Letters to the editor: June 5, 2024 (print version)

Published 4:00 am Wednesday, June 5, 2024

Never in my lifetime would I have imagined the justice system in America being used to attack a political opponent. Yet, the two latest trials in New York were a complete perversion of the justice system. You don’t have to be a legal scholar to see that in both trials of former President Trump the justice systems in New York were not interested in justice but rather political prosecution.

This is nothing new for Donald Trump. Even before he was elected, the Obama administration weaponized the justice system to spy on then candidate Trump. What should have been a scandal bigger than Watergate never even got a second glance. This launched the Russian collusion investigation that lasted three years and millions of dollars and dogged the Trump administration. The most disturbing aspect is everyone in the department of justice knew there was no basis to launch an investigation in the first place.

During Trump’s term in office almost all of his executive orders were challenged in court. The Democrats would find a liberal judge in New York to grant a stay on implementation. It took years for the order to work through the justice system before being vindicated and initiated.

I continue to hear “No one is above the law.” The justice system is designed to be fair and impartial. What I have witnessed over the last couple of months were neither fair nor impartial. Our justice system is being used to suppress political opposition. Just my thoughts.

Joe Mesteth

Hermiston

A dark chapter in American history is a benign way to describe the currently broken state of our democracy. America’s democracy experiment has survived a depression, several recessions, legitimate and illegitimate wars. Our righteous quest for a more perfect union has plowed forward at a snail speed despite election of some presidents who weren’t up to the job.

Voters in 2016 amazingly elected a president who proved from the first day of his inauguration that he wasn’t up to the job or any good. After losing in 2020, this failed president is again seeking the presidency with the full support of a major political party that’s lost all credibility by putting their self-interest about the national interest. It will be an American tragedy if they succeed.

If voters take the time to study American history, they’ll have a better understanding of why our democracy is facing the most dangerous internal threat since the Civil War in 1861. The primary voter support of the new Trump MAGA party comes from Texas, Florida and nine Southern states in the Bible Belt. These are the 11 Confederate states that seceded from the union and President Lincoln defeated. You never change minds with bullets, and the ideology of hardliners in these states has never changed.

It’s no surprise that the present governors of Texas and Florida are strong MAGA supporters. They both want to burn history books and make sure the younger generation gets their warped version of American history. Ending the MAGA nightmare will not be easy as the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation and billionaires will spend whatever it takes to protect their investment in Trump and his MAGA party. They grew tired of losing with traditional Republican conservatives but hit the jackpot when they gambled on a self-proclaimed business genius without a moral compass, and won. He quickly gave them their radical judges and tax breaks.

Some voters in the Confederate states will never change their minds, but voters in 25 northern states have relatives who fought and died to end slavery and save the union. Casting a ballot to defeat democracy’s latest civil war threat will be a fitting show of respect for their sacrifice.

Alston Jones

Baker City