Judgment of Banks was diplomatic

To the editor:

This letter is to give a concurrent opinion in regard to Jack Ronald’s editorial on Dec. 15.

Jack was very diplomatic in his assessment of the actions of Rep. Jim Banks. I will be less so.

It was, in a word, stupid.

It is my humble opinion that there are some members of the GOP who are bound and determined to develop herd stupidity rather than herd immunity.

I couldn’t help but reflect as an assault on our democracy of the most virulent and egregious kind, unfolded before our eyes. My reflection was on the capitulation of the Weimar Republic to Adolph Hitler.

Hitler, like Trump, told big enough lies, told them frequently and, eventually, the people believed.

I said in a letter to the editor in 2016 that a minority of Americans had elected a demagogue. We have witnessed over the last four years why that was such a huge mistake.

Trump is not the first demagogue to arise in the country, but he most certainly is the most consequential and dangerous.

The founders, as they debated the language of the Constitution, feared the arising of a demagogue that would wreck the fragile republic they sought to give birth. They were, in their wisdom and worry, prescient.

Benjamin Franklin is quoted as saying when asked what kind of government they had wrought: “A Republic, if you can keep it.”

Let us hope we can indeed, keep it.

Michael Kinser

Portland