A nice lady at our retirement home told me yesterday that she enjoyed my writing style but disagreed with my point of view. I'm sure she is not alone. However, I would like to list several things for my liberal friends to consider.
1) President Trump signed an executive order banning transgenders from participating in women's sports. Several people have opposed this ruling, especially the Governor of the beautiful state of Maine. In fact, at a state school board meeting a parent was not allowed to speak when she wished to espouse the unfairness of the governor's ruling. Trans athletes have turned in times many seconds better than women in several athletic events. Trump has said that trans athletes could not beat men, so they underwent surgery in order to beat women. Perhaps this is true. In addition, there is the question of them sharing changing rooms with women. The 2024 Olympic committee stipulated that the gender in effect before the age of 12 (puberty) would determine the gender of the athlete for Olympic purposes. That might be a good guideline for all our states to follow.
2) There has been considerable discussion about DOGE (Dept. of Government Expenditures). Surely no one could oppose the exposure and curtailing of government waste and fraud. In practice the only opposition seems to have been instigated by those who have benefited from the waste and fraud. Elon Musk, a successful businessman who led this effort, had no personal motive behind his investigation, but he was opposed at every turn, including having his Tesla dealerships attacked. Most Democrats have failed to condemn these acts of violence.
3) Sanctuary cities: how can liberals support cities and even states that shield egregious criminals and protect them from deportation? Many of these criminals are murderers and rapists; some are child traffickers. Surely these evildoers should be prosecuted, deported, or both.
4) Accessibility. Trump has one of the most accessible regimes in history. He is always available to take questions from the press and others. I have seen him more than once answer reporters' questions while traveling on Air Force One flights. Even his cabinet meeting last week was open for all to observe. Did you ever see such transparency from other administrations?
5) Antisemitism. Liberals have been largely silent on the rise of antisemitism on college campuses. This is today's segregation battle. I would recommend everyone to read the following account of the atrocities conducted by Hamas during the October 7 attack on Israel: 7octparliamentarycommission.co.uk.
6)Tariffs are suddenly a hot topic. Is it fair for a country to impose tariffs or taxes on our exports while we have no such charges on our end? Trump is merely trying to level the playing field. Now dozens of countries have indicated their willingness to negotiate with us. China and the USA are currently in a tit-for-tat battle, with the USA assessing a 20% additional tariff because of China's exporting of the deadly drug Fentanyl. There will be a little pain. For example, we get most of our fireworks from China. Fortunately, most of our next July 4 requirements are already in our warehouses. Previous administrations have neglected to oppose the tariffs of other countries against us. It has taken an independent businessman to recognize and tackle the problem.
My personal routine is to watch NBC news in the morning, and ABC news in the evening (followed by Wheel of Fortune!). In between I watch Fox news. There are those who say: "Don't watch the mainstream media--that's fake news." Others say: "Whatever you do, don't listen to Fox!" I hope my approach gives me a balanced political experience.
Peter Gilderson, Madison.
