Faced with a president who violently quells opposition, pardons convicted felons, persecutes his ideological enemies and takes sadistic pleasure in instilling fear, Americans are at last mobilizing to compensate for the impotence of Democrats.
True, Democrats pushed the administration into a shutdown to save health care for the poorest, but they remain incredibly passive as Trump tears down the pillars of democracy and threatens to crush the “radical left” or imaginary “enemies within.” He deploys federal troops to intimidate citizens under the guise of fighting urban crime.
Millions gathered on Oct. 18. Dubbed “No Kings Day,” the citizen resistance movement was initiated by activist collectives, among them the anti-fascist Indivisible movement born during Trump’s first term to resist authoritarianism and protect democratic values.
“The only opposition left is the people,” they say, which is reassuring and worrisome.
These protests are a welcome start, but they must grow, sustained by measures leading to the restoration of constitutional principles and the return of our civil liberties.
W. E. Gutman, Greenacres
Keep fighting back
The many brave Americans protesting Trump’s tyranny in the streets are the hope of our country.
Those of us who could not participate in person still have the power of the written word to express our determination to never bow down to fascism. Not here, not now, not ever.
We are a free people who have spent so much time and effort, spilled our blood and risked our
lives to preserve freedom.
It is a play on words to refer to “strongmen” who would rip away our right to live in a free and just democracy. They are not strong; they are weak. They are cowards who depend on like-minded fools to support them. They are hollow, empty, soulless people.
Trump and his ICE goons who terrorize our people will be defeated as long as we remain determined to fight back. Each of us must find our own way to protest this nightmare we are living through.
Linda Ribner, Lauderhill
A crisis in Congress
Congress appears to face a severe, unprecedented crisis. The institution has undergone what can only be described as a mass castration, a seismic event (not covered by medical insurance).
Voices that once resonated with authority in the esteemed House and Senate now seem high-pitched and hollow, echoing in previously regarded hallowed spaces. It may be one of those rare occasions when Bobby Kennedy Jr. is correct in his assessment: Vaccines, in certain conditions, may indeed be of dubious value.
As members of Congress rush to the bank to cash their paychecks, will they also think of the less fortunate who are not getting paid, suffering from a growing depletion of financial resources?
Jack Moss, Palm Beach Gardens
The writer is a former Broward County commissioner.
Nobel’s many disqualifiers
The ceasefire in Israel is a positive development, but President Trump did not negotiate a complex peace deal; he assisted world leaders in facilitating a ceasefire. That’s different.
The Nobel Peace Prize honors those who have made significant contributions toward fraternity among nations, reduction or abolition of standing armies, and promotion of peace.
Certain actions render an individual ineligible for consideration, such as deploying armed forces domestically, restricting freedom of the press or speech or violating due process or basic human rights, placement on international human rights watch lists, or presiding over civil unrest within one’s own country.
All these disqualifiers have been attributed to Trump. To award him the Nobel would be like appointing Jeffrey Epstein as head of the National Human Trafficking Hotline.
Christopher Laurent, Boynton Beach
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