Divided, we fail

To The Eagle:

Divide and conquer is a saying meant for the battlefield, not in a country as great as ours, for political gain. But that seems to be in vogue now. Name-calling from the right seems more intense; now our president has made it a mainstay of his narrative. Don’t yell yet, as it comes from the left also, but definitely not with the same force as from the 35 percent or so who hang on his every word, still chanting "lock her up." Meanwhile, a large percent of Trump’s staff and associates are getting locked up, or are about to be.

I find it difficult to understand Republican elected officials who fear Trump so much they won’t vote their conscience, allowing Trump to do as he pleases. Is there no question about his secret meetings with Putin? Or the secret meetings by Kushner and Saudi Arabia? Or giving Kushner and Ivanka top secret clearances against all the protests? Or Trump’s taking the word of Putin, Kim, and the Saudi butcher? I hope we can regain some civility when Trump is finally gone. Too much anger has been created.

How is it the Republican party can be against equal pay for equal work? Incomprehensible in my mind. How can they be against improving education and healthcare? These would be long term improvements for the country. Instead of fixing ACA as promised, they have done all they could to destroy it, with no thought of replacing it. Now the mantra is to make socialism, or any direction that way, tied to Venezuela, a failed corrupt dictatorship. They fail to see just to the north in Canada or in Europe, where many of us came from, that it is possible to have good healthcare and education. Republicans seem to forget that we have many programs in this country which would fall under socialistic programs, I’d list some starting with SS and Medicare and so on.

I love this country, but we have lots of room for improvement. Mike Swift prompted this letter, as he seems to think there is no wisdom on the left (divide tactic), that we are uninformed, even though he is in a minority with his perspective.

Trump brags on promises kept. Now he is bypassing Congress to make us pay for a wall, he promised Mexico would pay for. I can still hear all the crazed people yelling it out, along with lock her up. Reminds me of 80 years or so ago, when another one got everyone hyped up. Trump promised to get rid of the deficit. Trade deficit just jumped to largest ever. Our debt is growing faster due to the insane tax cut and boost in spending. He’s already planning for more wall money but with cuts to domestic programs, while increasing war spending. It’s not defense spending. Even personal debt is increasing.

I feel really bad for the civility lost in the last three years; I hope it can be restored. I used to be able to discuss politics with anyone, without anger; that is rare now.

Poul Toftemark

Rosburg