Republican Party Replaced by Trumpican Cult Will be Missed

October 22, 2020

Dear Editor,

                I remember when there was a Republican Party that stood for something.  In place of a legacy of great men – Lincoln, Roosevelt and Eisenhower – has arisen a political horror: the Trumpican Party.  With its cult-like adoration of a failed businessman who tramples on all the principles that once guided Republicans, the Trumpican Party exist only to demand blind loyalty to its autocratic leader.  Compare the Republican Party Platform of 2012, the last time it was led by a Republican nominee, to the Trumpican Party Resolution of 2020.

                FREE MARKETS:

“Republicans will pursue free market policies that are the surest way to boost employment and create job growth and economic prosperity for all.”  Republican Platform 2012.

“The RNC, had the Platform Committee been able to convene in 2020, would have undoubtedly unanimously agreed to reassert the Party’s strong support for President Donald Trump…”  Trumpican Party Resolution 2020.  (Trump has urged a boycott of Goodyear, demanded unjustified mailing rates on Amazon, and blasted Nordstrom over its decision to drop Ivanka’s fashion brand.)

                FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY:

“Backed by a Republican Senate and House, our next President will propose immediate reductions in federal spending, as a down payment on the much larger task of long-range fiscal control.”  Republican Platform 2012

“The RNC enthusiastically supports President Trump…” Trumpican Party Resolution 2020.  (Annual deficits have risen in every year of the Trump Presidency and this year exploded to over $3 TRILLION.)

                SANCTITY OF MARRIAGE:

“The institution of marriage is the foundation of civil society.”  Republican Platform 2012.

“Most people know that Melania Trump isn’t Donald Trump’s first wife. With a reputation for …being unfaithful to his spouses, Trump isn’t well-known for staying committed to just one woman.” Showbiz CheatSheet March 17, 2019.

                CONSTITUTIONAL FIDELITY:

“[Republican] adherence to the Constitution stands in stark contrast to the antipathy toward the Constitution demonstrated by the current Administration… by appointing "czars" to evade the confirmation process, …using executive orders to bypass the separation of powers…, encouraging illegal actions by regulatory agencies…, openly and notoriously displaying contempt for Congress, the Judiciary, and the Constitutional prerogatives of the individual States, [and] refusing to defend the nation's laws in federal courts…”  Republican Party Platform 2012.

Evading the confirmation process:  "I like 'acting [agency heads]' because I can move so quickly," President Trump, Face the Nation Feb. 2019.

Using Executive Orders to bypass separation of powers:  “…Republicans roundly criticized President Obama’s famous assertion of using his ‘pen and phone’ in the face of congressional intransigence, but President Trump has hardly been reticent in issuing such orders himself” American Action Forum Aug. 6, 2020.

Encouraging illegal actions by agencies:  The courts have overturned 112 of 132 agency actions taken by the Trump administration.  Institute for Policy Integrity, NYU School of Law Sept. 11, 2020.

Displaying contempt for Congress, the Judiciary and Constitutional prerogatives of the states:

·         “[T]he Trump administration has blocked or refused to comply with 82 House Committee requests for testimony and/or documents.”  Forensic News Oct. 28, 2019.

·         “Donald Trump has displayed a troubling pattern of attacking judges and the courts for rulings he disagrees with…” Brennan Center for Justice” Feb. 14, 2020.

·         “Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, Trump has tweeted requests for states to reopen various activities, which he lacks the authority to compel as a federal official.”  Business Insider July 8, 2020.

Refusing to defend the nation’s laws:  “[T]he Justice Department declined to do its job – that is to defend the laws of the United States when attacked in court.”  The Washington Post June 8, 2018.

                I may not have agreed with many of the policies supported by the Republican Party but I enjoyed the opportunity to debate and search for common ground.  That is what we should miss because Republicans and Democrats working together for a better America is the only way our country can emerge from the ugly and cultish reign of Trumpicanism.

Sincerely,

David Plunkett

Draft Dodger Don

Published October 14, 2020

Dear Editor,

                “America’s enemies must never know our plans or believe they can wait us out.”  Donald Trump 2017 in a speech critiquing President Obama for “telegraphing” when the United States might withdraw troops.

                “We should have the small remaining number of our BRAVE Men and Women serving in Afghanistan home by Christmas.”  Donald Trump 2020 in an announcement Thursday which earned praise from the Taliban.

                Once again we see Draft-Dodger Don playing politics with our national security, showing he has no core values or beliefs when it comes to protecting America from its enemies.  We probably should expect this of a rich kid who played dress-up soldier at a preppy academy and now believes he is smarter than the generals who actually served.  Consider how he used and then demeaned our military leaders: Generals Mattis (“overrated general”), Kelly (“he was way over his head”), McChrystal (“big, dumb mouth”), and many others.  I understand that Americans are free to criticize their military leaders.  My father-in-law hated “Dougout” Doug.  But he earned the right to do that by putting on a Marine uniform and serving on Guadalcanal.  President Bone Spurs never earned the right.

