Here’s the greatest threat to our nation | Letters
The biggest threat to our democracy is not President Donald Trump, his “base,” his congressional supporters, the “deep state,” Never-Trumpers, Democrats or “traitors” who hate the country. The biggest threat is: What is a fact?
After three years of relentless propaganda from the Trump administration, we have “alternative facts,” memorably described by Kellyanne Conway, the president’s advisor.
Now, for the first time in political history, we have a profound disagreement among the American public regarding what is true and what is false. For example, if a group of people gather in a clearing to watch the sun rise in the east and some of them say they see the sun rising in the east (a fact), the other group might disagree, saying it is false (alternative fact). It does not matter that everyone is seeing the same event at the same time.
The public has been told constantly that what the Trump administration says are “facts” and any opposition is fake news, a witch hunt, lies, etc. Fox News amplifies whatever Trump says into a very large megaphone watched and heard by millions.
Now, we cannot have a discussion about anything political because we can’t agree on what is a fact and what is not. This is a very dangerous situation. We are on the road to an erosion of democratic values that support our way of life for which there is no easy return.
Terry Gibson
Lady’s Island
This is not about evidence
U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham’s mantra on impeachment has consistently been that he wanted to wait until all the evidence was in. He repeated that as recently as last Thursday, when he said in a letter to me, “I will continue to withhold judgment on whether our president should be impeached until hearing all the evidence.” Well, “all the evidence” has been on the table for some time, and if you talk about admissible evidence versus hearsay, feelings, etc., it ain’t much. I certainly know of nothing new that has come out since last Thursday.
It is clear that Joe’s epiphany had nothing to do with evidence. Was it a phone call from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi? Was it be peer pressure?
Joe has clearly put politics above representation of the Lowcountry, and that is precisely the opposite of what he promised to do. We need to make sure Joe is a one-term wonder.
Frank Eisenhart
Hilton Head Island
Impeachment being abused
Impeachment of a president is a matter of extreme disaster — certainly not to be used to retaliate against someone we may not like.
President Donald Trump has done nothing wrong, and certainly not an impeachable offense. I wish U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, et al., went to work, instead of getting paid with our money to use impeachment to diminish the presidency.
Alexander Pastene
Hilton Head Island
No such thing as ‘different kind of Democrat’
Your “different kind of Democrat” U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham indicated Tuesday he would vote to impeach President Donald Trump. Just like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, just like U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her Minnesota ally. He lied, folks, and he needs to be a one-termer for the sin. Like the scorpion who stung his turtle host while crossing the stream, the message is crystal clear. There are no different kinds of Democrats.
Steve Quick
Hilton Head Island
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This story was originally published December 19, 2019 at 5:21 PM with the headline "Here’s the greatest threat to our nation | Letters."