The Constitution is being respected

To the editor:

As I read Stephen Erwin’s reply to my letter to the editor, I was reminded of a scene in the movie “A Few Good Men.”

In the movie, Tom Cruise’s character emphatically admonishes Jack Nicholson’s character to tell the truth, and Nicholson’s character responds just as emphatically and more sarcastically: “You can’t handle the truth.”

Mr. Erwin took umbrage at my historical analogy of prewar Germany and 21st century America. He goes on to assert that: “No one on the right is trying to overthrow our democracy.”

I am not sure how Mr. Erwin assimilates his information, but in my opinion, he lacks true insight into what is happening in the country. As proof of his seeming disconnect in the very next sentence, he says, “Joe Biden’s possibly illegitimate control of government is not in danger.”

“Illegitimate control of the government” is implying Mr. Erwin thinks the election was stolen. That is exactly what I was suggesting in my analogy of Adolf Hitler’s use of the big lie and former President Donald Trump’s use of his version of the big lie.

Mr. Erwin asserts that the actual big lie is that “Trump-supporting Republicans are racist and white supremacist.”

I won’t dignify his assertion with a comment, but would simply say study history, Mr. Erwin, America’s past is replete with a paradigm of racism and white supremacy. It is, in fact, America’s past that informs our present-day political climate. If you research it, Mr. Erwin, you will find it was Hitler who studied America’s racist and white supremacist history, informing the bedrock of the Third Reich.

Stephen is correct, sort of, in the argument that was ongoing between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. One was for a strong central government, the other was for states to wield the power of government. James Madison, in his wisdom, realized it was the people who were the bedrock of governance, and as such, the rights of the individual were paramount to a successful democracy.

So yes, the rights of the minority were certainly on the founder’s minds.

The present administration, unlike, in my opinion, the previous administration, holds the Constitution and the rights therein, in the highest regard.

I consider Stephen a friend, and we have an agree to disagree relationship.

I respect Stephen’s right to his opinion. I just don’t agree with him.

Michael Kinser

Portland