                Trump repeatedly demonstrates he is not fit to lead.  A commander accepts responsibility for those he sends into battle.  President Truman kept a sign on his desk reminding him “The Buck Stops Here.”  Trump believes his job is to pass the buck.  When Navy SEAL Ryan Owens died during a mission personally authorized by Trump, Trump said this: “[the Generals] lost Ryan.”  Where is the shame in this person who refuses to take responsibility for the life of one who followed his orders, calls our service men and women suckers and losers, stands at the grave of our war dead and questions their sacrifice, seeks to hide those who bear the scars of combat, and praises a dictator who put a bounty on our soldiers’ heads?

                No Trump – not his draft-dodging grandfather, his stay-at-home dad, Donald, nor his adult sons – served a day in the military.  We have a name for such people.  Military service, of course, is not a prerequisite to being President, unless as President you are pretending to be a military genius even as you contradict your own strategy and insult those who actually served and sacrificed to defend our nation.

David Plunkett

Fully Sympathetic (Election Workers Need to be Protected from COVID)

Published in the Towns County Herald October 12, 2020

Dear Editor,

                The editor’s note appended to the letter from Dave and Denise Phillips (Government Leadership) in the July 29, 2020, edition was incorrect in asserting that the Governor’s order on COVID-19 prohibits local election officials from mandating that election workers wear masks during the August 11 runoff election.  It does not.

                Election workers are “Critical Infrastructure” workers under the order.  The provision on Critical Infrastructure states “measures may include, but shall not be limited to the following” (emphasis added).  Because the order does not represent the limits of what may be required, election officials would not be inconsistent with it by requiring workers to wear face masks.  In fact, later in the order, a provision on Critical Infrastructure specifically states that “Providing Personal Protective Equipment as available and appropriate to the function and location of the Worker” should be implemented.  It is hard to picture a function and location more conducive to the spread of a dangerous virus than a crowded polling place if workers and the public are not masked.  Just to emphasize this point, the Governor’s order specifically mandates certain workers, such as restaurant wait staff, wear face masks when they interact with the public.

                As a former member of the Election Board, I was deeply troubled by the Phillips’ letter.  I fully sympathize with them and regret the loss of two civic-minded volunteers at a time when the county is struggling to fully staff its polling places.

                The decision not to require protective measures was improperly premised on an incorrect interpretation of the Governor’s order.  The Towns County Herald should correct its editor’s note.

Jim Powell

Buying Votes with Medicare Money

Published in the Towns County Hearld Oct. 10, 2020

Dear Editor,

                Once again we see an irresponsible President attempting to corrupt our political system through whatever means he can devise and regardless of the consequences.  President Trump’s latest effort at vote buying is a plan to spend $7 billion of public money on issuing $200 drug discount cards to 33 million of the 44 million seniors on Medicare.

                If you are a senior on Medicare, as I am, you should be incensed at this insult to our intelligence and integrity.  I hope I speak for all seniors in Towns County when I say, “MY VOTE WILL NOT BE BOUGHT.”

                His plan to issue discount cards flies in the face of good policy (“A one-time savings card will neither provide lasting help, nor advance the fundamental reforms necessary to help seniors better afford their medicines,” according to a spokesman for the drug industry trade group PhRMA.).  But that’s not the primary reason for concern.

                It also reverses long-standing Republican consensus on free markets because it relies for its funding on savings from a future program that would tie drug prices paid by Medicare in the United States to prices paid in other countries.  When Democrats have proposed such a linkage to make drugs more affordable for seniors, Republicans and the drug industry have fought it off in favor of allowing the marketplace to set prices.

                Finally, it follows a pattern of debt financing where the promise of future savings is used to pay for current spending.  It is a pattern most often used to explain away the impact of tax cuts without a concurrent reduction in spending on existing programs, and is the reason our national debt (currently at more than $24 TRILLION) is approaching parity with the GDP for the first time since World War II.

                I am a fiscally conservative Democrat.  A point of pride is that I worked for a Member of the U.S. House Budget Committee at the one time in recent history when Congress not only produced a balanced budget but actually generated surpluses and began paying down the national debt.  One of the things we fought against was the tendency for some, both Democrats and Republicans, to throw a party with unrealized gains (that is spending public money while relying on future savings to pay the costs).

                I do not enjoy writing these letters, but I feel compelled because the outrages of the current President will not cease.  But, more than that, a strong two-party system is critical to reaching sound government policies that can unite our country.  For that reason, I write to head off the demise of the Republican Party before it is usurped by its Trumpican wing.  Its demise is brought closer by this latest vote-buying proposal that demonstrates the Trumpicans do not hold any Republican values as sacred.  Instead, its adherents center their position on the deification of Donald J. Trump, a man without morals, conscience, integrity, love of country, or respect for our Constitution.

David Plunkett