Letters: Penn State’s priorities; Stop Trump’s tyranny
Penn State’s priorities
Paying football coaches millions of dollars while closing commonwealth campuses is obscene. A core purpose of the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862 is to make higher education more accessible. Penn State’s mission in part reads: “As Pennsylvania’s land-grant university, we provide unparalleled access to education and public service to support the citizens of the Commonwealth and beyond.” As a former president of PSU put it, the tail wags the dog. One could argue the dog is now football and education the tail.
Stop Trump’s tyranny
Our Constitution’s First Amendment demands a separation of church and state and declares freedom of religion, speech and the press as well as the right to peaceably assemble and “to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
By executive order, Trump has decreed that anti-Christian bias must be “eradicated.” Not religious bias, just anti-Christian bias. Following his edict making English the official language of the U.S., will the next step be an official religion? Adios, I mean goodbye, to freedom of religion and Jefferson’s “wall of separation between church and state.”
Under Trump’s rule, it is illegal to protest or demonstrate without his blessing. Goodbye, freedom of assembly and speech.
He has closed the White House to some media sources and told the Department of Justice that other media outlets he doesn’t like are illegal. So long, freedom of the press.
He has deported people without hearings, even a respected medical doctor legally in the U.S. No chance for a “redress of grievances,” just schlepped away.
The First Amendment is just one of many parts of the Constitution that Trump has ignored or absolutely defied. Worst of all, he has failed to uphold his oath of office required by Article II, to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Our Congressional representatives, Senate and House, Democrats and Republicans, must be told by us to stop Trump’s tyranny or be voted out of office. While we still have the right to vote. While there’s still a Congress.
Puzzling response
Early this year I wrote to Congressman Glenn Thompson with my concerns regarding the immoral war Russia is waging against the good people of Ukraine. On March 14 he finally replied, offering some history of the tensions between the two nations, and then offering his position on the conflict. He emphasized that every diplomatic option should be exercised, and stated that Russia should receive a strong, swift and severe response, including significant and lasting economic sanctions. Just as I was beginning to agree with him, Thompson goes on to tell me it is his fervent hope that President Biden uses all the tools at his disposal.
Huh? He obviously forgot Musk and Trump are in charge now.
Questions for Thompson
When does Representative Glenn Thompson plan to begin representing us? When will he confess he has supported a convicted felon, found liable for sexual abuse, convicted of fraud, teller of thousands of documented lies, obviously guilty of sedition, and apologize for doing so? When will he begin to protect Social Security, which we have paid into all our adult lives? How about Medicare and Medicaid, which so many of his constituents depend on or will depend on? When will he tell them Trump’s completely incompetent cabinet is already killing children needlessly by doubting vaccinations, which have saved millions of lives for decades? When will he tell them we no longer have any friends in the world except Russia and North Korea? When does he plan to tell the farmers their soy and corn will lose great value under Trump’s pathetic tariff plans? When will he decide he does not want his legacy to be “the coward from Howard?”
Elon Musk is bored
Elon Musk is a restless person easily bored. Born in South Africa, he left for Canada in 1988 as a teenager, presumably to avoid the military draft. Seemingly, not being content with that nation, he left Canada for the United States. There, he founded a successful car company and had 14 children by a succession of wives and mistresses. All that no longer being sufficiently interesting, he evidently thought it might be more interesting to go into outer space. So, he founded SpaceX in 2002. But that wasn’t enough for him, so he thought it might be fun to own a social medium. So, he bought Twitter, renamed it X and toyed with that for a while. Becoming again bored with all that, he thought it would be more fun if he could own and run a country. So, he bought one, the United States, from Donald Trump for somewhat more than a quarter billion collars. Now, he has a new plaything, possibly more satisfying than all his previous toys, something like a video game but one with real people, such as you and I.
Elon Musk is a grown-up child, and for all his talents one with an attention deficit. With all his wealth and cleverness, he is still a hollow man looking eternally to fill an empty spiritual void with more and bigger toys.