Letters to the Editor: What will it take to get people to accept they were duped by Trump?

Total disconnect with government processes, gas prices

With all the concern about emissions from fossil fuels and with gas over $5 a gallon, is it really necessary to mow Centennial Park every Monday and Thursday?

Albert Bell

Holland

Congratulations to Hamilton High Golf Team

Congratulations to the Hamilton High School Golf Team on winning their regional tournament recently and advancing to the state tournament; often a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for high school athletes.

I was a little confused, unsure of the wording in describing the history of the golf program. I do know that the 1977 Hamilton team of brothers Lon and Scott Eding, Paul Voorhorst and Dave Nyhof won the Regional Tournament at Clearbrook C.C. and advanced to the state tournament at Williamston, Mich.

Duane Langeland

Hamilton H.S. Golf Coach, 1976-79

A nation of laws

The U.S. Constitution established our country as a nation of laws. When asked, Benjamin Franklin said we are giving you "A democracy, if you can keep it."

America has almost come undone on several occasions. We are now racing toward another moment that could end our status as a nation of laws.

Al Gore won the popular vote by 500,000 votes in 2000. After exploring all possible legal remedies, still believing he won the election, Gore put America first and submitted to the peaceful transfer of power based on a 5-4 Supreme Court decision.

Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by 3 million votes in 2016, knowing that three key states went to Trump by a total of 80,000 votes that decided the electoral vote. Still believing she won the election, Hillary Clinton put America first and accepted the electoral count by submitting to the peaceful transfer of power.

Donald Trump lost the popular vote by over 8 million votes, and lost the electoral vote. After repeated recounts and over 60 courts reviewed and confirmed those results, Donald Trump did not put America first. Trump still refuses to accept the peaceful transfer of power. Trying to stay in power, he used violence on Jan 6. Now he uses political threats to keep Republican candidates in line, getting them to attempt changing election laws to allow manipulation of future votes.

People who politically disagree with me have never been my enemies. We can argue, even get upset, however anyone who believes they must force their politics on another by using violence, is not a patriot. Our nation of laws is reliant on our politicians and all our citizens submitting to America's laws and the institutions we've devised to apply them. Every subpoena ignored, every threat of violence or act of violence are blows attacking our nation of laws.

Will the next federal election be America's last election? That will be up to all of us.

Pete Turner

Zeeland

County's approach to Boes case very telling

If the Ottawa County Prosecutor's Office is so sure that Karen Boes is guilty, why are they spending $141,400 for an expert for a witness?

What a waste of money.

Seems to me that someone is scared they will lose at a retrial.

Dar Vanden Bosch

Zeeland

What will it take to get people to accept they were duped by Trump?

Anyone watching the Jan. 6 committee hearings should walk away thinking the committee has plenty of evidence that former president Trump lied about voter fraud and instigated the insurrection.

There are videos and the president’s own words showing Trump planned the attack to stop the election process. Campaign lawyers, election administrators and White House officials all testified they told Trump the election was accurate and fair. Attorney General Barr testified the Justice Department investigated Trump’s allegations and found them groundless.

In my experience, most people in Ottawa County have heard Trump’s Big Steal accusations and many believed them. Those continuing to believe Trump’s lie are engaging in confirmation bias, a predisposition to accept evidence, no matter how dubious, that supports their beliefs and then easily find reasons to put aside any evidence that doesn’t. Those employing confirmation bias can rarely answer the question, “what evidence is necessary to change your mind?” because no evidence will ever be enough.

All of us can resort to confirmation bias, particularly when changing our minds threatens other deeply held beliefs. It is the reason that religious arguments rarely go anywhere.

The important question of our time is whether we will split the union over a lie, even though all the evidence is against it or it motivated believers to besiege our Capitol causing death, injury and damage or it spurred believers to threaten election officials and their families. Sixty courts rejected the lie and all the recounts changed nothing, not to mention the lie enriched Trump’s PACT by tens of millions of dollars.

Making America Great Again can’t be based on fiction. What evidence would the committee need to provide to that neighbor flying a Trump flag for him to go out and lower it forever?

Richard Kamischke

Grand Haven Township

What lessons, if any, will historians write about the quality of our leaders?

As I write this, the nation, and more specifically, the select committee on the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, is hearing a series of testimonies from those who witnessed the unparalleled and tragic events of that day.

There are a number of Republican Congress people who are questioning the merits of revisiting an event that happened almost a year and a half ago. They’d prefer to say there are more important and immediate issues, such as inflation and skyrocketing gas prices, that need to be addressed. I think this is just an exercise at escapism.

Spanish-American philosopher, Georg Santayana famously said, “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Hopefully, the committee will offer the nation a compelling history lesson — a lesson worth embracing and living into.

The manner in which this can be experienced has more to do with the character of our leaders, specifically in Congress and the executive branch. A former Republican, Abraham Lincoln, serves as the standard in this regard. Leo Tolstoy, the famed author, was asked what he thought about Lincoln. He responded: “Lincoln was not a great general like Napoleon or a great statesman like Fredrick the Great, but his greatness consisted in his moral fiber, his character, and his integrity, the ultimate standard we have in judging our leaders.”

Aren’t these the standards that the committee is trying to remind us of? What “lessons learned,” if any, will historians write about the quality of our leaders for such a time as this? Our leaders have a choice. And so do the rest of us.

Mark de Roo

Holland

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Letters to the Editor: What will it take to get people to accept they were duped by Trump?