Kathy Rittel has written a beautiful letter expressing how Ronald Reagan celebrated immigrants, but has somehow failed to see that our current president, Donald Trump, also celebrates immigrants and diversity, too.
When she states “our current president has suggested that certain ‘others’ do not belong in America and should go back to their ‘own countries’ because of their vocal dissent of various governmental policies,” she fails to note that her quote is out of context. When Trump made his comments, he stated that they should go back to their places where they came from and fix what’s broken, then come back to fix what they think is broken in our country. My personal opinion is that he was absolutely correct in his judgment and intent, but we already know that even a small slip of the tongue on his part will be blown completely out of proportion in response by the media.
She asks, “Did not Donald Trump ever learn back in elementary school that America was founded by dissenting colonists?” Donald Trump is more aware of American history than most of our citizenry. He also is committed to supporting the rule of law under our Constitution. He also has no problem with those who speak against injustice, providing that they speak the truth, in context.
Rittel indicated that “although I did not agree with all of Ronald Reagan’s policies when he ran for president, I voted for him twice because I truly believed he best understood American government, knew civics, had a moral compass, and embraced the tenets of our American Constitution….and, because he understood how legal immigration from around the globe strengthens America.”
I have no disagreement with this statement, but we need to stress the word “legal,“something that is too often ignored or omitted when describing what Trump has said. He is fighting the liberal left’s attempt to circumnavigate and negate all of the immigration laws that have been on the books for years — laws that were upheld by previous administrations (including the Obama administration), but are only “wrong” now because President Donald Trump wants to enforce them!
The quote from Reagan’s final speech is classic and beautiful: “But anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American.” However, what she fails to say is that there is a requirement that they come here “legally” and through a recognized port of entry. In the summation of what Lady Liberty stands for, the “legal” requirement was again omitted. My grandparents came here legally!
Rittel infers that Trump is a prevaricator. Quite untrue. He has never acted in an evasive manner. Very few politicians, much less our presidents, have been more direct or matter-of-fact. There is an expression in graphic arts: WYSIWYG, which means, ‘What you see is what you get’, and nowhere has this been more true than since Donald Trump was elected.
The Constitutional guarantee that “Congress shall make no law … abridging … the right of the people … to petition the government for a redress of grievances” has never been stronger. Our president supports that right, but only asks that the protests be honest and non-violent. Share that guarantee with the radical left or Antifa- they are the violent prevaricators.
The use of Protestant Pastor Martin Niemöller’s cautionary Nazi-era quotation is anachronistic and misplaced. It is the socialists who are coming to kill our capitalist existence, they are in cahoots with many of the larger unions (especially those in the education business), and they continue to speak out against the Jews (listen to AOC or Rashida Tlaib as they rant about Israel and deny the Holocaust).
Yes, Let our American free speech continue to ring, but let it be honest and forthright.
Eric Spinner
New Hyde Park
