Letter: Enough whine and fury, give new administration a chance

I suppose it is inevitable that some people across the U.S. are offended, even outraged by the temporary ban on immigration ordered by our new president. This is America after all and to paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, you can’t please everybody, any of the time. Still, I felt disgusted by the teary rhetoric of congressional members who are either suffering from memory loss or just don’t get it! Enough with the whine and fury.

There are those who are quick to remind everyone that the good old USA is a nation of immigrants, the melting pot of cultures, of commerce and faith. Indeed we are. And we are also a nation that has and continues to suffer grievously due to our porous borders and failure to identify latent threats.

A story on CNN caught my attention. It was one family’s heartbreak because their loved ones will be denied entry to the U.S. an additional three months, after a wait of 15 years. On one level, I can relate to their disappointment. For them it is painful. Even so, their best course would be to stay patient a bit longer and accept the short-term delay, rather than their patriarch’s stated intention to file a lawsuit against our government. That attitude doesn’t strike me as an auspicious beginning for those who want to make their home in these United States.

In the coming weeks, months and years, many Americans and the world at large, may witness actions by the new administration that are as House Speaker Ryan put it, “unconventional.” I’m reminded of the late Ronald Reagan, and his compatriots’ admonition to “Let Reagan be Reagan.” So it must be with President Trump. If he strides too far from what is reasonable and right, there is recourse under the Constitution and separation of powers.

It is only common sense to want Donald Trump to be a successful chief executive. And while his focus remains on keeping America safe, taking steps to improve infrastructure and giving our economy a shot in the arm, I don’t imagine we’ll have very much to complain about.

Ralph Bazan