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May 6, 2024 Editor, The News-Gazette: Politically, we are in Humpty Dumpty’s world. Humpty insisted “words mean what I choose them to mean.”
Traditionally, politically conservative meant preserving traditions and radical meant revolutionary changes. Now, the minority pushes radical changes, wrapping itself in “conservative,” as if they were rescuing time-honored truths.
Would-be Supreme Court justices lied, under oath before Congress, swearing they honored stare decisis, respect for legal precedent, to get on the court to overturn rights of more than 50 years and still favored by large majorities.
Being above the law is anti-American. But the conservative Supreme Court ponders the notion. We believe “justice delayed is justice denied.” The “people,” in the person of their elected government, want resolution of guilt or innocence before we vote, yet courts endlessly stall to benefit the conservative candidate.
Conservatives have forgotten: four years yielded no ballyhooed wall; Mexico didn’t pay a dime; Obamacare didn’t end; no infrastructure, except talk about it. Because he was only interested in being president — not interested in or competent to do the work of president.
More empty and incoherent, police-state promises: red states will monitor pregnant women! How? Suspend the free press? Discriminate against blue states with lots of his voters, to favor red states with lots of opponents? The Army will everywhere halt political protests? The Justice Department will pursue political critics? The devil is in the details he never gives.
He knows the details of no issues and cares about none. Conservative now means the fever dream of “L’Etat, c’est moi” (1655), this time with a mentally ill, morally defective peasant thinking he’s the Sun King. A dictator, once in office, has to please no one.
But this one demands worship. Grinning self-assuredly at suggestions he’s the messiah, he has men he defamed genuflecting — McConnell, Rubio, Cruz, Barr, Graham — moral pygmies who’ve mortgaged their souls and betrayed the secular religion that is America, to bow cravenly before a grotesquely fake pagan god. JOE PETITE Rockbridge County
