Letters submitted by BDN readers are verified by BDN Opinion Page staff. Send your letters to [email protected]
I just went through a big shift. I had been focusing on the damage that legislation coming out of Congress could do to American families on healthcare, food security, the cost of energy; the transfer of wealth from working people to the richest people in our country; and the massive increase to our national deficit.
But right now, I can’t ignore the Trump administration’s attack on our fundamental principles of American democracy. It has arrested a member of Congress, a mayor, a judge, a labor union leader, and President Donald Trump has threatened to arrest the elected governor of a U.S. state.
He has attacked the independence of the press, education, the legal profession, business leaders, and the right of the people to freely and peacefully speak out. He has tried to defund universities and states like Maine and California.
His administration has directed masked ICE agents to terrorize, abduct and disappear people off the street, before school graduation ceremonies, and at hospitals and clinics, with no access to due process. He has deployed a state’s National Guard and the U.S. Marines, even though he was warned this could inflame a situation that was under control.
He has ignored court decisions. He has overridden Congress’s constitutional powers, impounded federal funds, dissolved agencies and fired independent officials.
It’s time to stand up for morality, the rule of law, and our democracy. I plan to do what I can, when I can, to protect and restore the promise of America. What will you do?
Valerie Tate
Belfast
