Letters: Carter earned the love and respect of American people; Hypocrisy in action
Carter earned the love and respect of American people
The news that former President Jimmy Carter has entered hospice care brings memories of a wonderful man who served his country with honesty, humility and dignity as a naval officer and as a civilian. And, when he lost his bid for a second term in the White House, he accepted the verdict and moved on to the next chapter of his life as a humanitarian at home and abroad.
Through his character and deeds Jimmy Carter earned the love and respect of the American people.
The contrast between Carter and our most recent one-term president couldn’t be greater. Or sadder.
Hypocrisy in action
If you watched the State of the Union event, you watched breathtaking hypocrisy in action.
President Biden’s assertion that Republicans plan to cut Social Security and Medicare brought jeers and catcalls from Republicans. They were shocked he had the audacity to make such a patently false claim.
Unfortunately, the only false claims in that House that night were the Republican denials.
As far back as 2010, Senator Lee, R-UT, stated: “It will be my objective to phase out Social Security, to pull it up by the roots and get rid of it ... Medicaid and Medicare are of the same sort. They need to be pulled up.”
In 2022, Senator Scott, R-FL, proposed that all laws, including social security and Medicare, would expire in five years unless reapproved.
Not to be outdone, in November 2022, Senator Thune, R-SD, stated that Social Security and Medicare benefits need to be slashed.
In spite of their denials, many Republicans have discussed withholding their support for raising the debt ceiling to get cuts in Medicare and Social Security. Many Republicans see these programs as nothing more than welfare. They had no problem voting for huge tax cuts for millionaires and corporations under President Trump, cuts that resulted in an increase to the nation’s debt of more than $7 billion, the third largest debt increase ever. In fact, they voted to raise the debt ceiling every year under President Trump.
Evidently, raising the debt limit is only a problem when the president is a Democrat.
Two competing visions
In his State of the Union address, President Biden delivered an optimistic vision of America.
He touted his accomplishments: infrastructure funding, health care savings, economic progress (12 million new jobs and the lowest unemployment in 50 years), and uniting global allies against Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.
Biden proposed tangible policies to improve the lives of all Americans: expanding high-paying jobs for blue-collar workers, regulating “junk fees” (on credit cards, flights, hotel stays, cable services) that cost consumers hundreds of dollars a month, expanding prescription drug savings, police training and accountability, protecting individual liberties, and continued support for Ukraine.
By contrast, the deadpanned Republican response by Arkansas Governor Sanders described a dystopian America. Sanders lobbed personal attacks and invoked culture wars. Using acronyms and concepts unfamiliar to most Americans, she criticized Democrats for “woke fantasies.”
Sanders claimed that Republicans support freedom, despite clear evidence that Republicans are obliterating women’s reproductive rights, banning books, and censoring school curricula to present an inaccurate version of history and contemporary society.
Sanders proclaimed the difference between the parties: “The choice is between normal or crazy.” But she got the sides confused.
The MAGA agenda involves repression, lies, and aid and comfort to the wealthiest Americans and global dictators. The Democratic agenda supports economic progress that reduces class and racial inequities, protects individual rights, reduces health care costs, and safeguards the environment at home and abroad.
Voters have rejected the MAGA agenda. If our two-party system is to survive, the Republican Party must return to its senses.
Mainstream media’s failures in Russian war
The American public has been deceived repeatedly by its mainstream news media when it reports on Russia’s invasion and war against Ukraine. Either the media uncritically reports pro-Ukrainian propaganda — when, for example, it publishes Ukraine’s outlandishly high figures of Russian military casualties, but makes no effort to ascertain the certainly much higher Ukrainian casualties — or it completely ignores news that reflects poorly on Ukraine, the United States, Western Europe, or NATO.
The mainstream news media spread pro-Ukrainian propaganda when it called the 2013-14 uprising in Kiev a revolution, rather than a coup supported by Vice President Biden, Hillary Clinton, Anthony Blinken and Victoria Nuland and triggered by a sniper fire massacre by two right-wing extremist groups, Pravy Sektor and Svoboda. The Russian-speaking people in Crimea and Donbas did not support the illegal ouster of Ukraine’s pro-Russia ruler. Crucially, the media ignored Vladimir Putin’s conviction that it was a coup, which explained his subsequent, and arguably illegal, actions in support of Crimea and Donbas.
The news media blew again when it failed to report Zelensky’s impending massive offensive against the Russian-speaking Donbas, which triggered Putin’s preemptive invasion.
Now, the news media is failing to even report Seymour Hersh’s latest bombshell revelation, which blames Biden, Blinken, and Nuland – in cooperation with Norway – for authorizing the destruction of the Nord Stream pipeline; arguably an attack on Germany, as well as Russia. Think the media would remain silent had Mr. Hersh found Russia responsible for the terroristic act?