Letters to the Editor: Silent conservatives

This is not about Donald Trump. It’s not even about the sad souls seduced by him. The insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol to prevent the peaceful transfer of power were primarily guilty of being gullible. They fell for the fraud. They did not do the defrauding.  Many have been held accountable for their actions. Most of the ones who fooled them have not. Yet.

I refer to Republican Party leaders who cashed in their moral courage to ride a demagogue’s coattails to power. They learned from their adored leader how to spew out coded calls to mob mentalities eager to vent their resentments. I used to believe people had to be taught to hate. Donald taught us you only have to invite people to hate. Let them know it’s OK.  Normal. Join the gang. Have some fun.

Who would you like to hate? It doesn’t have to be a race, religion or immigration status.  People really want to hate “Elites.” Who are elites? Anyone who knows more than they do.  People want to feel like they know more science than scientists; feel more righteous than the devout. What better leader could they have than one who tells them what they want to hear. Someone who claims to “know more about the military than all the generals.” That injecting bleach might cure Covid. Forget evidence. Forget knowledge. Too time consuming. Too boring. All you have to do is what Donald does. Just “feel” you’re right. Personally, I’d rather lose with honesty than win with lies.

They call themselves something they are not: “Conservatives.” True conservatives value character, civility and intelligence. Trump-pets reward arrogance, anger and self-delusion.

“Alternative facts” is an oxymoron. Except in minds that can’t face an uncomfortable truth. They’re just opinions masquerading as facts. Using partial truths is not just a way to fool others. It’s how we fool ourselves. If you embrace Donald, you embrace his lies and self-delusions. You become what he is: a fraud.  In the end, you will be a mere follower of a pathetic, narcissistic bully. I would rather be dead than that.

If you are one of those silent conservatives who still respect the Constitution, democracy and the rule of law, but allow yourself to be intimidated by Trump trolls, the death of our democracy will be on you.

James Tweed, Ocean City, NJ

Immigration

As Haitian born singer Wyclef Jean said,  “You know what makes America great? We’re a bunch of immigrants.”

Maybe some of us don’t know or have forgotten our family history. Many people have heard of the “Irish Potato Famine.” Very few of your readers could possibly know what that was like. My ancestors lived it. Colm and Margaret Delaney left New Ross, Wexford, Ireland in 1850. That was the same port JFK’s ancestors left from. One million Irish starved to death. One million migrated. The population of Ireland fell from about eight million before the famine to 6.5 million after.

I am proud of the contributions Colm and Margaret’s descendants have made to this country. I know many recent immigrants well. Where would Iowa be without our hard-working Mexicans, Vietnamese and all the other recent immigrants? Of course, we need control of our borders. Biden and Harris had a good bi-partisan plan. You know what happened to that. Right?

Mike Delaney, Windsor Heights

Friday’s back page

Hard to miss that half-page ad on the back of the Aug. 23 edition. Almost looked like Admiral Trump Himself batted out the copy about the regatta, what With all of the Random mistakes in capitalization. Damn the torpedos, trumpicans (yes, lower case), full speed ahead! Hard to starboard and down the drain.

Mike Wellman, Des Moines