Presently available (thru American Mint), for just $99, is the MAGA Movement Commemorative Coin Set. To quote from the ad I saw in the August 2021 issue of the VFW Magazine (I’ll get back to that): “From visionary economic initiatives, to his strong stance and decisive actions to protect our nation against harm, President Trump has proven that his commitment to putting America first was just what the nation needed. As President, he showed little patience for the status quo that has crippled Washington politics for decades and has taken the bold steps necessary to put America back on top as the most respected nation in the world.”

That’s simply untrue. The 45th President betrayed the nation and the people he took an oath to protect. He tweeted, he watched FOX News, and he golfed. He used his power to spread lies and disinformation and poison our politics. He pandered to dictators, alienated our allies, and encouraged and emboldened white supremacists. On top of all that, throughout his last year in office, he downplayed and actually worsened the global pandemic costing tens of thousands of Americans their lives. He was twice impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives. The Republican Party (in the face of overwhelming evidence) twice revealed its cowardice and complicity by acquitting him.

We have always defined the United States as a nation of laws and the incontrovertible premise that no one is above those laws. Donald Trump and the GOP have, over and over and over again, proven that doctrine an illusion.

Donald Trump obstructed Congress, violated his oath of office, betrayed the public trust, undermined the Constitution, disregarded the rules of law and abused the power of the presidency on occasions too numerous to list (including asking the president of a foreign power to investigate a political opponent). As if that isn’t enough, to ensure history records and reviles the presidency of this consummate liar and conman (and I truly believe history will confirm this exactly), days before leaving office he incited a deadly attack on our Capitol in a last-ditch effort to overturn a free and fair election he lost.

That the Veterans of Foreign Wars organization (of which I am a life member and have been for decades) would agree to carry an ad glorifying such a man (in my opinion as a career veteran who served in a war zone — Vietnam) is inappropriate and discredits VFW members and all veterans who have served honorably.

I fear for our country. I fear that our people no longer hold inviolate the principle that truth matters and that our nation cannot long survive a divided, disconnected and disengaged society.

David L. Snell 

Franklin