It is important that we use facts

To the editor:

I'm writing to thank Brenda Fennig for her wonderful piece of comic/stress relief letter to the editor that was headlined “We should unite, support Trump” of Thursday, March 14, 2019. 

There were inaccuracies and much misinformation in her piece, and I'd like to dispute her claims. 

Corruption? Where is there proof of any Democrat who has been convicted of any corruption, or any other illegal acts? It seems to me as though the convictions, and criminal charges have been brought on members of the Trump campaign and administration, not the Democrats. 

There was talk of socialism, which doesn't exist in America. The Miriam-Webster online dictionary defines socialism as:  any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods. 

I don't see when the Democrats, when having control of the government, have called for the government taking control of any means of production of anything. They have continued on with capitalism. Socialism is taking over the businesses of the country, which are still under the reigns of capitalism.

The Democrats are blackballing the country? What did Mitch McConnell do, in 2010? I'll use a brief bit from an article from Inquisitr, of Nov. 11, 2012:  “Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader and the man who came to represent the partisan gridlock that marked much of the President’s first term in office after an election night comment in which he vowed to prioritize making Obama a one-term president, has commented on the failure of his stated mission on the eve of Obama’s re-election. 

“McConnell’s comments in 2010 after the mid-term elections came to symbolize what many on the left deemed an all-in strategy to precipitate suffering in order to claim victory, one that ultimately failed as Obama handily won across many battleground states last night.”

Then, just a bit from Wikipedia.com:  “During Obama's presidency, minority obstruction reached all-time highs, as McConnell insisted that any bill passing through the Senate needed a supermajority (60 votes rather than 50). McConnell justified the obstructionism by falsely claiming that the 60-vote threshold was the historical norm in the Senate. Yale University political scientist Jacob Hacker and University of California, Berkeley political scientist Paul Pierson describe McConnell as the major figure (along with Newt Gingrich) in transforming the Republican Party into a "party geared increasingly not to governing but to making governance impossible.”

It was misstated that America was formed as a Christian country. Our founding fathers wanted a nation that was not formed to be any religion. Proof is cited from ATI.com:  “These are the men that fought for religious freedom and the separation of church and state. In fact, God, Jesus Christ and Christianity are not stated once in all of the Constitution, and it is clearly done so on purpose.  

“The Constitution even bars all laws from ‘respecting an establishment of religion,’ while also protecting ‘the free exercise thereof.’” 

Remember, the founding fathers understood their history. They’d seen how the Christian governments of Europe took advantage of the individual freedom of its citizens. They’d seen the constant internal bickering and wars amongst Christian factions.

The founding fathers welcomed all religions, and there were Jews, and Muslims in America from before the Revolution. There were no Buddhists, or Hindus, in America, at that time, that I'm aware of, but they were to be welcomed.

“In God We Trust” is the motto of the US, as of July 30, 1956, when President Dwight Eisenhower signed it into effect. It had been used on a two-cent piece in 1864, and came to be used on dollar bills in 1957. E Pluribus Unum — out of many, one — was the original motto of the US, from 1782 until 1956.

Facts are very important to make use of. It is important to do your research, like I did, before making wild accusations. Nancy Pelosi made such a statement, but it was Mitch McConnell, and Newt Gingrich, who began the division of recent history, not the Democrats. The Tea Party drew strength from Mitch and Newt, and their division, which is still evident in the Republican Party even today.

Daniel  E. Chase

Portland