Next month, our country is celebrating its 250th birthday, the day the colonists said enough is enough to the king of England. Fast-forward to today: History is repeating itself! All a person needs to read is the Declaration of Independence to see that Donald Trump wants to be king instead of president of the United States.
I read a book in which the the Declaration of Independence was printed in the afterword. I noticed in reading the Declaration of Independence that some issues the colonists had against King George can be applied to Trump.
The Declaration of Independence states:
• “(The king) has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.” This reminds me of the immigration problem we now have.
• “He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.” Today, it is the U.S. Supreme Court justices and some federal judges.
• “He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.” Consider Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency.
• “He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.” Consider the federal immigration agents who patrolled Chicago and Minneapolis this past year.
• “He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.” Consider the Jan. 6 insurrectionists who stormed our nation’s Capitol and whose efforts Trump wants to reward with $1.776 billion.
Trump has not made America great again. He has made it worse. Our country is divided among the Republicans (Tories/Loyalists), the Democrats (Patriots/Whigs) and the independents (Colonists). On July 4, newspapers across the nation should print the Declaration of Independence to show what the 56 signers were willing to die for.
— Connie Brown, Sheridan, Illinois
Questions for nation to answer
To celebrate America’s 250th anniversary, what we need is to ask questions relating to our future.
Will America engage in expensive political wars around the globe at the whim of the country’s leader? Will the sitting judges in the courts follow the precedents embodied in the law, or will they be beholden to write decisions benefiting their appointors? Will justice be handed out in civil and criminal matters in equal portions to all citizens, regardless of their income status? Will the governing representatives choose laws that give freedom to women to choose the size of their family or to choose independence? Will the voting booth be available to all registered adults, without exception? Will the increasing population restrain from polluting the soil, the water and the atmosphere? Will people of all beliefs and children in schools be safely protected in their sacred spaces? Will people who flee dictators and endless poverty be permitted lawfully to cross America’s shores and borders in search of a better life? Will the country’s future leaders let the world know that America stands for and will fight for one word: freedom?
It’s the answers to these questions that will determine if the celebration of America’s 250th is truly in honor of our future.
— Richard J. Aronson, Highland Park
Why FEMA is not rushing to us
Regarding the article “FEMA denials raise scrutiny” (June 14): What do you think? Let’s say you have a neighbor on your block who bad-mouths you every chance they get, no matter what you do. Who furthermore makes no effort to try to get along with you or your family.
Maybe, just maybe, you might take a pause if that same neighbor’s basement floods and you are asked to help out. You’ll eventually help, but will you rush to that neighbor’s aid?
The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s help might take a little more time. Thank our governor and our mayor.
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— Arlene F Gottardo, Chicago
Iranian regime untrustworthy
While I understand that President Donald Trump is working diligently with Iran to finalize a peace deal, the Iranian regime is not reliable. Even if it signs on the dotted line, that doesn’t mean that the regime will keep its word. What it says and what it does are two different things. It has been consistent in lying, cheating and stalling for time.
This regime cannot be trusted. It will shake your hand and stab you in the back at the same time.
A deal with Iran? Only in Never Never Land.
— JoAnn Lee Frank, Clearwater, Florida
A cultural decline in the US
The sports crowd is seriously more interested in learning why San Antonio Spurs player Victor Wembanyama folded his arms during the national anthem before an NBA Finals game than why our sacred anthem has little meaning in contemporary America.
President John F. Kennedy brought poets and novelists to the White House for his personal entertainment, but our current president sponsors a cage fight on the White House lawn for his.
Pundits often suggest America should get back to having coequal branches of government. This tells me they have never read the Constitution. The legislative branch is named as sovereign, not coequal, in that document, folks.
The mass shooting in Midland, Texas, reminds why the United States will never get a handle on gun violence. Members of the poor and the middle class are dying. Not a problem for the wealthy.
Children in Gaza for a long time have been spending more time attending funerals than sitting in school classrooms. America’s Muslim haters could care less.
— Kimball Shinkoskey, Woods Cross, Utah
We should be upset by both
The June 11 editorial “Boutros and the politics of Broadview” suffers from the very problem it attempts to criticize. This editorial politicizes a violent attack by federal immigration agents on our Chicago communities and a prosecutorial assault on the First Amendment. The editorial asks whether grand jurors were motivated by anger at Operation Midway Blitz or the government’s prosecution of the “Broadview Six.”
Objectively and certainly, we all should be motivated and outraged by both unacceptable acts.
— Janine L. Hoft, Chicago
The US attorney’s philosophy
According to the Tribune’s story about the collapse of the “Broadview Six” prosecution (“Fallout begins after collapse,” May 24), U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros believes that “our job is not to convict at all costs or even to just convict, but instead to do Justice.”
I would advise Boutros to start looking for a new job once President Donald Trump learns about his philosophy.
— Bill Kurtz, South Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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