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Re: 'A call for Americans to get a backbone and stand up' [Village News, Miller Letter, 6/25/20]

There are some of us who do take exception to the actions, and inactions, of our current president, an inveterate liar, small-time grifter and huckster who made it to the big time, and hypocrite.

In 2016: Trump said: “"We're bringing it (the gross domestic product) from 1% up to 4%. And I actually think we can go higher than 4%. I think you can go to 5% or 6%." In 2017, Trump said: “This huge tax cut will be rocket fuel for our economy,” “it will pay for itself,” and “everybody gets a tax cut.”

Except for the tax cut, the rest was just snake oil. Well, almost everybody got a tax cut. What Trump didn’t mention was that the wealthy elite (aka the 1%) got 80% in terms of actual dollars. Here are the GDP actuals: 2.22% in 2017, 2.93% in 2018, 3.3.1% in 2019 (1st qtr). Not a 4, 5. or 6% to be found.

And do you remember the promised infrastructure program? Neither does Trump. Revitalizing the coal industry, bringing back manufacturing? And one thing he did try—to end the Affordable Care Act (aka “Obamacare”) --failed. That was fortunate, since he and the GOP had nothing to replace it with. If you want a detailed chronology of Trump’s failures. it’s there on the internet. But I believe his lasting legacy will be his abject failure to act promptly and responsibly on the Covid-19 pandemic.

Now for something different. How about the 6-3 Supreme Court decision that discriminating against other-gendered people is still discriminating based on sex. And arch-conservative Neil Gorsuch wrote the majority decision! Simply put, "It is impossible to discriminate against a person for being homosexual or transgender without discriminating ... based on sex." And lest we forget. Gorsuch was a Trump appointee.

And is racial bias widespread? No, it’s variable across our nation. Is it evident? Not always, and the covert bias is really difficult to root out. The Southern Poverty Law Center keeps a catalog of notable hate groups. Currently, there are 88 listed for California, but not all are racist-centered. So, there’s more than enough hate to go round.

John Terrell

 

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