Historical °®¶¹app˜perspective°®¶¹app™ is slightly jaundiced
A recent Journal Gazette column by an amateur historian (°®¶¹appœPresidential perspectives,°®¶¹app Nov. 16) triggered some thoughts:
Hillary Clinton was a successful lawyer, the first female partner of an Arkansas law firm (1977); advocated for universal health care (1994); was elected to the U.S. Senate from New York (2000-09); was U.S. secretary of state (2009-15); and won the popular vote in the 2016 presidential election.
Kamala Harris, also a lawyer, was a deputy district attorney (1990-98); was elected attorney general of California (2010-16); was elected senator from California (2016-19); and is the vice president.
Prior to their election as president: Barack Obama was elected to the Illinois Senate (1997-2004) and the U.S. Senate (2004-08). George W Bush was governor of Texas (1994-2000) and the son of a former president.
Donald Trump was a TV reality show host; cheated on his own father, wives and various businesses; was a boastful womanizer and liar-in-chief!
Whither does the °®¶¹appœhistorian°®¶¹app judge that Clinton and Harris, with their much longer tenures in the public eye and politics, were riding coattails?
Margaret Thatcher was thought to be too weak at the beginning of the Falklands War but earned the encomium °®¶¹appœIron Lady.°®¶¹app Angela Merkel, in her early days in German politics, was called °®¶¹appœKohl°®¶¹app™s Girl.°®¶¹app These only go to show male chauvinism or are propagation of right-wing lies and are not meritorious history.
That he won only against women but lost to a man must bug °®¶¹appœThe Donald.°®¶¹app
Kamala S. Krishnan
Fort Wayne
Sore losers must see Trump win was assured
The letters °®¶¹app has published lately from those lamenting Donald Trump°®¶¹app™s victory are disappointing as the writers regurgitate the political fear-mongering fed them by the Democrat election apparatus.
You would think by now they would realize, after the broad-based shellacking the American electorate laid on the Democratic ticket, that no smart, informed voter believed the lie that Trump is a fascist striving to be our dictator.
On the contrary, in addition to border integrity, he ran, and in large part was elected, on promises to lighten the impact of government in our lives by making the temporary tax cuts permanent, lightening the burden of federal regulation and cutting government waste.
When you compare his good ideas to the inflationary devastation wrought by Bidenomics and consider the feckless performance of his election opponents, in hindsight, his re-election was a certainty.
Oh, one more thing, we who voted for Trump are not low-information voters, deplorables, extremists, cult members or racists, or any other ugly thing we have been called, and we are certainly not garbage.
We are your fellow Americans. We are your neighbors and we could even be your friends.
Russ Kirby
Fort Wayne
Constitution, rule of law
will be put to the test
With much disappointment and incredulity in the American people °®¶¹app” now that our country°®¶¹app™s integrity has been sold out °®¶¹app” my hope is that the rule of law, the Constitution and our democracy can withstand another Trump presidency.
Vickie Keaney
Fort Wayne
Republican policies will secure our future
Laurie Gray°®¶¹app™s opinion piece (°®¶¹appœChoose love amid coming revolution,°®¶¹app Nov. 20) misrepresents both Republican policies and Donald Trump°®¶¹app™s vision for America. Her predictions are based on fear, not facts.
Take education. Since the creation of the federal Department of Education, U.S. rankings in global assessments have fallen dramatically. Decentralized systems °®¶¹app” where states and communities tailor education to their needs °®¶¹app” consistently outperform centralized bureaucracies. Republicans aren°®¶¹app™t eliminating education; they°®¶¹app™re eliminating red tape to ensure resources reach students and teachers instead of getting lost in Washington.
Regarding government reform, Trump has not advocated dismantling protections but streamlining processes. Cutting unnecessary regulations during his first term unleashed record economic growth and historic low unemployment. Simplifying government empowers businesses and individuals, not autocracy.
Claims of alliances with dictators or the elimination of rights are pure fiction. Republicans prioritize peace, American interests and liberty. Gray°®¶¹app™s portrayal of a dystopian future contradicts reality and ignores policies focused on strengthening communities and promoting prosperity.
Her invocation of Scripture lacks context. Proverbs 29:2 states, °®¶¹appœWhen the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when the wicked rule, the people groan.°®¶¹app Trump°®¶¹app™s leadership focuses on protecting freedoms, defending life and revitalizing the nation.
Choosing love means rejecting fear-based narratives and supporting policies that empower people and secure our nation°®¶¹app™s future. A second Trump administration will prioritize these principles, not the chaos Gray imagines.
Jeremy Reis
Fort Wayne
The next four years will be entertaining
I°®¶¹app™m in my 90s, so it is very hard to find entertainment. Now, with Donald Trump coming in, we finally have a president who only opens his mouth to change feet. Oh boy.
Ed Dugan
Woodburn
°®¶¹app˜Cabaret°®¶¹app™ resonates in present times
I was privileged to see °®¶¹appœCabaret°®¶¹app at PFW, and I°®¶¹app™m still thinking about it. The show is first-rate, from the script and score to the talented cast, the pit orchestra and the staging. The subject matter is disturbing, but uncannily relevant in a world where repression is on the rise. Like all good theatre, the show reaches viewers at an emotional level that other media cannot.
Margaret Ankenbruck
Fort Wayne
Climate acts must start at the local level
I°®¶¹app™m worried about climate change. I°®¶¹app™ve already felt the very warm autumn season, and we hadn°®¶¹app™t gotten any snow as we usually get by the start of November.
I hope to see our elected leaders at all levels take the issue seriously. As an environmental scientist, I will keep pushing our members of Congress to do their part. I hope you all do, too.
We have many local environmental and climate groups here in Fort Wayne. We can start locally. Every action counts, even after the elections.
Colleen Rosales
Fort Wayne
Racism, sexism have no place in politics
This year°®¶¹app™s presidential election is finally over, although this selection process seems to have been festering for a long period of time. Historically, I have mainly supported Democratic candidates, but often split my voting between parties depending upon my conceived qualifications of the candidates.
This year°®¶¹app™s election results both locally and nationally were a disappointment to me, although not surprising in Indiana since no Democratic candidate in a national election has won in this state since 2012.
On the plus side is that Donald Trump was elected by the popular vote, and there remains no evidence of foreign or domestic voter fraud despite Trump insisting that such fraud still existed much the same as he claimed during the 2020 election.
This year°®¶¹app™s election verifies that these allegations have no substance and those who have questioned the legitimacy of our election results have not harmed the resilience of our democracy.
This year°®¶¹app™s election process has, however, caused me some concern.
During his re-election campaign, Trump was very open and obvious in his continuing racist and sexist criticism of his opponent, ignoring his history of personal and sexual convictions that were deemed as felonies. These criticisms apparently helped convince voters that a woman is not qualified to lead our country, despite her past and proven qualifications to do so.
Although this year°®¶¹app™s election has solidified the integrity of our voting system, I am hopeful that the voting public will now work to eliminate sexism and racism in selecting our leaders, both nationally and locally.
Lowell T. Gratigny
Fort Wayne
