I wasn’t quite sure what to write about today and then I remembered a Letter to the Editor that I read in the paper yesterday. Mr. Arnone, the author, is a regular contributor to the Chronicle, as am I (although not as frequently as he is). Fortunately, the paper has a policy that only allows any individual to have one letter published every 30 days. I have responded to one or two of Mr. Arnone’s diatribes in the past but finally realized that it was a waste of brain cells. Facts are irrelevant to Mr. Arnone and his ilk and run off of him like water off of a duck. His letters are so filled with vitriol and hate that I doubt that he could be in the same room with a Democrat without going off on them.
If the country weren’t in this extremely polarized, radicalized environment in which our own FBI and Department of Homeland Security have issued warnings about potential future violence driven by white supremacists and other right-wing groups, this letter would be almost comical because it is so over-the-top. However, today there are a lot of Peter Arnones out there. And some of those Peter Arnones are heavily armed and truly believe the nonsense being spouted below. That should scare the hell out of anyone.
If you don’t believe that, you should listen to the interview that CNN correspondent, Donnie O’Sullivan, had with a Trump supporter in the last couple of days.1 In the most disturbing quote, this Trump supporter said, “It took 11 days for them to take over Afghanistan… How many days would it take the patriots to take over this country?”
Mike Mansfield was a Montana Senator who was the longest serving Senate Majority Leader, 1961 – 1977. He was, in fact, a Democrat but worked with people on both sides of the aisle. He served under both Democratic and Republican presidents. During the economic crisis in 1971, he said the following:
“What we’re in is not a Republican recession or a Democratic recession; both parties had much to do with bringing us where we are today. But we’re facing a national situation which calls for the best which all of us can produce, because we know the results will be something which we will regret.”
Given all of the crises facing this country today, it would seem like Mike Mansfield’s words are more important than ever. Unfortunately, they have been relegated to the history books and we are dealing with a new environment in which tribal loyalties and retaining power at all costs seem more important than actually solving problems and making life better for all Americans. Mr. Arnone’s letter is, unfortunately, symptomatic of where we are today and a frightening harbinger of things to come.
“Dems contemptuously think we’re all fools.
“They have neither shame not conscience. They are lawless and flagrantly un-American. Bullies of censorship and cancel-culture, Montana’s Sen. Jon tester would know. He’s one of them. He’s a Democrat.
How can anyone take seriously or trust anything proposed by Democrats? While threatening Americans with their heavy-handed mask mandates and COVID-19 “vaccine passports,” they have encouraged and financed thousands of COVID-19 infected illegal migrants to enter and disperse throughout the country without treatment. At the same time, anti-Communist Cuban political refugees are turned away as they cross treacherous waters to Florida and freedom. While Joe Biden has condemned crack cocaine users to harsh prison sentences, his son Hunter, with video evidence, escapes accountability for the same, and more. Likewise, hundreds of criminals were released for burning and pillaging Democrat-controlled cities and government buildings last summer, while so-called Trump “insurrectionists” at the Jan. 20 Capitol riot languish in prison without due process. While Democrats flaunt their hypocrisy and double-standards, the Democratic media remains silent.
America’s imperious Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and co-dictator, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, are the corrupt power behind the Washington political establishment. Their absolute control represents the absolute abuse of power they are imposing on our country. The perpetually befuddled Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are merely figureheads.
Democrats have insisted that voter ID is racist, only to later insist they’ve always been for it. They’ve been vocal proponents of defunding the police, only to flip-flop and make the absurd accusation that Republicans have been anti-police. They will say and do whatever is necessary not to advance what is good for Americans, but their anti-American, anti-freedom, godless socialist agenda.
Only Democrats would deny they’ve embraced Marxist ideology and tactics to undermine our country. They contemptuously think we are all fools. Concerned and awakened Americans see this ever so clearly.
Peter Arnone
Bozeman”