Hiding behind free speech, Tucker Carlson, Donald Trump and most of today’s GOP are getting-away with the most damaging rhetoric, today often huckstering the false idea of “replacement theory”.
It’s time to rein them in! But how? Congress won’t act. Prosecutors must go to work with a new legal theory.
Those two men need to be prosecuted on the theory that their communications that result in death are not free speech, but are serious felonies, that “Shouting “FIRE” in a crowded theatre” and “Communicating an IDEA that goads another to murder” are serious felonies calling for the most serious punishments.
Tucker Carlson should be tried for the Buffalo murders and Donald Trump should be tried for the Washington insurrection deaths.
Prosecutors, take note! SCOTUS take note!
THOMAS RICHARDS, North Attleboro, Mass.
TPP (5/15/22) has three Ukraine-Russia related articles by Ted Rall, Jesse Jackson and Froma Harrop. The first two have misgivings about our war support. Froma Harrop is passionately on the other side. In my opinion, the doubters are right. Let’s review:
Rall says we are spending hugely on Ukraine when the USA has many unmet needs. He is right. And he is more right now than when he wrote, since recently a huge $40 billion package of aid has been announced.
Harrop argues passionately for standing by the Ukrainians in every way until the war is won. I would have a hard time choosing between her and Rall, but Jackson’s argument cinches it. He points out that we have no idea how the conflict might end, especially since Russia has many nukes and Putin is obviously frustrated and paranoid.
A cornered Putin might decide to use WMD: tactical nukes, chemicals or viruses. If he does, what do we then do?
President Biden has done a good job so far, walking the tightrope between giving ample help but not becoming directly involved. But that will become increasingly difficult. As compelling as Zelenskyy is, there is still corruption and, yes, even a bit of neo-Nazism in Ukraine.
Do you suppose ceding some territory to Russia will result in a triumphant Putin? I disagree: internally the Committee of Russian Soldiers Mothers has vigorously protested and since casualties are increasing, their voices will have effect; anger will create shame. Even in Russia moms can’t be beaten or jailed without pushback. Externally, Finland is more than 90% certain to join NATO [note: Finland and Sweden have applied to join NATO] and Russia may be forced to welch on its sovereign debt.
Both sides need to understand that ending this budding forever war is the US’s primary goal: our help for Ukraine might end and / or NATO’s sitting on the sidelines might reverse. The war began this year – let us all do our best to see that it ends this year.
JOHN D. PALMER, Huntington, W.V.
Your 4/15/22 editorial, “The GOP Patriot Game,” quotes former GOP strategist Rick Wilson as stating that, “Many Republican base voters are dictator-curious and believe Russian President Vladimir Putin is the savior of White, straight, law-and-order Christianity …”
To those people I offer three words: Move. To. Russia.
BETTY CROWDER, Honeydew, Calif.
June 2022 is going to be must-watch TV for all patriotic, anti-Putin Americans. At this point, there should be no question about it whatsoever, but in case you still had any doubts at all about deranged, demonic Donald Trump’s terrible, treasonous and terroristic transgressions against our democratic republic, stay tuned to your TV sets starting June 9. Expect Ted Cruz (R-TX) to attempt to flee to Cancun again for a summer vacation. Hasta la vista, racist baby!
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the delusional dimwit who actually believes America wants its next president to be a book-burning fascist who is so weak and wimpy that he’s terrified of transsexuals, won the governorship in 2018 by only 30,000 votes. The Disney Corporation employs 80,000 Floridians. You do the math! Best of luck running for president in 2024, Ron the con, after Florida votes you out in 2022.
And by the way, current Florida racist Republican resident and failed fascist Fuhrer Donald Trump is 100% guilty of not only treason but pandemicide! …
If any state should be known as “the free state” in this “United” States of America, it is my home state of California. After all, one out of every eight Americans is a California resident for a reason! (A multitude of reasons, really.) An idea whose time has come that is worthy of the Golden State and its internationally successful CA-born Disney Corporation is DISNEY WORLD BAY AREA.
If necessary, the California crew of Mouseketeers will move every last piece of Disney World (including Epcot Center) back home from Orlando to California in the dead of night, just like the Mayflower movers surreptitiously relocated the NFL’s Colts franchise from Baltimore to Indianapolis back in 1984. Except no one will feel sorry for Florida.
Gov. DeSantis is a disgrace! If Florida keeps DeathSantis in office, we Californians will be taking Disney back ASAP. Just saying. You don’t have to like it. We’ll do it anyways. Or if not California, there’s always the possibility of getting Mickey Mouse mountain high in Colorado! John Denver (R.I.P.) would no doubt approve were he alive.
