We Aren't We Angrier?

Letter to the Editor, Greenwich Free Press

Fewer than 100 days separate us from the 2018 election. On Tuesday, November 6, I plan to walk proudly into the voting booth and vote for candidates and incumbents who defy Donald Trump’s deplorable actions and vote against candidates and incumbents who support them. With almost surgical precision, Trump distracts voters from the explosions he himself ignites — Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, his breaches of the emoluments law, his forced separation of immigrant children from their parents, his hate-filled rhetoric and his systematic crippling of the press.

Why aren’t we angrier? The country’s basest instincts are winning. Trump is poised to abolish civil rights, threaten our national parks, close our borders, weaken our constitution, destroy our global relationships, cancel same-sex marriage and erase reproductive autonomy for women. My grandparents did not emigrate from Europe a century ago to surrender to neo-Nazis in this country. My parents did not spend decades as public school educators to succumb to illiterati in this country. I did not advance in business for decades so male politicians can ignore me and millions of other women marching for reproductive freedom.

Why aren’t we angrier? As a child I was taught that our president and our country are held to a higher standard — fair, independent, socially responsible, constitutionally accountable. With only a few weeks before November 6 election day, it’s time to speak up and speak out. Call members of Congress, tell them where you stand, and have them tell you where they stand. Demand that Republicans in state and local government state publicly where they stand on Trump’s hateful rhetoric and socially tone-deaf policies. Call them out. Better yet, vote them out.

Respectfully --

Diane Tunick Morello

We Can Turn This Country Around!

I cried when I heard about immigrants who are being denied access to the country, about children being locked in cages, about rafts being turned back, about families being torn apart. It is the unbearable sadness of living in Trump's America: The country's basest principles are winning. 

I am outraged that Donald Trump, this boor, this self-centered con man, is poised to abolish our civil rights, threaten our national parks, close our borders, weaken our constitutional law, destroy our global stature, cancel same-sex marriage and erase almost 50 years of reproductive freedom for women.

My Jewish grandparents did not emigrate from Europe a century ago to surrender to neo-Nazis in this country. My parents did not devote decades to teaching public school students to succumb to the illiterati in this country. I did not work my ass off for decades so men in politics can govern my body while ignoring the millions of people marching for women's rights and reproductive freedom.

How did we let ourselves get to this point? More important, what do we plan to do about it? Make no mistake: Unless stopped, right wing extremists will send us back to the 1950s. Unless stopped, ultra conservatives will alienate everyone but white fundamentalist Christians. Unless stopped, conservatives will systematically unravel the tapestry of civil liberties, immigrants and innovation our country is known for.

We are worth more than the price this boor has placed on our heads, aren’t we? Wake up! Get angry, speak up, get out, take action. Most important, vote in August and November elections against the direction Trump is taking us. 

Do not surrender to this president, his sycophantic followers and his bullying tactics. We are the only ones who can turn this country around! We must vote the bastards out.