Letter: Sorry, not sorry for thoughts on Trump

By Letter to the Editor on January 2, 2021.

RE: Dec. 26 letter to the editor ‘Look to Canada before judging the U.S.’ by Ken Pirie

Dear editor,

Mr. Pirie spared no effort in throwing what he hoped would be knock-out punches at the soft ‘liberal’, ‘socialist’, underbelly of Mr. (Fred) Lewis and me (in his Dec. 26 letter titled Look to Canada before judging the U.S.). To no effect am I afraid. I am instead flattered that Mr. Pirie believes that a letter or two from me or Mr. Lewis might serve to prop up the government of the “swamp dwelling” Justin Trudeau and “the slippery swerving Jagmeet Singh.”

I make no defence of Mr. Trudeau’s “WE” scandal, other than to say that, rather than a scandal, “WE” started as a noble idea meant to provide experience and money to struggling university students. It became instead a ‘Keystone Cops’ disaster, embarrassing to his government, his family and the “WE” organization itself. Unfortunate and stupid. Enough said.

I do take issue however, with Mr. Pirie’s expressed admiration of Donald Trump, arguably the most uninformed, mendacious, dangerous, pugilistic, narcissistic and, therefore, most inappropriate president ever to hold office of the most powerful nation of the world.

(Should we even mention the 330,000 American deaths this year, by far the worst performance of any nation?)

It is because the U.S. is the elephant whose twitch affects the world (including Canada), that I believe I have a right (obligation) to speak out against the behaviour of Mr. Trump. No apologies are forthcoming.

And as for excusing Mr. Trump’s verbal gaffes and mean-spirited name-calling because, as you say, “Donald Trump … brought the U.S. back from the brink of economic disaster…” this is unacceptable. When Mr. Trump tells you something about his grandeur, it is best to go to other sources to ‘fact check’ his claims. Never, ever believe anything a con man tells you. (Shouldn’t even have to say this.)

Consider these comments from the BBC:

“Under Trump, it’s true the economy was doing well prior to the pandemic, continuing a trend which began during the Obama administration.

“The three years prior to the pandemic, there were an additional 6.4 million jobs. In the last three years under Obama, 7 million jobs were added.”

And a final word from The Rolling Stone represents my “… apathetic left-wing idiocy.”

“What Trump ultimately delivered is what all Republican presidents have delivered since Ronald Reagan: bubbly new wealth for the already rich, while putting the middle-class through the wringer.”

Who, I wonder, “… is destroying the very fabric of this nation?”

Peter Mueller

Medicine Hat

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