Donald Trump and maga Republicans are enabling war crimes and must be held accountable with Nuremburg trials

Echo opinion letter published in the Virginian Pilot newspaper

Donald Trump posted a message on his (Fake ❗)Truth Social threatening Iran with what can be described as civilization genocide: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” No American president in history has ever uttered anything even vaguely comparable. Even in the light of its past misdeeds, Iran has done nothing to warrant such shocking bombast, much less unilateral destructive action against a nation of 93 million people. Fortunately, at least for now, Trump backed away from his apocalyptic threat. (Nevertheless, Trump has not abandoned these destructive and dangerously crazy notions.  Rumors are he is in conflict with senior officers in the Pentagon who are upholding the Uniform Code of Military Justice and not willing to follow illegal orders.)

Iran posed no material threat to the U.S. before Trump, in concert with Israel, started a war with that nation. So far the monthlong attacks have failed to achieve any of its stated objectives, including regime change, halting Iran’s nuclear program, exhausting its weapons stockpile, loosening its grip on the Strait of Hormuz or ending its ability to attack other nations.

If his threat held any actual intent, then shame on him. If the American public views his threat as somehow acceptable or within bounds, then shame on us.

Robert Spitzer, James City County,Virginia 

Donald Trump and maga Republicans are putting U.S Navy in danger by deploying too many ships without a purpose

Editorial opinion published in the Virginian Pilot:

Donald Trump's war crimes demand Congressional investigation.

As church services marked Easter, the holiest day on the Christian calendar, Donald Trump spent the morning threatening war crimes against Iran by claiming he would order the attacking of essential infrastructure if that nation’s leadership didn’t accede to his demands. Donald Trump's latest incendiary messaging continues his reckless pattern of violating international laws, putting servicemembers in greater danger and undermining American security.

Trump’s war of choice may be delivering successful blows on the battlefield, but it looms as a generational strategic disaster, driving oil prices higher and calcifying the control extremists have on the Iranian government. As the home to thousands of men and women fighting this conflict, Hampton Roads must press its congressional delegation to demand better from the president, and to assert legislative authority over war operations to bring our people home quickly.

Last week, another carrier strike group homeported in Norfolk departed for the Middle East, the latest deployment of servicemembers from our region to the ill-defined war of choice with Iran. The USS George H.W. Bush and its roughly 5,000 sailors are expected to arrive in the region soon, adding to the estimated 50,000 personnel the United States now has positioned in the Middle East, according to New York Times reporting.

As Congress debates the White House’s 💲200 billion request for continued operations there, our men and women in uniform should be foremost in lawmakers’ minds, just as their swift and safe return dominates our thoughts in Hampton Roads. Those who volunteer to serve this country deserve clearly stated goals, achievable objectives and defined rules of engagement to ensure both their success and to confirm their mission is just and legal — none of which has been forthcoming since operations began a month ago.

Our region (in Norfolk and Hampton Roads) has seen plenty of ships depart these shores over the years, both in periods of peace and in times of war, so the scenes that played out last week at Naval Station Norfolk were quite familiar as the USS Bush headed out to sea.

But, knowing where the strike group is headed is cause for queasiness. Trump has repeatedly used the social media platform he owns to threaten the destruction of numerous targets that, if struck, would be egregious violations of the Geneva Convention. These include Iranian power stations, roads and bridges, oil wells and the desalination plants that provide drinking water to the public.

Perhaps Americans have grown calloused to the president’s saber-rattling, just as they have come to accept his other orders that constitute war crimes, 💢❗including the extrajudicial killing of people aboard boats in the Caribbean and Pacific. But, we should be keenly aware of the danger ⚠️his behavior represents.

In one egregious example, Trump said the March 4, sinking of an Iranian frigate, a strike that killed more than 100 sailors, was done because it was “more fun” than capturing the vessel. It was a comment that chilled the blood of everyone in our Navy-centric region who knows that international law requires an effort to rescue survivors, which the USS Charlotte did not make.

While Iran, thankfully,  may not have the capability to respond in kind to American ships, our nation’s enemies have surely taken note of our conduct in this war and could use it to justify similarly calloused and reprehensible behavior in future conflicts.

Trump’s unhinged and vulgar social media post this Easter weekend follows his listless address last week in which he claimed the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively closed since the U.S. and Israel attacks, is a problem for Europe and Asia. Trump claimed during his nationally televised chaotic speech that the strait “will open up naturally.”  

