Americans have a moral imperative to prevent Donald Trump and maga Republicans from normalizing evil behaviors

Echo opinion letter published in the the Louisiana Times-Picyune NOLA newspaper: 

The term “the banality of evil” is a philosophical concept coined by Hannah Arendt*, a Jewish philosopher, after attending the trial of Adolf Eichmann, who sent millions of Jews to their deaths during the Holocaust during World War II.

Arendt concluded that individuals can commit hideous acts due to a failure to engage in independent thought and moral reasoning.

I am bothered that in today’s America, we have normalized and desensitized individuals to acts of evil. When cruelties are rooted in everyday routines and policies, they may be perceived as "normal" or even necessary, diminishing individual responsibility and moral awareness.

We expect evil to have a tail, horns and a pitchfork, appear in red or slither on the ground. It’s far more likely that it will look like your favorite uncle or your sweet grandmother. It just might cover itself in platitudes like “equality,” “social justice” and the “common good.” It could even be a prominent member of your church or in government.

The lesson is that ordinary people can do the wrong thing if they don’t step up to the moral imperative of reflective thinking.

This makes this process as much of a spiritual process as it is a political one. Questions that need to be asked are:

• Is there a willingness to challenge authority or question the status quo if it is believed to be leading to unethical outcomes?
• Are injustice and harmful behaviors being spoken out against, or is one choosing to remain silent, thereby allowing them to persist?
• Are the consequences of actions for others considered, or is the focus primarily on what I am told?
• Is a "deep and compassionate fighting spirit" being nurtured to keep goodness alive, or is one becoming complacent in the face of injustice?

You need to think for yourself in order to describe the reality you find yourself in, so that you can then resist it.

From Sister Beth Mouch in New Orleans

*From Nazi-Occupied France to New York

While in France, Hannah Arendt (1906-1975)worked for the organization Youth Aliyah, which rescued Jewish youth. There she met the man who would become her second husband, Heinrich Blücher. 

Arendt was imprisoned in a detention camp in Gurs in southwest France. After escaping, she and Blücher fled Nazi Europe, and in 1941, they arrived in New York. Through the 1940s, Arendt wrote essays on anti-Semitism, refugees, and the need for a Jewish army for Aufbau and other German émigré journals. She worked as an editor for Schocken Books and served as Executive Director of The Jewish Cultural Reconstruction organization. She and Blücher lived on Riverside Drive in NYC and in Kingston, NY near Bard College where Blücher taught for 17 years.

 

Donald Trump and the Republicans are supporting an incompetent administration

One by one, Republicans lose credibility as they bow to Trump

Echo opinion letter published in New Orleans Times-Picayune (NOLAonline)

Before Donald Trump was running for president, a man asked my opinion of him. I looked to be sure there were no ladies present, and then I told him what I thought of a self-proclaimed billionaire whose employees had to sue him to get their wages.

The man asked if I was a Blue Dog Democrat, and I said I had been called a lot of things in my time. He explained that it was a man who would vote for a Blue Dog before he would vote for a Republican. I replied I probably was one, but I had once known a good Republican who was kin to me.

Thinking of our present elected leader, I can now say without contradiction why I felt that way. That was several years ago, and time has proven me right.

The ones in office now have their main purpose of pleasing Trump and going along. My congressional representative, Julia Letlow, talks about what she has brought to the district. Of course, she voted against all of it. Lying Clay Higgins swore in Congress that he had proof that the January 6the Capitol rioters 🤥were federal agents dressed up as Trump supporters, and he would bring out proof soon, very soon. That was quite a while ago, and Higgins has not come up with any proof.

The only one we had in elected office who could have finished as a statesman was Bill Cassidy. For some reason, he decided it was more important to please Trump than to take care of his constituents, so he gave us a former dopehead and antivaxxer for Health and Human Services secretary and a former drunk to head the military. As for Sen. "Cornpone" John Kennedy, we were lost from the start.

From Carl Crain in Baton Route Louisiana

Democrats must protect dedicated hard working federal employees from harm by Evilism-Trumpziism

Echo opinion report calling on support for federal employees from Representative Troy Carter published in the New Orleans Times Picayune NOLA:

Evilism-Trumpziism with his wind up toy monkey "Musk-o-vite" Elon Musk

Louisiana’s federal employees — and millions like them nationwide — are the backbone of our government. They process Social Security benefits, protect our environment, care for our veterans and keep our communities safe. Yet, once again, they face attacks from President Donald Trump, who seeks to dismantle the civil service and replace skilled professionals with political loyalists.

