Letters on Russian sympathizers, founders’ wisdom, evil empire, Reagan, Dakota pipeline

Don’t adopt tactics of Russian sympathizers

I would like to second “Russian influence” (Dec. 18 Letters to the Editor), which warned against the activities of pro-Russian sympathizers in the United States. As the letter writer demonstrated, a prime strategy of these activists is to downplay the danger by pretending it doesn’t exist.

We know the following: Russian intelligence agents and those in the employ of Russia broke into computers of U.S. citizens in order to obtain information that was then used to try to influence U.S. elections. We also know that these foreign espionage activities favored the election of President-elect Donald Trump. We know that Trump is bringing Americans into government at the highest levels who are part of the “alt-right” and have expressed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

White nationalists admire Putin as an example of a Caucasian “strongman” leader. This group has a demonstrated capacity to use violence against ethnic, racial and religious minorities and those who disagree with its anti-democratic rhetoric.

Nevertheless, I can’t endorse the letter writer’s solutions (creating a network of citizen informers to keep tabs on Russian sympathizers). Democracy can’t be defended by adopting the tactics of those who oppose it.

The openness of a free society, including free speech, is its greatest weakness, but it is also its greatest strength when confronting would-be dictators at home or abroad.

Founders’ wisdom

Let’s not forget that one of the many key reasons our Founding Fathers set up our great Constitution the way they did, with both a general popular vote election and an institution called the Electoral College, was because we are a republic and not just a democracy. As a republic, those in the minority and their views have a voice, whereas in a democracy, only the majority has a say in ruling the nation.

Thank God for their wisdom and knowledge of mankind, which allowed them to make us a guiding document that keeps us the greatest nation on Earth.

New evil empire

I am a 58-year-old male who remembers the John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. murders. My father and uncles all fought in World War II. They told stories of how Russia was the evil empire, how the KGB kept tabs on its citizens, and the corruption in the Russian government. It saddens me to realize that the United States is turning into that evil empire that my father and uncles talked about so many years ago.

Which Reagan?

I have noticed a number of readers expressing the hope that Donald Trump will be a president in the mold of Ronald Reagan. Which Reagan do they mean?

Is it the Reagan whose economic policies increased taxes, tripled the national debt and widened the gap between the rich and the poor, whose belligerent rhetoric prolonged the Cold War by at least two years, whose administration saw a growth in the size of the federal government; and who looked the other way while an illegal war was waged from the White House. If so, I say, “No, thank you.”

If they refer to the Reagan who learned his lines, hit his marks and gave great speeches, who remained disinterested and detached leaving the actual hard work of governance to his underlings while he read Zane Grey westerns and answered his fan mail, I say, “Great!”

Better yet, why don’t we all simply agree to put the mythology surrounding the Reagan legacy to rest forever and hold our incoming president to a higher standard.

Heroic effort

Native Americans are making the world a better place by their strong efforts to halt the Dakota Access pipeline from crossing under the Missouri River in North Dakota. I have been following the news that my friends (three of whom have stood in solidarity with Native Americans at Standing Rock) forward me of this heroic effort to stop a major pipeline enterprise from sending fracked oil downstream, potentially polluting drinking water throughout the Great Plains.

Finally, some good news from North Dakota came after more than 2,000 American military veterans assembled at Standing Rock to support the water protectors – an action that influenced the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers to prohibit DAPL from drilling under the Missouri River.

The military veterans also publicly repented of our nation’s complicity in the theft of Native American land, water, food, cultures and languages; the murders of Native Americans; the broken treaties; and the many other forms of abuse leading up to and including the firing of rubber bullets, tear gas, and water on the peaceful, unarmed protesters who were standing in the bitter cold.

I wish we could stop here, but we all must continue the struggle. The oil companies are determined to get their way, and the fight for our planet – air, earth, water, health – continues in many parts of our country and world.

I am thankful for Native American sisters and brothers who teach us to care for – not exploit – our Earth.

This story was originally published December 22, 2016 at 5:03 AM with the headline "Letters on Russian sympathizers, founders’ wisdom, evil empire, Reagan, Dakota pipeline."