(OMG- Will Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves suddenly show up with the magical command to "Open-Sesame"❓ Of course not❗)

None of this inspires confidence in the leadership or direction of these operations, or that they will result in a stronger, more secure nation. Congress has been on the sidelines for too long and members, led by those who represent our region, should assert their constitutional authority to bring focus, responsibility and a swift conclusion to this illegal Trump war.

Donald Trump is incapable of expressing empathy does not heed Scripture "Vengence is mine, says the Lord"

"Vengeance is mine, and I will repay, says the Lord" is a Biblical phrase appearing in Romans 12:19, citing Deuteronomy 32:35. It commands believers not to seek personal revenge, but to trust in God’s perfect timing and justice to handle wrongs.

Spiteful Donald Trump: Cannot even keep his mouth shut our of respect for the dead. Echo opinion letter published in the Virginian Pilot newspaper.

Robert Mueller (b. 1944 - d. 2026): A graduate of Princeton University and New York University, Mueller served as a U.S. Marine Corps officer during the Vietnam War, receiving a Bronze Star for heroism and a Purple Heart. He later attended the University of Virginia School of Law. Mueller was a registered Republican in Washington, D.C., and was appointed or reappointed to Senate-confirmed positions by presidents George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.

When decorated war veteran and former FBI Director Robert Mueller died earlier this month, President Donald Trump responded on social media within hours by saying, “Good, I’m glad he’s dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people.”

This declaration was made by the same man who said that people who he claimed celebrated the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk should be under federal investigation for using hate speech and be designated as domestic terrorists.

I would think that a person as narcissistic as Trump would be more concerned about his own legacy and what people will be saying about him after he is gone. The spiteful, inappropriate language he constantly uses to attack anyone who gets in his way won’t be the worst of what there will be to say about him and his presidency postmortem — not by a long shot. 

From Paul Kotarides, in Norfolk, Virginia

Donald Trump and maga Republicans in denial about the 2025 special election results- Trumpzi-ism WAS on the ballot!

Hip❗ Hip❗ Hurray❗  🎈❗ Somebody must roadblock this despicable Trumpzi tyrant.: Trump’s Low Approval Rating Is Hurting Republicans in Polls- opinion published in New York Magazine  Intelligencer, by Ed Kilgore.

One of the major narratives that came out of the very poor showing of Republicans in the 2025, elections is that the GOP struggles to win when Donald Trump is not on the ballot. 

Certainly Donald Trump himself shares that (delusional😕😦😟) belief, as he said on Election Night in no uncertain terms on social media: “‘TRUMP WASN’T ON THE BALLOT, AND SHUTDOWN, WERE THE TWO REASONS THAT REPUBLICANS LOST ELECTIONS TONIGHT.”

This was cold comfort for Republicans who understand that Trump isn’t going to be on the ballot in 2026, either. 

Nevertheless, the narrative may not even be true. Polls keep showing that Trump is increasingly a drag on his party and that his weaknesses in the electorate very much resemble the GOP’s weaknesses on November 4. (Duh❗ Ya'think❓- Mr. Kilgore is insulting my intelligence with this logic....like the folksy sage Yogi Berra is supposed to have observed, "You can see👀 a lot by just lookin'❗)

There’s now little question that Donald Trump's low job-approval ratings have been steadily sliding downward for the past couple of months. On September 20, his net approval average at Silver Bulletin was at minus-7.5 percent (44.9 percent approval, 52.4 percent disapproval). On November 20, it was at minus-14.1. percent, which is a new low for his second term. The intensity of his unpopularity is high and rising: 45.2 percent of Americans strongly disapprove of the job Trump is doing as president, again per the averages at Silver Bulletin.

On particular issues, his net approval remains underwater on all the major categories: immigration (minus-7.2 percent), trade (minus-18.8), the economy (minus-20.2), and inflation (minus-34). The numbers for immigration, the economy, and inflation are at second-term lows. The last two are noteworthy given the importance of “affordability” in the 2025, Democratic victories (reflected in Trump’s own messaging beginning the moment the November 4 results were in) and, beyond that, the importance of these issues in Trump’s 2024 victory.

A poll from Fox (Fake❗) News released on Wednesday probed more deeply into public sentiment on the economy and showed that the administration’s argument that high prices were caused by Joe Biden isn’t working anymore:

By a nearly 2-to-1 margin, voters say Trump is more responsible for the current economy than Biden (62% vs. 32%). Unsurprisingly, there’s a large partisan gap, as Democrats are nearly 40 percentage points more likely than Republicans to blame Trump. Somewhat surprisingly though, 42% of Republicans blame him, while a 53% majority says Biden is responsible. Among independents, 62% say Trump and 29% Biden.

