In response to “Establishment is uncomfortable,” a letter by Joe Mento, The Citizen, page 6, March 26.
Dear Editior,
Mr. Mento asserts the following in his letter. Donald Trump despises political correctness. A political outsider, career politicians are afraid of him. Trump represents the hardworking middle class. Protestors at Trump rallies are disrupting free speech. He will create jobs for the middle class that are not subject to government intervention. The country is not great and somehow came under control of someone else and must therefore be taken back from those who are holding it.

It is an understatement to say Mr. Trump’s speech is not politically correct, but while some might believe he is courageous and charismatic, many believe his speech is inflammatory, racist, sexist, vulgar, inconsistent, tactless, thoughtless, incites violence, fictional and reflects an underlying glacier (pre climate change) of gross stupidity. The more outrageous his remarks the more passionate and violent his supporters respond. Recall his claim that he could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot someone and not lose any voters.

Politicians are afraid of him? Everyone is afraid of him. According to Politico, a Trump presidency is ranked as one of the top 10 risks facing the world by the Economist Intelligence Unit, “ a bigger risk to global security than Britain leaving the European Union, or an armed confrontation in the South China Sea”.

Believing Trump represents the middle class or that he is a job creator is on par with believing we should have invaded Iraq in response to 9/11. Has anyone reviewed his record of failed businesses, among them Trump University and the three lawsuits alleging fraud? He bilked thousands of students of tens of thousands of dollars. He is as middle class as the property tax credit he has received the last three years for taxpayers with incomes of less than $500,000. What?

So aside from romancing the white, middle class, middle aged man, during his rallies with tender endearments like, “I’d like to punch that guy in the face,” what exactly is Trump’s plan to “make America great again” or to “give back the country” we hear so frequently? He plans to have Mexico build a wall (the cost of which has been estimated by Trump anywhere between $3 billion and $12 billion) and ban Muslims from entering the United States. He is religiously schizophrenic, and has had as many wives as religions. He believes it is important to assure the American people during a televised GOP debate that the size of his hands is not indicative of the size of his reproductive organs. His current wife’s right to free speech appears in a 2000 spread in Gentlemen’s Quarterly. This man should be our President?

Finally, Mr. Mento, a protestor inside a political rally and a protestor outside a political rally are both exercising his/her right to free. Free speech isn’t just the speech one wants to hear. But the one thing about speech is it’s cheap and if we believe everything everyone tells us, without digging deeper and determining if there is truth or substance in the words, we are doomed to continue to make the same mistakes with regard to our elected leaders, i.e. Congress. Being a responsible citizen and voter is a difficult job but we do have uncensored access to information that our parents didn’t. If we are too lazy to do the research and vote for someone who tells us what we want to hear, we have only ourselves to blame.

I am a 55 year-old, white, hardworking (32 years at my current job) middle class American woman. My America has never stopped being great and I never lost it.

Sincerely,

JGaler