To the Editor:
President Donald Trump impulsively shut down the government, throwing a monkey wrench into the lives of millions, seriously threatening their welfare, along with the health and security of this nation.
Make no mistake. The shutdown is squarely on the president.
He didn’t have to throw a temper tantrum and shut down the government just because he didn’t get his $5 billion for a wall of unspecified, ever-changing dimensions along the Mexican border.
He didn’t have to fear monger with inflated statistics, really outright lies, about the proliferation of opioids crossing the border. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) makes it clear that the overwhelming quantity of illegal drugs infiltrating this country are smuggled in large quantities at legal ports of entry – a crisis that funding more manpower and detecting technology could efficiently address – not a wall.
For the record, Democrats have long favored addressing southern border security. But it’s a multi-faceted approach, that certainly includes strategic barriers, but that requires thoughtful negotiation, not strong-armed tactics which hold hostage the American people. Really, it’s all been said. This isn’t about pathetic party-line allegiances. It’s about country.
It should be clear that the president, facing the prospect of multiple indictments, is insisting on his wall as a convenient distraction to his demonstrable corrupt ties to Russia and as a means towards control and oppression.
In reality, this president has been building his wall right through the American heartland from the get-go, subjecting the citizenry to an unprecedented, venom-spewing, divisive, destructive two years that now severely threaten the stability of our Republic.
Now, is not the time to make excuses for the president. Now, is not the time to remain silent while our sense of justice and decency in these United States is mocked.
It’s up to we the people, of all walks and faiths, to see this erratic, opportunist president for the self-absorbed, destructive force that he represents.
To be complacent is to be complicit. It’s not too late. If we want to preserve all that we hold dear, it’s time we all realized that – and said so.