Not all polls break down the electorate, but those that do are pretty consistent in showing that Trump’s 2024, coalition is shrinking back from the hard-core MAGA base. New polling from The Argument reinforces that impression forcefully:

Republicans are hemorrhaging support with the young, nonwhite, and disengaged voters who powered Trump’s victory in 2024. Here are a few tidbits to show just what I’m talking about:

• Democrats are winning 25% of nonwhite Trump 2024, voters. Among white voters, this number is just 4%.
• Among registered voters who didn’t vote for either Harris or Trump in 2024, Democrats receive 62% of the vote — a 25-percentage-point lead. Among the white voters of this group, Democrats lead by two points; among nonwhite nonvoters, they lead by 48 points.

Democrats win 64% of young voters in our survey, for a lead of 28 points. (For context, in 2024, they won this group by just 10 points.)

Exit polls from the 2025, elections showed exactly the same pro-Democratic trends among young and non-white voters in New Jersey and Virginia. If the numbers persist into 2026, it’s hard to imagine Republicans hanging on to their control of the House — particularly if Trump’s effort to change the landscape through gerrymandering continues to flounder. In addition to Trump’s popularity issues, and despite their own well-known problems, Democrats are now opening up a significant lead in the congressional generic ballot, an approximation of the House popular vote next year. 

According to RealClearPolling, the average Democratic lead on the generic ballot is 4.8 percent, another 2025, high. At Decision Desk HQ, the Democratic lead is 5.4 percent; Republicans led by 5.3 percent there at the beginning of 2025. The Argument explains what these trends might mean in the results:

If the election were held today, Republicans may be facing a blue wave larger than the 2018 midterms, which resulted in a commanding Democratic House majority. Put simply, they are in really bad shape.

How bad❓ Consider this: In our survey fielded right after the election, Nov. 10-17, Republicans trailed by four percentage points among registered voters. When we pushed undecided voters to pick a side, that deficit expanded to six percentage points. And after that was filtered to just those who said they were likely to vote, it grew even further, to 7.6 points.

So neither the GOP nor its leader are doing that well at the moment, particularly on the affordability issues* that they now recognize are so crucial to swing voters. Some Republican candidates in 2026 will choose to cleave to Trump even more fiercely, and others may try to achieve some distance, but they’re probably joined at the hip for better or worse.

*Meanwhile, ⚠️ Tresury Secretary Scott Bessent says parts of the Trumpzi economy are in recession:  Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that some parts of the U.S. economy have already slipped into an economic downturn.  "I think we are in good shape, but I think that there are sectors of the economy that are in recession," Bessent told CNN host Jake Tapper.

#ImpeachTrumpNOW #25thAmendment

Donald Trump and maga Republicans are causing harm to the poor and aged by cutting Medicaid just so the rich can get a another tax cut

Medicaid cuts threaten the foundation of community care.

Echo opinion letter published in the Culpeper Star-Exponent newspaper, in Virginia, by Janis Rieley.

As the Chair of the Board overseeing Encompass Community Supports, I am writing to express deep concern over the proposed cuts to Medicaid and the Department of Health and Human Services draft budget. 

These damaging proposals threaten to unravel the support systems sustaining some of our most vulnerable neighbors.

The draft HHS budget includes the elimination of important aging and social services programs such as the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program, the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program and Section 202 Housing for the Elderly (combines 202 into a block grant with other programs which jeopardizes targeted support).

For decades, our organization served as a vital safety net for older adults, people with disabilities, and individuals facing behavioral health challenges. Medicaid is not just a funding source for these programs—it is the lifeline that ensures low-income seniors can manage their health, that adults with mental health challenges can access medication and counseling, and that caregivers can get the respite they need to keep going.

In our Virginia community, many residents rely on Medicaid-funded services, every day. Cuts to this essential program will not only endanger their health and dignity but will also push more people into crisis—into emergency rooms, nursing homes, and jails—all of which are far more expensive, less compassionate, and ultimately unsustainable alternatives.

Medicaid and aging programs help older adults to age in place, a proven, cost-effective strategy supported by decades of research. Medicaid also helps individuals with developmental disabilities live independently and with dignity in their communities. "Encompass’ Leaflin Lane", a subsidized senior living apartment for people over 62, with very low income, was made possible through Section 202 Housing.

