Letter: Reader’s Concerns on Trump Administration

As I write this it has been forty days. The Constitution is in shreds as thousands of people have been illegally fired by a man who was not elected. The president is ignoring the law. The Department of Education and Head Start are on the chopping block. Many families have been deported and Jocelyn Rojo Carranaz is dead. She was eleven years old and took her own life. She was being bullied at school with taunts of ICE coming to deport her parents and leaving her to live on her own. A bill has been filed to make it more difficult for women who have taken their husband’s surname to vote. A Texas child is the first United State measles fatality in ten years. Republican legislators are reported to be receiving threats of violence to their families if they do not vote to confirm appointments of cabinet members regardless of qualifications. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP and WIC are all in peril. At the two grocery stores where I shop eggs are seven dollars a dozen. Republican elected officials are cancelling town halls because they are receiving angry backlash to all of the above and to hearing the current occupant of the White House refer to himself as “king”.

We are in a crisis, constitutional and otherwise. Two people who do not appear to be capable of passing an eighth grade civics test are dismantling programs that keep us safe, healthy, and financially stable. Neither of them have any idea what it is like to live with limited means. There has been no acknowledgment of the suffering they are causing or any words of comfort to the families who have lost children. Conversely, the secretary of Health and Human Services reacted to the measles death in Texas by saying, “People die”. Yes, that is true. They are also more likely to live when they take advantage of safe and effective vaccines.

The path forward is unclear and frightening. Freeze credit accounts. Pay attention to what is happening. Call your Congresspeople (202-224-3121). E-mail them, send letters through the United States Postal Service. Attend town halls and make your concerns known. Our very way of life is in jeopardy. We must respond.

Joyce Hale