Letters: Is winning the only thing?; Senator doesn’t need to be a vet to support them
Editor’s note: The Centre Daily Times welcomes letters endorsing candidates in the Nov. 5 election and will accept letters that are received by Oct. 25. Letters are subject to editing, must be based on facts and should avoid attacks on other candidates.
Is winning the only thing?
The iconic football coach Vince Lombardi famously said, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.”
Although they surely wanted to win, deep down, Lombardi and his players knew that winning really wasn’t “the only thing.” Things such as good sportsmanship, respect for opponents, and common decency were also hugely important. Lombardi spent years instilling in his players that all of these values make a “winner.”
But Donald Trump seems to have taken the old coach literally; to him, only winning matters, no matter how it’s achieved.
Trump’s latest demonstration of this is found in his repeated demonization of the government’s response, via FEMA, to the recent weather disasters in the southeastern part of our country. Local and state officials, many of them Republicans, are telling us that Trump’s dishonest statements are hindering FEMA’s response efforts and placing the residents, many who have lost just about everything, in greater jeopardy.
Trump seems willing to bring harm to innocent people if, in return, he can turn voters against the Biden Administration, and Kamala Harris in particular. After all, winning is the only thing to Trump, even if he has to lie and cheat to do it.
Is this willful callousness by a truly despicable human being, or the ravings of a psychologically impaired man-child with zero impulse control? Either way, Donald Trump is NO Vince Lombardi — and certainly NO leader!
Senator doesn’t need to be a vet to support them
A recent letter (“Pennsylvania needs more veterans in office”) touted Connecticuter Dave McCormick’s military service and “duty, honor, country” campaign theme, somehow insinuating that he is the better Senate candidate. One doesn’t need to be a veteran to support them. I challenge the writer to find a time Bob Casey did not vote in support of veterans. McCormick’s skills and leadership have served him well. It’s made him a very rich man who can afford to live in a mansion in Connecticut. He bought a residence in Squirrel Hill prior to announcing his run for the Senate. CNN reported that under McCormick’s leadership, Bridgewater Associates shorted the stocks of nearly 50 companies headquartered in Pennsylvania, including The Hershey Company and US Steel, hardly good for any Pennsylvanian, veteran or not. If supporting veterans is a requirement for the writer’s vote, I can only assume that he is NOT voting for Donald Trump.
Keep our children safe
The Republicans are trying to create fear around the immigrants entering our country, even the ones that are here legally. They sensationalize a few random events they are able to find that have been committed by an immigrant. They want you to believe that these isolated events are happening everywhere. The Republicans want you to believe that they are the party that will help keep you safe. Unfortunately, they ignore the mass shootings that occur almost every day in schools, movie theaters, concerts and other public spaces. Donald Trump, former president and current convicted felon, will vote against common-sense laws that would create a safer environment for our children and for us.
While almost 90 percent of Americans favor universal background checks, Trump and the Republicans are too indebted to the NRA to let this and other common-sense initiatives pass into law. It is a shame our children now need to have mass shooting drills in their schools, which helps increase their fear that such an event may occur. Just like the Biden-Harris administration passed initiatives to help eliminate ghost guns in our country, we need to vote Kamala Harris and Tim Walz into office to help reduce gun violence, help eliminate the daily mass shootings, and help keep our children safe.
Disasters show importance of ‘moral leadership’
When disasters strike, that’s when we need our president and other elected officials the most. During Hurricanes Helene and Milton, the Biden-Harris administration did its job while Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson spread lies and shirked responsibility.
According to the Charlotte Observer, “former President Donald Trump has politicized [Hurricane Helene] at every turn, spreading falsehoods and conspiracies that fracture the community instead of bringing it together.’‘ NO, the Biden-Harris administration did NOT use FEMA funds “on illegal immigrants.” These unprecedented lies hamper relief efforts. Trump knows that, yet keeps telling them. The Republican governors of Georgia and South Carolina have repeatedly said that the Biden-Harris administration is getting them the help they need.
Even after Hurricane Milton — the storm of the century — hit Florida, Speaker Mike Johnson still refuses to call Congress back into session to allocate stable funding for FEMA. That obstruction is making things even more dangerous for hurricane survivors! Remember, Glenn Thompson voted to make Johnson House Speaker.
According to Politico’s E&E news, Trump “initially refused to approve disaster aid for California after deadly wildfires in 2018 because of the state’s Democratic leanings.’‘ The aid came only AFTER advisers told him that Orange County had many Trump supporters.
The Biden-Harris administration and FEMA are doing their jobs. Meanwhile, Trump hopes his hurricane lies will deliver him an election victory. If we want moral leadership when the next disaster strikes, we need to elect Kamala Harris president, send Zack Womer to Congress, and re-elect Senator Bob Casey.