Letters to the Editor: The real RHINOs are the far-right extremists

The real RHINOs are the far-right extremists

Joel Studebaker was not the leader of the Ottawa GOP for long, but he has been so wrong he got promoted to serve Kristina Karamo and the MIGOP. As he was quoted in The Holland Sentinel, “The current climate of our state requires bold actions, including resolutions, to remind everyone of our constitutional tenets and principles.".

“A constitutional resolution is not merely a political resolution. Perception is a political concern, not an ethical concern," he wrote. "Ethics and principle should be top priority, regardless of the political perception of any specific prosecutorial decision. As an elected Republican, you are part of the party of the constitution, of principle, of ethics. When you stand on the constitution, on principle, on ethics, you can rest assured that 'We The People' and the Republican Party will have your back.”

What a profound case of inverted logic. Please lie to me more about how the party of Donald Trump is the party of the Constitution, principle and ethics.

In fact, Donald Trump declared, in the only recent statement where I think we can believe him, that "the old Republican Party is gone and it is never coming back!” Mr. Studebaker speaks for this replacement of the Grand Old Party, this parasite that inhabits the shell of its host. He wants principle and ethics to serve IT. We have a giant insect in an "Edgar Suit" roaming the streets of Ottawa County. While Prosecutor Lee Fisher quietly continues to serve his principles and ethics and laments that this new organization inhabiting his former party, this body that calls itself Republican but which is anything but, cannot do the same.

This is your new Republican Party, these are the REAL RINOs, the clones of Donald Trump and the purveyors of inverted logic.

David Barnosky

West Olive

Right to bear arms is not a right to no regulation

Dear Second Amendment supporters:

Do you skip over the opening words about “a well-regulated militia?” Not all of you, of course, but some of you seem to be opposed to almost any kind of regulation.

The second section is: “being necessary for the security of a free State.” This was to assure that the country could be well protected and defended, even without a standing army.

The amendment closed with these words, “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” It should be noted that the guns available in 2023 are far more powerful than those available at the end of the 18th century.

Let me be clear: I am not for banning arms from you and any other responsible gun owners. I am, however, in favor of some “well-regulated” and lawful restrictions on the very powerful guns and the ownership and use of guns by irresponsible citizens.

Please don’t forget the reason for the amendment and the “well-regulated” part.

John Buttrey

Park Township

Revenge-minded Republicans will keep wreaking death, destruction

Maybe some of you will find some of this interesting and hopefully disturbing. The NRA recently held its annual convention. This is the same organization that forcefully advocates for an unlimited interpretation of the Second Amendment and for the amassing of personal guns of nearly every type. Unrestricted “conceal and carry” as well as unrestricted “open carry” laws have dominated its agenda for years and it has won that battle in a number of states and is working toward that goal in many others.

However, at its most recent convention, the NRA required attendees to pass through a metal detector and prohibited carrying guns into the convention. WHAT? This organization that advocates so passionately and financially for expanding unrestricted gun ownership and possession bans guns from its convention? How is that for hypocrisy? In other NRA news, both Trump and Pence showed up and burnished their Second Amendment support by passionately promising to fully defend the rights of gun owners in America. How about the rights of children to attend schools without being targets of “legally” purchased guns, mostly the AR-15-type of assault rifle?

What about the rights of parents to send their child to school fully expecting them to return home at the end of the school day on a bus instead of to a morgue in a body bag? Neither of these great leaders bothered to offer anything but heartfelt support and prayers to those dead children and their grieving parents, relatives and friends. No their response to school shootings is “harden the schools with MORE guns. Pence even went so far as propose a national, automatic death penalty for those who commit these horrible murders. Fat lot of good that will do since most of them either kill themselves or are killed by law enforcement.

But the revenge-based Republican Party will have their satisfaction while the survivors of the mass shootings will live with the trauma the rest of their lives. Our congressman, Bill Huizenga, is one of those who refuses to act on gun laws that are widely supported by the people of Michigan as well as the United States as a whole. His response to these tragic murders is, simply stated, there is nothing we can do. If that is true then he should quit his job, so someone who does believe that something can be done can do what is necessary and popularly supported.

We are not paying him to do “nothing.” Please write him, email him or call his office and voice your support for gun laws that can and will stem the near-daily mass shootings that plague this nation. Taking no action is the equivalent of supporting the continuation of these mass murders. Finally, if the NRA and Republican argument that more guns is the BEST response to mass shootings, and with there already being more guns than people in the U.S., why are the incidences of mass murder increasing? Think seriously about that the next time you vote. Our children’s and grandchildren’s lives depend on you!

Rich Herbig

Hamilton

Integrity — what is it?

I have been watching the actions of the Ottawa Impact commissioners with great interest ever since they came into office in January. It has provided me some humorous moments, some very serious concerns and some very CO$TLY decisions on their part. However, it concerned me recently when they and the county’s new attorneys questioned the integrity of County Clerk Justin Roebuck.

Integrity is defined as “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.” As a former fiscal services director for Ottawa County and working with Mr. Roebuck, I always felt he met that definition 100 percent. He has always acted that way in his job as county clerk and personally. He is one of the most ethical people I have ever met. His integrity has always been above reproach. To my knowledge, no one has ever questioned Justin’s integrity until now. I join my former colleague, John Scholtz, in his letter to the editor last week criticizing the Ottawa Impact group.

With the actions of the current Ottawa Impact commissioners and the new county attorneys, someone might question their integrity, which began the very first meeting they became commissioners for Ottawa County. With the dismissal of the then-very-qualified county administrator, Mr. Shay (now the city manager of Wyoming), the elimination of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Department, the hiring of underqualified Mr. Gibbs and hiring him without a search conducted by the Ottawa County Human Resources Department, the hiring of a highly paid assistant with the county because he not capable of absorbing the duties of county administer when he has a very capable assistant county administer, lawsuits, and putting our AAA credit rating at risk, I am so disappointed at this point.

The costs are beginning to approach $500,000 or much more of taxpayer money, your and my money — especially if we lose that credit rating. I am so irritated that I am considering running for a seat on the commission in the next election, as one of the Ottawa Impact group represents my district.

Bob Spaman

Hudsonville

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Letters to the Editor: The real RHINOs are the far-right extremists