Letters to the Editor

Taking a closer look at historical facts is a good idea

To continue the mantra of how bad the USA is (because of the person in office), Mr. Dennis Crooks goes back to the ‘slavery days’, maybe believing that our founding began in 1619, just like what is being taught in many schools across the country with the “1619 Project”. Some facts are worth taking a little closer look at.

For example, during the nearly 400 years of ‘slave trading to the new world’, about 6 to 8% ended up in North America, with the largest numbers going to colonizers in the Caribbean, South, and Central America.

The slave trade itself would not be possible numbers-wise without the main traders, Muslims, Dutch, and many dominant tribes in Africa, who were slaveholders as well as traders.

This in no way justifies anything associated with slavery, it just points it out as a world-wide issue, not just a North American one.

At about this same time, the “Enlightenment Period” was happening, which greatly influenced the thoughts of our founding fathers to put things in our founding documents, like “all men are created equal”, which in the 18th century went directly against many of these flawed men’s economic interests, so they did what many would, (and still do) do, ‘kick the slavery issue down the road’. Today it is very easy to see the issue through 21st-century eyes, isn’t it?

Some other interesting facts, the U.S. passed a law that outlawed the importation of slaves into the new republic’. Also, Brazil did not outlaw slavery until 1888.

Next, the ‘Electoral College’ was a ‘bulwark’ against an overblown, all-powerful centralized government, which hasn’t worked as well, because the original 13 colonies considered themselves ‘independent countries’, with unionizing for the protection of those individual ‘countries’.

Again, sadly, because of an ever-growing bigger and more powerful central government, through ‘carrot and stick’ policies the individual state’s power has been on the decline for some time. The central government’s powers were to only be enumerated, with the main duty being the ‘protection of all citizens’ individual rights’, which has certainly and drastically changed.

Sadly in today’s world, there are fewer people that have the time or desire to seek factual truths and become subjected to forces that have proven to successfully influence emotional decisions with little regard for factual matters.

Like “I hate that orange guy, he’s so mean, rude, and crude, but I like that old guy, he reminds me of my uncle that would give me a dollar every time he saw me”. Actual actions and results of those actions have no place in decision making only what I feel counts or perceive that matter, sadly!

David Jaronik

Some citizens are just going along for the ride

Wayne Brotherton’s excellent letter to the PVT predicted a very grim future for America under a Biden presidency.

Biden seems to be picking a lot of familiar cabinet members. Many of them are pretty close to China. Maybe not as close as Eric Swalwell, but pretty close.

The media ignored Joe taking his son to China and Hunter returned with a sweetheart banking job worth millions. He is a good earner for the alleged Biden crime family.

If you like limited job opportunities, high gas prices, and a compromised, weak leader, then Biden is your choice. The rest of us have to go along for the ride.

Get the popcorn out – it’s going to be a riot!

Karen Stone