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What has happened to “the land of the free and the home of the brave”? Are we free when our government rounds up immigrants — many of whom came to our country to escape oppression and are innocent of any crime — and deports them to a brutal prison in another country? Are we free when our government confiscates visas and green cards from students and other foreign visitors, whose only crime is exercising their rights to free speech (or even a belief) that offends our president? Are we free when the president orders the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute his political adversaries? Are we free when our president so vilifies the judges who rule against him that they are subject to death threats to both themselves and their families? People are also reading...
Are we free when the president’s own party is afraid to speak up and defy him? Are we free when our president threatens law firms with repercussions if they don’t give him what he wants? Unless someone holds this president accountable, he will continue to feel he is above the law. Until that happens, our country is in great peril, and we will not regain our democracy and be “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” Margery Edgerton Wilkesboro Our government embarrasses me.
Our president makes me ashamed. Our Congress disappoints me. Our Supreme Court horrifies and frightens me.
Dell James Winston-Salem Donald Trump and his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, deported a citizen of the United States for his beliefs. In a two-page brief in Mahmoud Khalil’s immigration trial, Rubio made it clear that the green card holder had not committed a crime. Rubio simply exercised his right as secretary of state.
Why? Well, because he can. He used a perverse interpretation of an obscure clause in the powers granted to his office. Trump is also prosecuting lawyers whose “crime” is simply doing their job.
They represented the government’s side in prosecuting him. Forty-eight people rounded up in New Mexico by ICE agents in March have still not been charged with a crime. Trump has stated that citizens born in this country should be deported if their crimes reach a certain level of depravity.
Who is to judge the point at which these crimes rise to the level of deportation? You guessed it: Trump. Please do not fool yourself into thinking that simply because you voted for Trump and the Republicans you are immune from harassment, or a midnight knock on your door by someone from the Department of Homeland Security. Just ask Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who is still in an El Salvadoran prison.
In Franz Kafka’s “The Trial,” his protagonist, Joseph K, is charged, tried and executed for a crime that is never revealed. Making America “great again”? Remember that slogan when a Trump official starts questioning you . For what? It does not matter.
He can. Gary Bolick Clemmons I think we are learning from athletes the meaning of “what’s best for me.” I understand their choices, but I don’t always know when to apply this philosophy to my own life.
I have loved NCAA games, but I think what’s best for me now is to watch more PBS. Emily Wilson Winston-Salem Today’s front-page Journal article about parking fees (“Change to parking system set to begin,” April 13) says that meters will be replaced with a smartphone app. I’m 77 years old and, although I have an iPhone 16, I use it only as a telephone.
I know nothing about apps. I could use a debit card if the meters take them, but the article doesn’t mention that possibility. I guess they don’t want me to go to downtown Winston-Salem, and it seems I can’t.
Michael Woods Kernersville Hallelujah! Hockey is returning to Greensboro! I propose a statue of all-time fan favorite Don Carter of the original 1960s Greensboro Generals. The statue must be placed in the lobby of First Horizon Coliseum because, if it were placed outside, Don couldn’t fight back if his statue was desecrated by Carolina Thunderbirds fans, or worse, Charlotte Checkers fans. My blood chills at the thought! Let’s rally for a man truly loved by Greensboro hockey fans; he’s our Orr, Howe and Gretzky! PS: All kidding aside, the Thunderbirds have a great team and fans, as I went over to the dark side when the hockey ice melted away in Greensboro.
Joe Cancemi Jr. Greensboro Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly!.
