Letters to the Editor

What happened to the American Way?

It’s easy to look at a mall or complex map, and feel reassured because it says “You are here.” It is harder, however, on a more emotional level, to wonder where we really are, how did we get here, where are we going?

Many of us grew up inspired by heroes in fiction and nonfiction who believed in “Truth, Justice, and the American Way.” That motto has continued to change since then. Questions about the “American Way” have become so corrupted that the 2006 movie “Superman Returns” asked if it was merely, “Truth, Justice… and all that stuff”.

The American Way may at one time have meant a land of E pluribus unum, “Join or Die” (before adding “Don’t Tread on Me”), freedom, life, liberty, equality, fraternity, equal opportunity and law, caring, compassion, goodness, empathy, helping others. This country proudly honored our democracy and the rule of law in our original documents and in its aspirations.

But the histories of an un-American Way, untruths, and injustice are haunting us still, domestically and internationally. In spite of the scandals and illegalities, obvious criminal actions were never accounted for: Nixon, Reagan, Bush, Bush. The fight for civil, consumer, worker, and class rights is ongoing. The validity and justifications for many military interventions and wars are yet open for debate.

Now, there is evidence that some 25% of the population doesn’t even believe in the concepts of Truth and Justice anymore.

CNN Poll: The percentage of Republicans who think Biden’s 2020 win was illegitimate ticks back up near 70%

And how much worse can it get?

DeSantis promised, “We are going to start slitting throats on Day One."

How did we get here? Why would Americans outrageously threaten, harass, troll, and harm other Americans?

From Jan 6 rioter, HEMPHILL: “I want the world to know that I followed a cult leader, and I’m really sorry that I did because I’m really ashamed of it. I was lied to by Trump. The indictment shows me that you are still subject to the laws.”

“Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!”― Barry Goldwater

Allen BrandBremen

Trump's legacy with women is a matter of record

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday, July 19, upheld a $5 million jury verdict against Donald Trump, rejecting the former president’s claims that the award was excessive and that the jury vindicated him by failing to conclude he raped a columnist in a luxury department store dressing room in the 1990s.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan said the jury’s May award of compensatory and punitive damages to writer E. Jean Carroll for sexual abuse and defamation in the civil case was reasonable.

Trump’s lawyers had asked Kaplan to reduce the jury award to less than $1 million or order a new trial on damages. In their arguments, the lawyers said the jury’s $2 million in compensatory damages granted for Carroll’s sexual assault claim was excessive because the jury concluded that Trump had not raped Carroll at Bergdorf Goodman’s Manhattan store in the spring of 1996.

United States Representative and House Democratic Conference Vice Chair Ted Lieu (D-California) on Tuesday, July 25, recited Senior Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the Southern District of New York's denial of former President Donald Trump's petition for a new trial or a reduction to the $5 million that Kaplan ordered him to pay to journalist E. Jean Carroll after she won her civil defamation lawsuit against the criminal defendant.

As I read E. Jean Carroll's account, I became sickened as I know that Trump’s followers will still support him regardless of the jury and the court’s findings. I will ‘not’ put into print, herein, the descriptions of the acts that Trump was found liable for, due to juveniles reading the illicit list.

However, Trump’s action is in the official entry and fortunately, will live forever in the Congressional Record Page H3906 July 25, 2023.

So, when we vote, and if somehow, Trump is on the 2024 ballot, we must remember the Trump legacy and his lack of respect for a woman’s right to be respected and cherished

Bob MuckensturmLancaster

This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Letters to the Editor