Our cargiving dedicated staff and community partners work tirelessly to stretch every Medicaid dollar and do so while responding to growing needs. But, we cannot do more with less. Funding cuts do not eliminate needs; they shift costs to families, hospitals, and local governments, who are often ill-equipped to bear them.

We urge our state and federal lawmakers to remember the faces behind the numbers: the grandmother who wants to stay in her home, the adult son caring for his father with dementia, the young adult recovering from addiction who finally found hope in community-based treatment. These are not line items—they are lives.

Investing in home based and non-profit community care are not only the right thing to do, but also the fiscally responsible thing to do. Call your Senators and Congressional delegaton today. Please plead with them to protect Medicaid and programs that support older Americans and people with disabilities. (Maine Writer note- Although the Trumpziism "Big Ugly Bill" has been signed into law, the Congress can still pass legislation to mitigate the harmful impact of cuts to social safety net programs like Medicaid, Social Security, Supplemental Nutrition - SNAP, and Medicare.)

A budget that works for all ensures that aging, disability, or mental health challenges never means being left behind.

Donald Trump and Republicans neglecting the victims of the Jeffrey Epstein child sex trafficking evil recruitments

Echo opinion letter published in Lynchburg Virginia's The News and Advance newspaper:

First term Virginia 5th District Republican Congressman Rep. John McGuire joined all of his Republican colleagues in voting to continue Donald Trump’s cover-up of the Epstein sexual preditor files. But what we already know is damaging.

In 2017, Epstein told author Michael Wolff that Trump was his closest friend for 10 years. 

A Florida businessman “claimed that in 1992 he had organized a ‘calendar girl’ competition at Mar-a-Lago following a request from Trump, and was surprised that the future president and Epstein were the only guests who had been invited” (Newsweek, Jan 4, 2024). In 2016, Katie Johnson filed a lawsuit against Trump and Epstein citing her rape in 1994, when she was 13 years old (she pulled the lawsuit over fears for her safety). Several minutes are missing from the video footage of Epstein’s prison cell that Trump’s Department of Justice just released.

It’s clear Trump is hiding something about himself. It’s time for a serious bipartisan investigation.

From FRANKLIN CHRISTIANSON in Lynchburg, Virginia

P.S. How quickly Republican voters forget Donald Trump's Access Hollywood tapes.  "I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. ... Grab 'em by the pussy. You can do anything."😔😢

Donald Trump watched television during January 6 Capitol insurrection never called in the National Guard

Americans, in real time, saw the January 6, 2021 insurrection caused by evil Donald Trump. 

Echo opinion letter published in The Winchester Star, a Virginia newspaper. 

Fast forward to the present, 2025, and once again, Donald Trump is angry. Angry that he is losing the country again. 

A very weak president- who complained about bone spurs rather than serve in the military, is trying to push through a bill taking away constitutional rights, and ruining our social safety nets, lifting up the rich and powerful, and cementing his grip on power over "his people," cannot accept that he is being exposed by our legal system, and thwarted. 

He creates an “attack” on an American city, in Los Angles, because he despises,  "criminal immigrants who are invading’" (and eating pets, I imagine) and takes executive action on these supposed invaders by calling out state and federal troops to “hit them” (his words). All of a sudden, states rights vanish and he and his masked unidentified goons 👺👹😷are in charge, threatening harm and “harder hitting” if people dare to continue their protests against this clearly authoritarian threat.

Instigating violence for others to carry out is all he knows.

We must continue to protest. Stand our ground. Do not take the bait to be violent, please. Walk away from violence, but stand your ground and know your rights. What he is doing is not normal, legal, or moral. But we shall, we must, overcome this. Try to be civil to and ignore those who lap his act up like a dog laps foul water, for they are victims, too. They just don’t know it yet.

From Krysten Lynn in Winchester Virginia

Immigrant abduction and roundups: Regardless of your political beliefs, this is not the nation I grew up in

Masked agents arresting innocent immigrants in the streets❓

Nazi tactics❗ Echo opinion letter published in The Winchester Star, a Virginia newspaper: 

Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, just left her home in Somerville , Massachusetts, to meet with friends when she was detained by U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents, lawyer Mahsa Khanbabai said in a petition filed in Boston federal court. Khanababai called the arrest by masked agents "terrifying."😱😳😈

Dear Editor: It is beyond belief that masked federal agents are arresting people on the streets of America. I understand protective gear if necessary, but last week masked agents arrested a woman and whisked her off into custody and transported her to isolation in Louisiana. 😡😢💢 Regardless of your political beliefs, this is not the direction our country should be headed. 

