Letters: Defense of Thompson misses the point; Learning from history

Defense of Thompson misses the point

Nice try, but Congressman Glenn Thompson’s chief of staff, Matthew Brennan, missed the point entirely in a Feb. 20 CDT letter, “Thompson supports first responders.”

A letter writer accurately pointed out that Thompson voted against Biden’s infrastructure bill, but then touted the benefits that bill provides to volunteer fire departments. Mr. Brennan should re-read the original letter from Feb. 17.

The message Mr. Chief of Staff missed was that the bill Thompson voted against provides for numerous things Thompson’s largely rural district desperately needs: funding for roads and bridges, upgraded water and sewer systems, public schools, broadband, and, yes, fire departments.

Let’s not forget that Thompson voted for Trump’s $1.5 trillion tax cuts that benefited billionaires. Not only did they not boost tax revenues, as promised, they added to our debt and deficit. (The cost of Trump’s tax cuts will rise to $2.3 trillion over the next decade!)

Meanwhile, the bipartisan infrastructure bill that Thompson voted against (Republican Sens. Grassley and Blunt voted for it), and that Brennan called “a $1.5 trillion hyper-partisan spending spree” will provide enormous benefits in Thompson’s district!

Chief of Staff Brennan is using Thompson’s ongoing support of fire departments as a smoke screen.

Trump’s Tax Cut made billionaires richer and our government poorer. The infrastructure bill, by contrast, is an investment in America’s critical infrastructure — and all Americans benefit.

Let’s be honest Mr. Brennan: I’ll bet Thompson would have voted for the infrastructure bill if it had Trump’s name on it, not Biden’s.

Learning from history

Being older has advantages, for example grandchildren and retirement, to name two. There are negatives as well. One of these is a long memory. Growing up and enjoying the TV shows like “The Twentieth Century,” I can remember the 1938 video of the Prime Minister of England getting off his plane, waving a piece of paper and saying “peace in our time.” You can see this on YouTube.

PM Chamberlain had just returned from a conference with Adolf Hitler, who claimed that the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia with its predominantly German population should be part of Germany not part of free Czechoslovakia. Chamberlain and other leaders had agreed to his demands so they would not have to go to war. Czechoslovakia had no say in the matter. Does this sound familiar?

A year later Hitler wanted more and we had World War II with millions of deaths and unbelievable destruction. My father spent his youth fighting Hitler and helping to defeat Germany. The world learned that you could not appease or believe mad men in power. I pray to God I do not get to say I told you so, but military power and the use of it might be the only way to deal with Mr. Putin.

I can recall two old sayings, since I’m old and get to use old sayings.

“Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it.”

“Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”

What it means to be American

I have a message to elected officials: Remember what it means to be an American. It means we are privileged to live in a country founded on Judaeo-Christian principles, a nation under God. It means our founding fathers were wise, knowledgeable and established the greatest country ever, though they were not perfect. Each person has a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

It means we need to promote independence in a person, help them to be self-sufficient and confident, not dependent on the government.

It means we live in a civil society and abide by the rule of law. This includes respect for authority, and holding people accountable for their actions.

It means respect for your fellow man. We cannot legislate it, change by putting up signs, memos, etc. It is who we are, our character that defines us, for what Martin Luther King hoped.

It means we welcome those who come to our country legally, help them assimilate and encourage them to become citizens. This way they learn about the privileges we have and also the responsibilities they have to maintain our country. People who are not citizens should not have the right to vote. Our country is free because many people have fought and died to maintain it. It is up to each of us to exemplify the qualities our forefathers had: respect for the rule of law, belief in one nation under God and the right of each person reach their dream.

This story was originally published February 24, 2022 at 5:00 AM.