To the Editor:
Re “In Combative State of the Union, Trump Heralds Economic and Border Policies” (news article, nytimes.com, Feb. 24):
I sat listening to President Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night feeling more profoundly disturbed than I could have imagined at the rage, hostility and lies being offered to the American people.
In my 69 years, I cannot recall any president — Democrat or Republican — who has so blatantly transgressed our nation’s laws, destroyed its ethical foundations and made a mockery of the values that have defined us as a nation and role model to the world.
Yes, we have our faults; we have our differences; we have made many mistakes. But the things that have drawn us together for 250 years and that continue to make us strong — diversity, opportunity, choice — are slowly being eroded by an administration that cares only for itself and those of its ilk.
Anyone who thinks “it can’t happen here” would do well to recall the rise of 20th-century fascist totalitarianism. If we don’t take action now to stem the nascent authoritarian tide, we will be condemned to repeat history, with the resulting consequences.
Marcie S. Gitlin New York
To the Editor:
Among the falsehoods and fabrications President Trump delivered to the American people in his State of the Union address, there was one kernel of truth: “We have achieved a transformation like no one has ever seen before.”
In a mere 13 months, Mr. Trump has taken a wrecking ball to this country, transforming it from a flawed yet thriving democratic republic into a weakened nation hanging on to democratic principles by a tattered thread.
Mr. Trump has trampled the Constitution, ignored judicial orders and run his administration like a criminal organization, enriching himself, friends and family members. He has spent millions on ICE — an armed force of federal agents terrorizing citizens, legal residents and visitors — and has acted with hatred and inhumanity against immigrants.
Mr. Trump’s has used the nation’s military to kill at least 150 people in its boat strikes without due process while pardoning drug kingpins. He has alienated our neighbors and allies, and is toying with attacking Iran, once again threatening global stability.
The country and the entire world are in much more dangerous states than they were a little more than year ago. That is the transformation that Mr. Trump and his minions have achieved.
Nancy Dickeman Seattle
To the Editor:
Yes, the State of the Union address was political theater, but that’s preferable to a long list of new government programs and spending for problems that, under past presidents, never got solved.
And the theater was not just entertainment but also historic: the gold-medal-winning U.S. men’s hockey team, several victims of crime and two veterans receiving the Medal of Honor, one of them a still-living veteran of World War II and the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Amazing.
As president, Donald Trump is concentrating on the basics: secure borders, national defense, a strong economy, affordable housing, energy production. He is on the right side of history, along with a large majority of Americans on issues like voter ID and restrictions on transgender citizens in sports.
The Democrats were sullen, absent or fleeing. That’s what happens when you’re on the wrong side of history.
Mark Godburn Norfolk, Conn.
To the Editor:
It’s called the State of the Union address because it’s supposed to be about the state of the entire country, not about how everything awful that is happening is because of the Democrats.
Stephanie Nicholas Acquadro Westfield, N.J.
To the Editor:
I have always felt an obligation as a citizen to listen to the State of the Union address — whether I agreed with the policies of the administration in power or not. That ended on Tuesday night.
The difference this year was that this president rarely — if ever — tells the truth. Listening to nearly two hours of lying, insults and ignorance is intolerable. It generates lots of heat without providing any light.
No thank you.
Margaret McKay Costello Arlington, Va.
The post How Did Trump’s State of the Union Play? appeared first on New York Times.