Diminutive dolt Ron DeSatanist says to anyone who will listen that he is no fan of democracy. No, Ron the con is a classic crackpot Castro Cuban conservative. Just put a fake beard on his fascist face, a stogy between his lying lips, and some fatigues on his five-foot frame and Gov. DeSantis would look — and act — just like a mini-Fidel Castro.
JAKE PICKERING, Arcata, Calif.
Here’s a few thoughts on the recent article by Dick Polman about the judge that lifted the federal mask mandate.
Dick Polman’s 5/15/22 TPP article, “If you’re Trapped on a Plane Next to an Unmasked Anti-Vaxxer, Thank This Trump Judge,” chiseled away at the judge’s credibility for throwing out the federal mask mandate. However, the judge was partially correct in noting that “masks” are insufficient at protecting people from the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not anti-mask or anti-vaccine. But if you’re going to mandate masks, then make sure they are actually going to be effective. Cloth and surgical masks are crappy at preventing the spread of this virus, something that epidemiologists and occupational health organizations understand. These masks leak around the face, and their filtration efficiency is poor at stopping small particulates or aerosols. Anybody who has worked in dusty conditions for more than several minutes knows that a cloth face covering or a surgical mask won’t keep some of the dust from getting up your nose. Health experts pressured the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to update its recommendation on respiratory protection around this virus. Eventually, the CDC improved its guidance last year, although some experts think it fell short of clearing up the confusion around what constituted effective respiratory protection for the general public who had heard that cloth face coverings were good enough.
For the general public, a well-fitting, N95 respirator is the respiratory protection recommended in many cases (KN95 is an international version). Visit the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) website to learn more. Look for the COVID-19 page. There’s a two-part article on the science of respiratory protection. See, “What Can Masks Do?” There is a table comparing the respiratory protection provided by cloth face coverings, surgical masks, and N95 respirators.
So, there’s no reason you cannot add an extra level of protection for yourself if you have to be in the company of someone that’s not wearing an N95 respirator.
GIAN PAULETTO, Rutland, Vt.
Thank you for publishing my letter (“The Bible Can Be Rough, But It’s Realistic,” 5/15/22 TPP). I would like to summarize it by saying that we have had many Bible believers in our government throughout the years. Abraham Lincoln springs to mind, especially, and he accomplished much to expand the freedoms we have today. Practically everything he said and did was said in Scriptures from the Bible. Today, we hear a lot about how much of the Bible people believe, but very little actual scripture is quoted. It is left for what they do to stand for what they say they believe. When words and deeds align, we discern whether or not people are telling the truth. To do that, we have to know what the Bible actually says. “He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions,” says Psalm 107:20. That is the ultimate reason we need to know this, especially in these days.
CHERYL LOVELY, Presque Isle, Maine
How does a society deal with the divisive issues that effect/affect its stability and sustainability without accountability? Societal wrongoing has become an extreme blight on our society and the pathway to dire outcomes if an expeditious resolve is not enacted. Our privacy is truly an everyday reality that multiple laws, legislation and policies have attempted to address; but corrupted political influences that prosper via collusion have negated the interests of “We the People” for far too long.
My reflection on my early childhood, now about to turn 88, is that the parental influences, and societal restrictive mores and standards that brought about “shame” are no longer existent nor feared. The recent notoriety of “societal scum” like Alex Jones and a multitude of “arrogant ignorants” amongst us defy truth and facts without an iota of “fear or shame” to society’s detriment.
Professor Peter Berger’s comments some time ago, in his column, cited the fact that our society was missing in its road to ruination was “accountability, guilt, shame and humility.” Those facts should be the impetus for our very salvation in today’s communicative nanosecond dangerously ruinous propaganda, conspiracies, reputations and threats to human dignity, as well as our nation/world’s essential security and stability.
The world’s poisoning, polluting and corrupting is exacerbated by today’s “technological communicative abilities” and the “final straw that broke the camel’s back” might very well be Elon Musk and his $271 billion weapon to buy the nation/world’s politicians, after his purchase of Twitter enabling him to lower his present tax rate of 3.27% even lower. Now that’s what we used to call SHAMEFUL!
FRANK C ROHRIG, Milford, Conn.
From The Progressive Populist, June 15, 2022
Blog | Current Issue | Back Issues | Essays | Links
About the Progressive Populist | How to Subscribe | How to Contact Us