Holocaust Museum✡️Jewish sector street scene  in 1930s Paris France

If masked agents can arrest this woman, what stops masked agents from arresting any person in this country and sending them to an unknown location? Not the country I grew up in.

From Gary W. Baylis in Frederick County, Virginia

⚠️Kristi Noem’s disturbing failure of compassion — and of leadership- The Hill

SignalGate: Pete Hegseth gaslighting Americans because a security breach is dangerous regardless of how he tries to redefine the incident

Signal (SignalGage) incident is 'terrible'❗: Echo opinion letter published in The Winchester Star in Winchester, Virginia.

Signal group chats are now dead, but not before the breach of security of government secret military operations in Yemen. 

The National Intelligence Director, Tulsi Gabbard, appointed by Trump, admitted it was a “mistake." 

The results of this mistake could have been disastrous for U.S. military pilots but fortunately it was not. On the Signal chats there was also CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who has defended the use of Signal chats as “appropriate,” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, and a nongovernmental journalist employed The Atlantic. 

Unfortunately, I think The Atlantic will soon be attacked by Trump, as he already has PBS and NPR.

These people on the Signal group chat were all people who had been appointed by Trump despite their overall lack of familiarity with government procedures. In the two months since the inauguration of Donald Trump, these government officials did not have time to understand the common-sense procedures of government employees. They had not attained the common-sense necessary to function well in extremely rapidly changing executive edicts.

The Democrats claim that the information exchanged with the journalist was “classified.” I believe them, but it will take time to prove since the government only claims it was “sensitive” information. Time will tell, but in the meantime I think it was terrible even if it was sensitive information- it was still a dangerous ⚠️security breach❗

From Andrew White in Winchester, Virginia

Kamala Harris is a fresh political voice who speaks "for the people"

Echo opinion letter published in the News and Advance in Lynchburg, Virginia: 

I’ve been basking in the joy of the Democratic National Convention. Every speaker and almost all of the attendees are exuding the happiness they feel in turning the page to a new American politic. Harris’ “for the people “ is a clear contrast with Trump’s “for me” and one wonders why anyone would waste a vote on him. Trump is now insulting the American people even more with a “gala” at one of his properties to honor the criminals who participated in the January 6th insurrection. I suspect it’s just another of his grifts. 

It was reported this week that much of Donald Trump's campaign💲 contributions 💰have been diverted to his pockets.

I was pleased to read this week that President Biden is still working very hard to end Israel’s disgraceful genocidal war against the Palestinians. I feel compassion for the families of those being held hostage by Hamas, but that doesn’t stop me from feeling compassion for every Palestinian being held in the concentration camp we know as Gaza. The West Bank, where lawless settlers with the protection of the IDF, daily steal the land and capital of the Palestinians is no better. The Palestinians know the US supplies Israel with weapons. Presently, American citizens should use common sense before going to Israel or Russia.

5 symbols of Ukrainian independence

Finally, I was more than a little amused to read about Putin’s frustration with those pesky old Ukrainians, who have now turned the tables on him and invaded his country. Today I read that a Ukrainian missile sank the last ferry able to move railroad tank cars to Crimea. With the Kerch railroad bridge still unusable, Putin now has a major problem in supplying fuel to his military and citizens.

From Mike Tabony in Gladstone Virginia

Far right extremism is the road to tyranny

Tyranny and extremism

Echo opinion published in the News & Advance newspaper in Lynchburg Virginia.

Tyrants might claim different philosophies but tyranny is tyranny. Displaying the same glaring personality flaws, dictators manipulate the same way. Hitler vs. Stalin? Communist left? Fascist right? Same real-world consequences.

Americans have never experienced true tyranny, however our wanna-be and shouting far-right appeasers brazenly twist reality.

Dictating rigid fact-starved dogmatic beliefs, simplistic answers to complex issues, nonsensical conspiracies and fueling ignorance, they aid our enemies.

Naziism = Trumpziism

“Can’t happen here!” Really? Trump built his private army. Predictable weak responses to ongoing right-wing violence sent subtle nods of approval. Violence at Michigan’s state capital? A dress rehearsal. January 6? Dereliction of duty, deliberately violating his presidential oath.

