Letters

The editorial dunce cap for “creeping authoritarianism” [“Gold Stars and Dunce Caps,” Editorial, July 3] awarded to the president for his anger at the deliberate leak of a premature intelligence assessment by an individual acting solely out of malice in an attempt to discredit the administration’s recent outstanding U.S. military action in Iran: It certainly was in stark contrast to Joe Biden’s management of our withdrawal from Afghanistan that cost 13 Marines their lives and bore witness to an America that no longer would be held in respect for its ability to project power.

The leak was a political stunt to shade an unqualified success so typical during Trump 1, picked up and run with by CNN in spite of its dearth of hard data. Shame on The Press for adding its two cents’ worth to this debacle of deliberate deception. If Trump is fed up with the legacy media misinformation, he has good reason to be.

As for the accusation of authoritarianism, Trump is waging a legitimate legal and political war for access to the constitutional powers of the executive branch and its president. The Supreme Court finally addressed the question of which branch of government is correct in exercising its constitutional authority, the executive or the federal courts. It ruled for the presidency (not the monarchy) against rogue imperial federal courts that had usurped their limited power by placing national injunctions on initiatives by the executive branch.

If anything has proven consistently true, President Trump understands and respects the extent and limitations of the presidency. His office is always tactically and strategically ahead of the Democrats in the implementation of his agenda to make America great again.

In contrast, Democrats have no positive agenda save a new wave of young radical socialists who are Marxists in sheep’s clothing. They have emerged as the legacy to the empty inept leadership that characterized the previous Democrat administration. They are angry, dangerous and imbued with a sense of righteousness that is breathtaking in its ignorance.

Supporting this progressive threat to Democracy is dark money financing disruptive professional agitators who are paid anarchists that despise America and its message of freedom.

We have seen them during the BLM summer of rioting and more recently in the anti-ICE demonstrations. When the press suggests our president is the real threat to democracy, i.e., too authoritarian, I point to the dark alternative they empower with their editorial commentary.

Trump 2 is the new standard in effective governance — just compare his record. He has his faults, but dictator or king is not one of them.

Ed Surgan

Westhampton