Trumpziism's latest scheme — a so-called “deferred resignation” offer — is a trap.There is no legal basis for it, and those who accept could find themselves unemployed with no recourse. Even more dangerous is Schedule F, a reckless policy designed to strip civil servants of job protections, allowing mass firings based on political loyalty rather than expertise. The goal? To replace competence with compliance.

Union-busting, contract violations and political purges don’t just harm federal workers — they harm every American who depends on government services. Gutting agencies means delayed Social Security payments, fewer resources for veterans and weaker law enforcement.

We cannot allow this blatant power grab to weaken the institutions that serve us all.

U.S. REP. TROY A. CARTER SR. Louisiana’s Second Congressional District

To every federal worker in Louisiana and beyond: You are valued, you are needed and you are not alone. As a proud member of Congress, I will fight to protect your rights, your jobs and the integrity of your service. The government should be staffed by professionals based on merit — not loyalty to any politician.

Americans deserve a government that works for them, not one manipulated for political gain. I urge my colleagues and citizens to stand against these dangerous proposals and defend our civil service.

Nikki Haley certainly needs American History lessons about racism, slavery and civil rights

Echo opinion published in NOLA.com in Lousiana:

Not long after sundown on the day the United States of America honored the life of one of its greatest civil rights leaders ever, Martin Luther King Jr., an animated politician blurted out one of the most ridiculous claims in the history of this great country.

Ed Pratt: Never a racist country? Surely Nikki Haley knows better than that❗

Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley proclaimed, “We’ve (the USA) never been a racist country.”

Wait❗ Isn’t battling racism and seeking rights for Americans the reason why King is annually saluted? 

So, I guess Haley, and those like her, never got the memo. 

Or, maybe she is joining the group working hard to whitewash our country’s history.

I’ve written before about my U.S. Army veteran dad and me being confronted by a White teenager who refused to sell him two sno-balls, and she made it clear why when she said, “We don’t serve Negros.”

My brokenhearted dad was convinced that he was a victim of racism. Silly, right?

In my early days as a reporter on the old evening newspaper State-Times in Baton Rouge, a White reporter held up a magazine for me to see the headline about a popular television miniseries: “Roots best watched from end to beginning.”

Let’s be clear, most folks in this country are working hard to treat people as people and that has led to improvements in employment, education, housing and other areas. But, my goodness, Nikki, there is a contingent who are unabashed racists and another group who don’t believe they are racist.

I’ve written before about my U.S. Army veteran dad and me being confronted by a White teenager who refused to sell him two sno-balls, and she made it clear why when she said, “We don’t serve Negros.”

My brokenhearted dad was convinced that he was a victim of racism. Silly, right?

In my early days as a reporter on the old evening newspaper State-Times in Baton Rouge, a White reporter held up a magazine for me to see the headline about a popular television miniseries: “Roots best watched from end to beginning.”

Get it, Nikki? Funny, huh? But not racist, right?

Let’s talk about the biggie — slavery. I guess holding human beings just a step above captive animals was just a thing or a phase, huh, Nikki? Nikki, have you seen what the belly of the slave ships were like?

Nikki, I know you read stories about places where people who look Black like me could not sit at the front of a city bus. 

I’m thinking that if you and your family were around at that time, some folks may have said something about you sitting in those front seats, too. But asking you to move to the back would not have been racist, though, right?

Nikki, Nikki, Nikki. Did you hear about the White people in Tulsa, Oklahoma who went into a prosperous Black section of town and burned it down? After finishing the dastardly deed, no harm nor foul to the perpetrators. Your thoughts?

Now, that I’m thinking about it, I recall you saying a couple of weeks ago that slavery was not at the heart of the Civil War. 😒😟😳❓ 

Indeed, even many racists agree that keeping slaves on those cotton farms was the foundation for the Civil War.

Hey Nikki, you know several GOP-controlled legislatures around the nation are trying to make it more difficult for Black and poor people to vote. Shouldn’t voting be as accessible as possible?

You know, Nikki, I’m anxiously waiting for your comments leading up to February. You do know what that is, don’t you? 

You know, February is Black History Month. Pay attention 😅, Nikki, you may learn something about what a race of people has faced since 1619, and what they have been doing about it.

Or, given your recent outlandish comments, you may say something else to cause jaws to drop and for you to appear, well, you know.

Email Edward Pratt, a former newspaperman, at epratt1972@yahoo.com.