The column by Paula Gibbs McKenney on Tuesday, Nov. 12, needs a reply. What troubles me most about McKenney’s letter is the amount of misinformation in it and her angry tone based on this misinformation.
I voted for Harris because I believe in the Democrats’ general use of government in the life of our country: regulation of harmful economic practices by private enterprise; support for unions; attempts to mitigate the effects of global warming; support for public education; creation of local, state and national public parks; ensuring people of all races and religions are treated fairly. You get the drift. Democrats aren’t good at all the things they try, but they try.
I too care more about a candidate’s policies and abilities over their personality and would agree that Harris was not prepared to run on a cohesive and well-thought-out platform. I am angry at Joe and Jill Biden for not deciding much earlier to withdraw so a traditional campaign for a Democratic candidate could be run. However, Mr. Trump’s policies and abilities and personality as a president are well known and none of them cause me to support him.
Much of the media may be somewhat to the left, but primarily they are moderates and appear farther left only in comparison to how far right the current Republican Party has gone. The Steele Dossier is not a fantasy, was not drummed up by the Democrats and was written by a top member of Britain’s intelligence service. Its release was criticized by the Washington Post for being unverified.
I disagree with McKenney’s comment suggesting that the current Supreme Court is following the law rather than “their own political agendas.”
To think that Mr. Trump is not now a criminal means that one believes that juries and judges have been tampered with. I don’t believe such is true.
I am not in favor of girls and boys competing together in sports, and how to treat transgendered kids in public schools befuddles me.
I want our borders secure, but I don’t want families torn apart leaving children alone in a type of jail without parents. It seems as if McKenney is OK with that.
Public money to pay off student loans is questionable but based on need.
I don’t want states to control abortion access. We have seen already the results of such policies.
I believe that employees in the FBI and Secret Service probably are more conservative than left-wing. It is Mr. Trump that is threatening to make the DOJ follow a political agenda.
Many people say that the country is becoming “socialistic” without knowing the definition of socialism. Regulation of private enterprise is not socialism.
I worked in a school system for 22 years. Neither the federal government, the states nor local school boards are very good at it.
It sounds as if Ms. McKenney would support our policies in Ukraine against the Russians. I support that also.
I don’t want our speech to be controlled either.
I agree that price controls are not effective.
I, too, want effective, competent people to be hired. Effective people of color, religion and other “irrelevant qualifiers” have been systematically excluded from jobs, so when I see people with “irrelevant qualifiers” in jobs, I assume that they are qualified.
I, too, have been disturbed by the name calling done by Democratic presidents and Democratic candidates and others on the left.
College professors may be somewhat on the left, but they do not brainwash their students. If that were their method of teaching, they wouldn’t last long.
Defunding the police was a stupid idea, expressed in the heat of the moment.
Trump was the target of an angry person who was expressing himself in a manner that was not effective nor well thought out and he was using a weapon unnecessary for civilians to posess. To believe that it was a plot by Democrats is not based on fact, even if Trump’s followers say that it is.
Brian Hirst is a Harpswell resident.