Toxic reactionaries and unethical talking heads orbit Planet Trump, touting “freedom” (for themselves).

These right wing extremists push censorship, restrict rights of others, stoke fear and division, whitewash history, claim “oppression” but become oppressors, and savage those with real patriotic integrity while seeking to elevate Trumpism above the law.

Familiar with religious persecutions, our Founders outlined a stronger, rational, secular Constitution in an already diversifying society. They debated prayer to open the sessions but never approved doing so. A rigidly intolerant Puritan theocracy, our weak states-rights confederation and divine right of kings all failed. 

Now false, hypocritical right-wing “patriots” obscure the Founders’ real vision, becoming a reactionary, subversive, lockstep, aggressive Thought Police.

Danger! 😈 Hiding in plain sight!

Our own classic tyrant, warning flags flying, hides in plain sight peddling lies while seeking power. Some are either still blindsided or can’t believe that extremism can also come from the Right.

E. A. Paull in Amherst, Virginia

Immigration reform is essential to improve the American human condition

Waves of immigrants are common in history:

Echo opinions reflect on the reality about American immigration published in The Roanoke Times, in Virginia: 

James Rosen wrote about how lawmakers play partisan politics that are intended to confuse you. Democrats and Republicans regularly warned of a "border crisis" during the previous guy's Donald Trump administration, although for different reasons. Trump used the bully pulpit to amplify the shrill cry. His core campaign all to "build the wall!" withered in the hot desert sun after he became president. 

Former Trump adviser, the right wing extremist Steve Bannon, faces charges of running a "We Build the Wall" crowdfunding scam to enrich himself and associates. The 11 million or 12 million figures, often reported as the number of undocumented workers in the United States, is just a guess.

No one knows, partly because the businesses that employ "illegal aliens" help to shield them, because of their willingness to do manual jobs for low wages.  The notion of a "border crisis" is almost as old as our nation. What it really means is ethnic prejudice and fear of foreigners.

Immigrants arriving at Ellis Island, New York, on May 27, 1920.

In “Waves of immigrants are common in history”, the author James Rosen reminds us about some of the many migrations to the U.S. borders, throughout history.

He referred to the Irish migration starting in 1845, by those that could afford to leave Ireland during the potato famine. Some of their sons served in the Union armies during the Civil War. The Chinese immigrants of the 1850s, arrived in California fleeing turmoil at home and hoping for a find of gold. These folks provided much of the labor for the most dangerous jobs during construction of the Transcontinental Railroad. The U.S. has been the beneficiary of many more migrations.

Nevertheless, there are differences in the “border crisis” of the 21st century and earlier times. We now have deadly fentanyl flowing across our borders — much more deadly than any powdered opium carried by Asians of the past.

We now have deadly drug cartels inflicting our cities with more dangerous results than any opium den of long ago.

This is beyond politics and late-night TV hosts laughing about old white guys alarmed by the “browning of America.” It does not matter if whites of European ancestry are a minority here in the last half of this century. 

But, it does matter that we leave our grandchildren a civilized society, just as the “greatest generation” left us a prosperous culture after winning World War II.

Border security should unite all concerned Americans of every race and political opinion.  “The test of a moral society is the kind of world it leaves for the children.” - D. Bonhoeffer. (German theologian and anti-Nazi activist, died April 9, 1945, in Flossenbürg concentration camp, Germany.)

J.H. Woolwine, in Salem, Virginia

Republicans support fake news like Nazis believed propaganda during World War II

Echo opinion letter published in The Roanoke Times, a Virginia newspaper:

https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/propaganda_at_home_germany

Dear Editor:  I'm appalled by the #FakeNews #FoxNews Tucker Carlson's lies about the January 6th insurrectionist riot.

If you shot 41,000 hours of video of Germany invading Poland in 1939, you could select out video clips of German soldiers walking along without firing their weapons.

Fox News is a propaganda spewing fake news source! The anchors at FOX might easily "sprechen sie Fox".

You could claim they entered the country only as peaceful tourists — and that the nefarious forces of the oppressive Polish government had orchestrated a lie.

There's a catch, though. The only people who would believe you would be those who already sympathized with the Nazis (aka Trumpzis?).

Hallo! Sprechen sie Fox?

From Eric Nolan, Roanoke Virginia

Republicans criticism of the FBI is bold face hypocrisy

Echo opinion published in The Free Lance Star, a Virginia newspaper written by Michael Paul Williams: 

It has been an article of faith that the political right supports law enforcement and vice versa.  But, Republicans have a selective sense of equal justice for all.

