the Black Liberation Army (BLA) and a former Black Panther, murdered a New Jersey state trooper. The BLA robbed banks, “revolutionary reparations,” and kidnapped drug dealers. In June 1971, in machine gun attacks, they killed four policemen in three days. They stated, “The armed goons of this racist government will again meet guns of oppressed Third World Peoples as long as they occupy our community and murder our brothers and sisters in the name of American law and order.”

The Symbionese Liberation Army, notorious for kidnapping Patty Hearst, killed Marcus Foster, an Oakland school superintendent.

From 1974 to 1983, the FALN (Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional), a Puerto Rican Marxist-Leninist separatist group, carried out over 120 bombings in the U.S.

There is more to come. My sources, Wikipedia and the International Centre for the Study of Radicalism and Political Violence.

Being old school makes last years of work an endurance test

Being old school, I prefer a hammer to a mouse. I have worked in the same place for 36 years. And now that I am getting closer to retirement, I have to contend with these 30-somethings waving their degrees around making my last few years seem more like an endurance test.

But no hard feelings. On my last day I will shake some hands and hope that I do not frighten or confuse anyone with my calluses.

This story was originally published August 1, 2017 at 4:31 PM with the headline "Letters to the editor for Aug. 2."