Letters to the Editor
Punxsutawney Spirit, January 14
Dear Editor,
It’s been an incredibly active new year in the United States. There’s been lots of military actions, lots of Homeland Security action, lots of thievery, lots of high sea murders, lots of political posturing, lots of finger pointing, and lots of lying all punctuated by a total lack of action for the people. There has been nothing done on the release of the rest of the Epstein files, nothing on health care for the average American, nothing on Snap benefits for the poor, nothing on equal rights for all Americans, nothing on due process, nothing on housing, nothing on rising prices, nothing on rising utility costs.
The Roman Empire, as it began its inevitable decline, used circuses and activities of all kinds to take attention away from their inability to provide for the basic needs of their citizens. This has been what the Trump Administration has been doing for the last 12 months. The invasion of Venezuela represents the “current” high point of these circus activities. It was an excellent, well executed, precise military operation that the United States military can point to and brag about for many years to come. But keep in mind that it took 150 of the most modern lethal aircraft, 8-10 of the most modern deadly warships, 15,000 service members, dozens of helicopters, our Delta Force, submarines, and satellites to accomplish this feat. And what was the accomplishment? We arrested two people! During this arrest, we managed to kill about 80 people and suffered 7 casualties ourselves. Of course, the President and Pistol Pete H., liked to comment that we had no service persons killed. One wonders how many cases of Post-traumatic Stress Syndrome we, as a nation, will have to deal with over the next 20 years.
Triumphantly, Donald Trump announced that he would now run Venezuela. This from a man who can’t run the country he was elected to run. He stated that the USA would take control of the oil and sell it, even though experts in the oil business advise that it will take hundreds of billions of dollars and up to 10 years to begin making money. Using the existing government structure now being run by the former hand-picked vice president of Maduro, Donald Trump will direct Venezuela. How interesting it will be to see the President of the United States run a South American drug Cartel. What are the bets on how long it will take DJT to bankrupt a cartel? Hmm, wonder where you file those bankruptcies.
This whole “adventure” in the Caribbean began with blowing boats in that Sea and in the eastern Pacific. No proof was offered that these boats were actually carrying drugs. Survivors were shot. Cargo was destroyed. There was no due process. No indictments offered. Just murder on the high seas. The President’s repeated claim that every boat destroyed by the Navy saved 23,000 lives in the US. Drug deaths in October 2023 to September 2024 were 89,000. Do the math. We’ve destroyed more than 10 boats since September. Trump’s statement: an absolute lie. We have now moved to out and out piracy by seizing oil tankers for fun and profit.
Domestically, the activity has moved to fraud investigations against Blue states. Using the out-of-control ICE and other HHS thugs, the American government is killing its own citizens. The fraud allegations have been ongoing since the pandemic and so far, hundreds of people have been prosecuted. There is no need to surge 2,000 additional ICE agents to intimidate law abiding American citizens. Using the Authoritarian tactics of dictatorships, the ICE storm troopers are wreaking havoc in peaceful neighborhoods and cities across the country.
Pat Fleckenstein
