Editor, The Beacon:
I would delight in knowing what Mark Twain or Will Rogers might say about our Republican candidate for the U.S. presidency, Donald J. Trump. A man twice impeached while president, convicted of sexual abuse, facing 91 criminal charges from four separate grand-jury indictments, and delusional about his winning the 2020 presidential election.
In spite of this, he is a favorite to capture the Republican nomination. He is given an even chance to win another term as our president. Mind-boggling. How does this reflect on our national character?
In 1987, Gary Hart, a front-runner for the Democratic nomination for the presidency, was photographed with a nice-looking blonde on his lap on a boat aptly named Monkey Business. Unfortunately for him, the blonde was not his wife, and it cost him his political career.
It begs the question: How badly have our moral standards been denigrated since Gary Hart’s demise? I desperately seek a glimmer of humor in this reality-show-turned-reality, but find myself at a loss.
What does it say about our nation when a devout minority believes in a snake-oil salesman, a New York con man, with a cult following?
The bizarre collage of anti-government, anti-vaccine, anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ, book banners, racists, wall-builders, Putin sympathizers, conspiracy theorists and climate-change deniers now call themselves “Republicans.” This is quite a collection of skeptics, reactionaries and hate groups.
Will Rogers once said, “I am not a member of any organized political party — I am a Democrat!”
Are these people an organized political party? Good people with bad ideas? Or are they cult members, a menagerie of clowns, misfits and opportunists?
Many Germans in the 1930s were asking the same questions about Hitler’s National Socialist Party. The glue holding the Republican Party together is unconditional, unwavering loyalty to Trump. Reason, issues of national importance, abiding by our Constitution, and civil comportment no longer prevail.
Mark Twain noted that “A man’s character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation.” We have borne witness to the chronic, vile denigrating language that Trump has used on his political opponents and victims. His followers have become devout believers, unfazed by facts, reality, or any sense of moral rectitude.
Hiding behind our American flag, they have become our own homegrown fundamentalists, and on Jan. 6, 2021, became our own homegrown terrorists. Our Republican political party must come to its senses and excise this authoritarian cancer from its ranks if it is to survive. Our very democracy is at stake.
Chuck Oakwood
DeLand
The reason why Trump remains so popular is he show us tax paying Americans where our money is spent. It was a very educational four years he was President. Now we have Billions with a B dollars going to more and more foreign countries and people not paying income taxes here in the USA. I’m working overtime and still can’t make ends meet with the rising cost of insurance, gas and food. I know I am not better off than I was four years ago and I will vote that way in November 2024. I hope everyone takes the time to vote so the Richman north of Richmon get removed.
Two of those last four years were when Trump was President. And all went downhill in his last two years. One of only two Presidents to end with fewer jobs than when he started. But a new report is out that the Billionaires did great. They increased their wealth by over 2 Trillion. That’s T. There are 1,000 Bs in every T. Biden just lower drug costs for people with heart issues and diabetes. But if you like China’s Xi, Russia’ Putin, or like Trump have fallen in love with North Korea’s Kim, you can’t go wrong with Trump.
Good letter.