Fight for democracy
Trump has fired federal workers without justification, fired inspectors and immigration judges; cut the Department of Education; stopped Farm Aid to starving people throughout the world; decreased disease research, cut National Public Broadcasting, Oregon Public Broadcasting, and Radio Free Europe; cut libraries, museums, national parks, Medicaid, SNAP, and universities; tried to do retribution to those he perceives as his enemies; weakened the Ukrainian resistance to Russia; cut Meals on Wheels for seniors, cut Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs; put people in foreign prison without legal due process; and picked up workers on farms, Home Depot, restaurants, schools, courthouses, etc. Many families have been broken apart. Even U.S. citizens have been illegally held in ICE detention.
Trump has spent more than $68,600,000 on his golf trips, passed a budget with large tax cuts for the top 1% and cut Medicaid benefits, causing a more than $3 TRILLION deficit to our country. Trump has started plans to build a several million dollar ballroom at the White House; cemented over the Rose Garden; spent $15 million on a military parade in Washington, D.C., for his birthday; has pressured legal firms to give him free legal services; and courted big companies like Meta, Amazon, Airbnb, Apple, Tesla, etc. Trump has imposed tariffs that are increasing prices on everyday goods so families are finding it harder to pay their monthly bills. What has he done for you and me?
We now have dictator Trump and his loyal subjects running the federal government. Trump does not provide the public with accurate, factual information on what he is doing. We do not have a president who believes in decency, honesty, and science and the importance of having a democracy that respects the rule of law. I believe he is dumbing us down or making us afraid or confused so we will not fight his dictator actions. Trump and the Republicans are destroying our democracy and our country.
Please fight for our democracy by attending town hall meetings, calling/writing your elected officials, participate in protest marches, and get involved in local politics. Be informed, not complacent!
Nancy Johanson Paul
Hood River
Petulant
Our dear leader, President Trump, initially refused to lower the U.S. flag to half-staff upon the death of Sen. John McCain, a U.S. Navy veteran who persevered horrific imprisonment for over five years during the Vietnam War. As a senator, Mr. McCain was often a voice of reason in the U.S. Senate. While I disagreed with a number of his decisions in the Senate, I respected him greatly in many other ways.
Trump yet again exhibited a petulant act from a petulant, aging, insecure, hyper-narcissist regarding lowering the flag due to Sen. McCain’s disagreements with him. Now, with the death of Charlie Kirk, a hatemongering, warmongering, fascist, authoritarian, purveyor of conspiracy theories, anti-LGBTQ, and proponent of torching the U.S. Constitution, Trump has issued a lowering of U.S. flags for a 31-year-old podcaster with no credibility and who has done nothing but do harm to our country. Good job, Trump voters!
Scott Hauser
The Dalles
Irony
In the Sept. 10 edition of Columbia Gorge News, Rep. Cliff Bentz wrote that he doesn’t hold town hall meetings because he’s encountered vocal political opposition by members of Indivisible. He stated that, “The intent of Indivisible … is to disrupt, intimidate, and threaten.” In contrast to that claim, the explicitly stated mission of Indivisible is, “to elect progressive leaders, rebuild our democracy, and defeat the Trump agenda.” Also explicitly stated is the commitment of Indivisible to “non-violence as a guiding principle in everything we do: our protests, our organizing, and our advocacy.”
It’s deeply ironic that Bentz accuses Indivisible of disruption, intimidation and threats. No politician in American history has used disruption, intimidation, and threats more blatantly than Donald Trump. Bentz is apparently pleased to align himself with Trump’s use of these tactics, including his mustering of a violent mob that bludgeoned police officers, defaced the U.S. Capitol building, and threatened to lynch Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 6, 2021.
My guess is that in his heart, Bentz knows that it’s deeply wrong for Trump to repeatedly use disruption, intimidation, and threats. That includes Trump’s needless deployment of U.S. military forces in American cities and his use of masked, un-uniformed ICE thugs to grab people off American streets and spirit them away in unmarked vehicles. It’s also my guess that, like other Trumpists in the U.S. Congress and Supreme Court, Bentz fears retribution from Trump if he steps out of line.
Prior to the upcoming 2026 congressional elections, Cliff Bentz and his fellow Trump toadies should have their party affiliation rebranded as “Trumpist” rather than “Republican.” Their ideals and mode of operation bear little resemblance to those of the traditional Republican Party. Trumpism today more closely resembles the fascism of 1930s Nazi Germany, and Bentz is seemingly all onboard with this new direction for our country.
We the people need to push back against Trumpism. Rep. Cliff Bentz will not do it for us.
Richard Iverson
Hood River
No shame?
Does this president have no shame? I rhetorically ask myself that daily as I peruse the news. Today (Sept. 7), I read in the New York Times that Trump is now busy replacing the signage on projects that were funded by the bipartisan 2021 infrastructure law passed during the Biden administration. The new signs, naturally written in MAGA-red, give Donald J. Trump credit for “Rebuilding America’s Infra-structure.” I’m sure that I’m not the only person who remembers that it became a running joke during Trump’s first term that an infrastructure bill was going to be presented in “a couple weeks.” That never happened until Biden took office and a bill was passed. Now, the article points out that although it is not completely without precedent to replace signage when a new administration comes in, what makes this so incredibly, mind-blowingly hypocritical and petty is that Trump had passionately railed against the bipartisan legislation during Biden’s tenure as POTUS. This tracks with Trump’s countless efforts to take credit for things he had no hand in making happen.
This kind of misleading branding by Trump is one of the reasons I find him so pathetically unfit to be in a position of power. It’s a common theme with Trump. The idea that he can loudly and publicly take such umbrage with a piece of legislation but then turn around and want to rebrand that very legislation with his name is abhorrent. Most people would feel shame in trying to take credit under these circumstances but this is standard procedure for Trump. He has no shame!
Kathy Gay
The Dalles
Selling their souls
Both at President Trump’s inauguration, and at a recent meeting with him, we have seen the richest men in the world from our country cozying up to Trump to be in his good graces. They have all sold their souls for 30 pieces of silver, as Judas did, pushing the less fortunate people in our society to suffer and tough it out. Where is their guilt to go with it?
Roz Luther
Spokane
Commented