In his July 30 Letter to the Editor, “My Replies,” Ed Surgan cites me by name and distorts the message of my letter, “In My Lifetime” [July 23]. My letter describes how Trump and the current elected Republicans have created a country that is unrecognizable to me vis a vis the open democracy we used to enjoy.
Ed talks about the masks that today’s protesters wear. Well, Ed, we have a pandemic, and everyone should be wearing a mask in public if they can’t socially distance.
Mr. Surgan goes on to rant about today’s protesters being anarchists who are destroying private property. In this regard, Joe Biden, Governor Andrew Cuomo and I believe every Democrat has denounced the crime of destroying private property. It is interesting to note that the person who recently started the destruction of property during a protest in Minneapolis was identified as a white supremacist by the Minneapolis Police Department. Perhaps, there are other right-wing agitators fomenting violence as plants inside peaceful protests.
Most demonstrations have been peaceful. And, without precedent, Trump has used military forces against even peaceful protesters. Even Nixon never used the U.S. military against U.S. citizens … and there were a lot of Americans protesting the Vietnam War during his tenure.
In closing, I would like to say that my views and Mr. Surgan’s are diametrically opposed. And I believe, unlike Mr. Surgan, that Trump and the Republican Senate are the ones standing in the way of a return to civility, common decency and the America I grew up with.
Dick Sheehan
Westhampton Beach
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