The murder of Alexei Navalny by Vladimir Putin exposes the bestiality of power unchecked. Putin pushes his murders into the political faces of nations freer than his. He sends his assassins, armed with his signature poison, to violate political sovereignty and hard-won laws respectful of human life and political dissidence.
Putin: a little bureaucratic functionary puffed up by lies, corruption, servility and unquestioned power. Putin: freed up to kill, wage territorial wars, create chaos. Putin: venerated by Donald Trump. Putin: a war monger publicly lauded by a former president of this country.
Donald Trump: ignoramus and American psychopath, basking in his orange glow, blares his support for his hero and his murderous acts, pulling his MAGA-herd right along with him. Ranting and schmoozing, he paints paranoid cartoons about persecution and spits out swill about apocalypse and redemption, while all the while whoring for funds. Which he gets in record amounts.
Is there any doubt remaining that he will Putin/Orban-ize the foundation and checks and balance faltering now in the face of his criminality, and grab for unprecedented powers should he win or steal the election? The Republican cesspool shamelessly backs him with the same cynical self-interest uber alles manifest in their Russian counterparts and have handily killed the Congress and lowered the American political “brand” abroad.
The Supreme Court is degraded by right-wing, hand-placed Heritage Society puppets and besmirched by the Honorable Clarence Thomas’s corruption, and his craven wife’s influencing from the rear.
The Fourth Estate — or those we rely on to challenge the lies of government and politicians? Unfortunately, they are in the entertainment/ratings business now. They are addicted to the spectacle provided by the orange-glowing MAGA monster and continue, much as they try to self-medicate, to give him the air time which he feeds on.
Make no mistake, the Putin-esque Trump and the forces behind him, which he is not even dimly aware of, are an unmitigated disaster for what is left of this country. Where is our Navalny, speaking truth in the wind, opposing heinous power, dreaming of Mandela and waiting to be assassinated?
It falls to you and me — against impossible odds — to counter the Trump disease: by education, learning our history, protecting what is fundamental to our freedom. As individuals, speak out, forge solidarity, protest, bolster our institutions, fight for justice to end division, and vote.
After all, we don’t yet have the easy solution of state-sanctioned assassination to whisk away political aberration. And, anyway, history proves that it is only the right-wing and power-crazed that assassinate.
Frances Genovese
Southampton
Buyer's RemorseWe are seeing a disturbing trend on the East End and particularly in the Town of Southampton. It is perplexing to witness extremely wealthy buyers, ones with resources to fund endless, years-long legal battles, to the detriment of neighbors and...
Selective EntitlementsKudos to Highway Superintendent Charlie McArdle for his self-serving pat on the back with his “Outside the Box” letter [July 18]. His “outside the box” is nothing more than selective entitlements given to a very small group of people who...
LifesaverOn July 15, my husband was powerwalking along Route 114 at 11:30 a.m. when he collapsed from heat stroke. A woman, or, I should say, an angel, stopped her car and loaded a bloodied, almost unconscious person into her car...
Compliant MessagingPaula Angelone, another useful tool of the Trump derangement syndrome-afflicted, railed against Donald Trump’s perceived violent rhetoric of the past as a sorry excuse for the assassination attempt last week [“American Landscape,” Letters, July 18]. Claiming “violence begets violence,” she...
Dear LeaderKudos to whoever decided to devote a half page (!) in last week’s edition to some stunningly deep investigative reporting! To wit: A part-time resident of Sag Harbor, who doubles as a full-time anchor on the dear leader TV network,...
One-Way StreetI resigned from the Southampton Town Planning Board last month. That was not an easy decision, as I truly enjoyed working with the planning staff and the wonderful people who serve on that board. That said, I’m a community advocate...
A ShowmanI was amused to read last week’s Letters to the Editor by Bill Jones [“End the Bias”], Thomas Jones [“Abject Failure”], Ed Surgan [“Sky Isn’t Falling”], and John Porta [“Bleak Alternative]. If you believe their words and statistics then you...
Unfit for OfficeAs an independent voter, I have been very frustrated, like many, about the candidates being offered by the Democrats and Republicans for the presidency come November, as both to me appeared unfit for office. One’s weaknesses became increasingly clear as...