Blind justice is not applied equally in the world of Republican hypocrisy

A U.S. Capitol Police officer took a selfie with the insurrectionists attempting to overturn the results of a presidential election on behalf of Donald Trump's "big lie".

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (inappropriately) came to Trump’s defense in a dubious tweet. And (#shitforbrains) Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene- an extremist GOP - Georgia Republican, had the audacity to tweet “DEFUND THE FBI!” without a trace of irony, after that agency executed a search warrant at Donald Trump’s Florida residence as part of an investigation into potentially missing classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago.

Yes, Greene appropriated the language of the Black Lives Matter movement she holds in contempt. Who has more reason than African Americans to be leery of the FBI, who spied on the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Bayard Rustin, Malcolm X and the Black Panthers, and even kept a file on basketball star Bill Russell?

Those abuses were ignored, if not encouraged, by the political right. But in this bizarre moment, Trump and his supporters are suggesting that the FBI had planted evidence against him. And a man police say was armed was fatally shot on Thursday (August 11) at Cincinnati’s FBI office. (In fact, the suspect was believed to be armed with an AR-15 rifle and a nail gun, a federal law enforcement source told CNN, and was wearing body armor, according to officials in an Ohio county. He was Ricky W. Shiffer, 42, of Columbus, the state highway patrol said Friday.)

Criminal justice in America was built on a foundation of inequity, designed to police the impoverished and people of color and treat the powerful with deference. The noise you hear is people squawking that the FBI has gone off-script, i.e., blind justice, "no one is above the law".  Like Attorney General Merrick Garland says, "without fear or favor". 

The reaction to policing in America has always been situational and political. Some of the loudest voices decrying the Trump residence search could rationalize police killing an unarmed Black person like, say, Breonna Taylor, who was slain in bed by Louisville police.

In case you missed the disregard by congressional Republicans for fallen U.S. Capitol police officers, “Back the Blue” has always depended on whose ox is being gored, tasered or shot.

For hypocritical Republicans, the problem is this: When the rule of law is under assault, support for law enforcement is illusory. There is no there there.

Vaccinated patients earned the right to priority hospital admissions

Echo opinion letter published in The Washington Post:

The Jan. 3, 2022, Washington Post Metro article “Hogan: ‘Worst’ to come on covid” noted that hospitals have insufficient capacity to deal with the coronavirus surge.

Currently, there are few or no hospital beds available in Montgomery County, so patients are being treated in the emergency room halls.

Hospitals should be required to be transparent about the criteria they use to decide who gets a hospital bed. One of those criteria should be that vaccinated patients waiting for a bed (whether for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, or other related medical conditions) should get higher priority for a bed than an unvaccinated patient ill with COVID. 

As noted in the Jan. 3, editorial “Payouts for vaccine refusers,” unvaccinated patients must face the consequences of their decision. One of those consequences should be lower priority to get hospital beds.

From Douglas Soffer, Arlington, Virginia

Antivaxxers are not pro-life- what are they thinking?

Certainly makes no sense to me, but conservatives who obsess about being pro-life and who turn toxic in opposition to abortion are completely deaf about how COVID vaccines save lives. Even the risk of death cannot bring them to realize how vaccines save lives.

Dick Farrel, a longtime conservative radio host based in Palm Beach County, Florida, who was skeptical of the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic and refused to get vaccinated, has died of COVID-19.

COVID vaccine confidence is the real "pro-life" health policy.

Echo opinion letter published in the Virginia Gazette

Is it just a coincidence that the same people who support Trump are now catching COVID-19 at a stunning rate because they refuse to get a shot?

How can any intelligent citizen of this country vote for a man who lied over 30,000 times in four years? Trump’s mismanagement of COVID has cost at least half of the COVID deaths.

How can any responsible citizen refuse to get a couple of shots to best protect his fellow citizens? If they aren’t idiots, then they are lazy for not informing themselves better.

The irony is that those same people may be committing suicide.

Zan Cartwright,  James City County, Virginia

Hospital vaccine mandate is ethical and preventive health care

Valley Health: Virginia, West Virginia & Maryland

Echo opinion To The Editor

Published in the Northern Virginia Daily newspaper:

Although disagreement persists over the long-term threat that the COVID-19 vaccines may pose to humans, we might yet agree that, as Valley Health clearly embraces the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines, the organization is quite right to mandate vaccination of its employees.

