Release files
Does a “great” nation, one that claims to hold Christian values, sit quietly by as its leaders avoid, deny, or possibly even cover-up evidence that could associate the president with the trafficking and sexual abuse of underage girls?
I call on every congressperson, every cabinet member, and every citizen to insist on the public release of ALL the Jeffrey Epstein files immediately.
If not the actual victims, think of your daughters, your granddaughters, your nieces, and their friends.
Kathy Pickering
Hood River
Antifa = antifascist
Let’s makes something crystal clear: “antifa” doesn’t exist. It’s not a thing. It’s not a group, a cell, or an organization of any kind. There are no minutes to record, because there are no meetings. It’s not a real thing.
“Antifa” stands for “antifascist,” which is something that we all should be. The president of the United States, regardless of who occupies the office, should be an anti-fascist. If you check the notes, you will see that we actually fought an entire world war, within living memory, mind you, to stop Nazis and fascists from doing Nazi and fascist things.
What should we surmise, then, from a man who has signed an executive order declaring that “antifa” is a terrorist organization? Let’s all put on our textual analysis hats for a moment and think about what it says about an individual when they oppose anti-fascism.
It is somehow not a surprise that the most fascistic American administration in living memory is against anti-fascism. What astounds me is the sheer ignorance of voters who cannot see this because they are so blinded by anti-Democrat, anti-liberal, and anti-left sentiment.
Those Epstein files must be absolutely wild.
Benjamin Sheppard
Hood River
Editor’s Note: Benjamin Sheppard is not affiliated with Sheppard’s Orchard and Vineyard Equipment.
Message contrasts
State Rep. Jeff Helfrich’s letter in the Oct. 1 edition of Columbia Gorge News was a welcome contribution. He urged turning down vitriolic political rhetoric and ending the surge of politically motivated violence in our country.
In sharp contrast to Helfrich’s plea, our nation’s president has continually turned up his political vitriol, and has thereby encouraged a future level of violence unseen in this country since the Civil War. When speaking at the memorial service for Charlie Kirk, Trump stated bluntly that he hates his political opponents and wishes nothing good for them. He has repeatedly referred to those of us who disagree with him as “the enemy within.” On Sept. 30, he told an unprecedented gathering of all U.S. military generals and admirals — assembled from around the world at great taxpayer expense — to prepare for war with this “enemy within.” Trump seems to savor the idea of vast bloodshed in our country, provided that it happens at his behest.
There’s no longer any question about whether Trump is a dictator. He checks all the boxes for dictatorial ambitions and actions.
In 1989, I happened to be in Beijing, China, just two months after the Tiananmen Square massacre had taken place there. Under the order of the Chinese dictator, full military force was used to slaughter more than 200 civilians who were conducting peaceful protests. As I walked through the immense square, the only other people present were young soldiers carrying machine guns. It was a creepy and heartbreaking experience. This is the sort of future Trump seems to want for America. Is it the sort of future you want, too?
Richard Iverson
Hood River
Freedom of speech
Before Trump takes away our freedom of speech and my right to say what I feel about him and dictatorship:
Trump is America’s first dictator!
Trump needs to be fired for his poor performance. Trump needs to act as president, not an uneducated dictator!
Our enemy in Vietnam was the communist dictator Ho Chi Minh. America’s want-to-be dictator is Donald Trump!
Let’s just say, “Not on my watch.”
Steve Cochenour
The Dalles
Similarities
A few chilling similarities. Hitler used immigrants as a starting point in his move towards a dictatorship. He then moved on to attacking a specific section of German citizens, the Jews. Trump used immigrants as a starting point in order to establish a large, private army. He moved on to actually imprisoning immigrants who have lived in our nation for many years, many when they attended meetings in order to establish citizenship.
Next for Hitler was the movements to control all sections of Germany. For Trump, it was selecting specific cities and moving the military into them. Now comes the part about getting OUR army to practice tactics by using our cities. This looks like an early start on federal takeovers of specific portions of our nation.
The present move towards a government shutdown is just another step towards dictatorship. This shutdown is being pushed by Trump, who has told the Republican party not to negotiate. Look for a lot of people losing their jobs, large increases in costs, shortages, a huge increase in efforts to limit voting, and many, many efforts to blame Democrats.
This is a Republican (Trump)-forced shutdown. They have the power and control of all three government areas: Senate, House, presidency. Therefore, they have the responsibility.
Leonard Hickman
Hood River
Editor’s Note: The federal government shutdown began on Sept. 30 and continues as of our Monday deadline.
Political violence
“I think it’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the second amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational.” — Charlie Kirk (1993-2025)
Charlie Kirk never had an original racist or sexist thought. He pretended to be a champion of Free Speech all while siccing his minions on real intellectuals with whom he disagreed. Kirk was the worst kind of gaslighting pseudo-scholar, only appearing to be open to reasonable debate.
This continued lionization of Kirk is just another attempt of the GOP/MAGA cult to legitimize their awful ideology. Jimmy Kimmel was correct in saying the conservative media and government officials are using the murder of Kirk to further their own agenda, to foment more division and blame the liberal progressives for the resulting violence. It is especially telling that the DOJ removed a study from their website that clearly shows it’s the alt-right radicals that commit the most political violence. The Radical Right are using his murder to further divide Americans into “us” and “them” and GOP government officials are jumping whole-heartedly into the “Cancel Culture” we have heard them whine about for the last several years. The murder of Charlie Kirk was horrific. And so was the murder of Melissa Hortman and the thousands of schoolchildren EVERY year. The current administration, particularly the occupant of the White House, is throwing the weight of the U.S. Government behind persecuting anyone who says anything they don’t like about Kirk instead of actually fixing the gun violence problem. It’s all so un-American!
Debra Lutje
The Dalles
Uphold rule of law
Forty-two percent of Republicans agree that it’s not acceptable for the government to pressure broadcasters to cancel a show it doesn’t like. (YouGov/The Economist Poll, Sept. 19-22). If you’re among this 42% , I applaud you for upholding the right of free speech. I assume, then, that you agree it was unacceptable for President Trump and his appointees to pressure Disney/ABC to cancel Jimmy Kimmel.
May I also infer that, as an upholder of democratic values, you believe the rule of law must not be abused? That you oppose a president who demands the arrest of his enemies, fires prosecutors who resist the demands, and replaces them with lackeys who’ll do his bidding? If so, I assume you disagree with President Trump’s actions regarding Republican former FBI Director James Comey.
You likely remember from history class how American colonists condemned the British practice of foisting troops upon our cities even though we did not need or ask for them. You’re aware that our Declaration of Independence condemns King George III for imposing tariffs: “Cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world” and “imposing Taxes on us without our Consent.” As patriots, surely you don’t approve of those behaviors now.
If you’re among the growing percentage of Republican voters who have the courage to see and oppose the corrupt and un-American behavior of the Trump Administration, I thank you. Our nation needs citizens like you, citizens who place loyalty to the Constitution above loyalty to a political party.
Rick George
White Salmon
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