I believe our republic is in danger
To the Editor:
Donald Trump has exerted power as no previous president has in our history. His actions raise a chilling question. Is Peggy Noonan right? She recently wrote in the Wall Street Journal that our republic is in jeopardy because of the actions of our president.
I certainly give him credit for getting the border under control as well as brokering the first peace deal in the Middle East that has a chance of ending the conflict. Time will tell on both of those issues. However, his destruction of key democratic institutions, and his disdain for judicial independence and legislative authority have substantially interfered with the checks and balances that were put in place by our founders. Like Peggy Noonan, I believe our republic is in danger. Please read the following and decide for yourself if I am right.
1. The military is being deployed to cities in blue states to deal with crime even though statistics show that crime is dropping. Why not restore the massive cuts to public safety programs in the “Big Beautiful Bill” to allow cities to hire more police, who unlike our military, are trained for community policing.
2. The military is extra-judicially killing Venezuelans for alleged drug smuggling without providing evidence. This particular strategy will not solve America’s drug problem. Why not use that money for treatment programs.
3. Our president is now entertaining strikes on Venezuela’s mainland without consulting Congress. At the same time, he has approved a $40 billion bailout for Argentina’s economy while millions of Americans will either lose their health insurance or see their premiums increase dramatically.
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4. U.S. citizens and legal immigrants are being arrested and detained because of the color of their skin. Are we going back to the racist times in our history?
5. The Justice Department is spending millions of taxpayer dollars prosecuting President Trump’s political foes, an unprecedented revenge campaign. Many experienced prosecutors have resigned over these frivolous and costly lawsuits.
6. Our president’s Secretary of War is banning books at military academies and requiring the press to only report what he decides should be in the public domain. His Secretary of Health is denying decades of medical research, putting our lives at risk.
7. Our president said he would have the final say on whether the Justice Department pays him $230 million for damages related to charges that he tried to overturn the 2020 election and his efforts to retain presidential records after leaving office. The evidence was overwhelming that he committed both crimes. This is while thousands of Americans are losing their jobs because of AI.
8. Our president posted an AI-generated video of himself dumping feces onto protesters in American cities. That is just one example of his juvenile and tasteless behavior.
9. Our president has suggested that U.S. cities should be “training grounds” for the military. I am absolutely certain that if that happened, it would be in blue, not red cities.
Each of these might have constituted weeks-long scandals for past administrations. But now? They are barely blips on the news reporting. All of this in his first nine months in office. What is next?
Linda B. Arnold
Highlands