No one should expect Valley Health, whose obvious mission is promoting public health and wellness, to employ individuals who refuse a procedure that the organization deems vital to fulfilling that mission. No one should expect Valley Health to employ those who, in its view, might undermine the well-being and productivity of staff and patients. No responsible business of any kind employs people it considers liabilities.

With regard to any violation by Valley Health of the Nuremberg Code of medical ethics (mentioned in a commentary that appeared in the Aug. 5 edition of the Northern Virginia Daily), the code was written in 1947, subsequent to World War II, in response to the monstrous, forced experimentation performed by Nazi “doctors” on concentration camp prisoners. In fact, the Nuremberg Code addresses the treatment of human subjects in medical experiments and says nothing about the use of approved vaccines tested on people who agreed to be immunized and is authorized to give to patients.

Parallels to the systemic sadism of the Nazis simply cannot be found in the American medical profession.  The code of medical ethics created in response to Nazi experiments during the Holocaust has been misrepresented by those pushing an anti-vaccine message during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

To falsely insinuate that such parallels exist represents an attempt to enflame rather than to enlighten.  #VaccinesSaveLives

John Clem, Edinburg, Virginia

We watched January 6th with our own eyes! It was not a tourist visit

What America witnessed!

GOP claims about Jan. 6 mar country's integrity

Echo opinion published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch

On Jan. 6, I, along with other Americans, watched agog as a large mob of former President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol and attempted a coup on his behalf. The live TV coverage showed the mob’s violence and the futile attempts of the U.S. Capitol Police to prevent it without any support whatsoever from the military that was under the command of the Trump administration.

Tear Gas outside United States Capitol

Recently, however, three Republican congressional members — U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., and Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas — told me and the world that it had not happened that way. According to them, the crowd was orderly, polite and nonviolent. One said there was no insurrection. In short, despite my seeing the live coverage, I got it wrong. Oh, and others even say that the crowd was not really composed of Trump supporters.

Say what? People were hurt, people died and the Capitol was damaged. Again, I saw this with my own eyes as it was happening. Nevertheless, the current holy writ of the GOP is that Jan. 6 was just a midwinter outing of excited tourists and any violence was the fault of antifa, a nonexistent boogeyman for the far right.

Republicans blocked a January 6 commission study

The attempts to rewrite history are the most dangerous sequelae of the Jan. 6, insurrection. These revisionists and apologists insult my intelligence and that of the millions of other Americans who saw what happened. They do not deserve public office and their lies illustrate why we must prosecute not just the rioters but also those who summoned them to Washington and whipped them up before releasing them like a bullet at the heart of our republic. 

Trump, Brooks, Hawley, Cruz and others must be punished if our republic is to maintain its integrity and vitality.

Robert Adams, North Chesterfield, Virginia

Republicans loose Veterans

Editorial:  Republicans' stance on the issues loose the support of veterans:

Republican leadership consistently attempted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, denying millions access to health care coverage...

Opinion echo published in the Virginia newspaper the 

Richmond Times Dispatch

Combat veteran and moderate Republican, Kevin Green* cannot support Republicans on key issues such as climate change, gun safety, health care and immigration, nor their current (DJT) leader, and it is past time for a change. 

In my opinion, the scientific evidence on climate change is overwhelming, yet the Republican Party leaders act like ostriches and bury their heads in the sand, trying to bring back coal and lower auto standards. I am not a Green New Deal fan, and I do think carbon fuels (such as natural gas) need to be a bridge to a better, cleaner tomorrow. But we need to act now!

On gun safety: Introducing background checks and eliminating assault weapons with high-capacity magazines are some steps we can take to start turning the tide.

On health care: Republican leadership has consistently attempted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, denying millions access to care. I am not for "Medicare for All," but we need a government option for those that need or want it, while retaining our employer-provided options.

On immigration: It takes labor and capital to create wealth. We need people, and not giving "Dreamers" a path to citizenship is a huge mistake and goes against our core values. When I factor these policy failures with the extremely poor example of leadership from the current White House and Senate Republicans, I feel compelled to speak out and look for a better solution, and that better solution is Mike Bloomberg.

Bloomberg is, without a doubt, the best moderate candidate who can beat Donald Trump in the general election. With his successful private and public leadership experience, he’ll act on key issues and restore faith in America around the world.

*Kevin Green, Glen Allen, Virginia.