Please refuse to stand
with Trump, MAGA
Significant blame for the Trump administration’s overthrow of democracy and decency and the rule of law falls to Republicans who believed that Trump would never do the awful things he said he would.
They held their noses and voted for him, believing that Democratic leaders like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were devils — beliefs bashed into their brains by layers of 24/7, right-wing, conservative, spoon-fed myth.
Even though MAGA leaders promised to wage that war, weak Republicans suspended their integrity and intelligence, plunging their heads into the sand. They’ve allowed us, their loved ones, and future generations to go down in the flames of a dreadful future ruled by an oligarchy of MAGA-loyal, filthy rich.
Meanwhile, left, right and center people and pundits spend hours and days analyzing whether Elon Musk’s hand salute is Nazi-derived. That he fired tens of thousands of his loyal employees is lost — a model already spilling over into federal government, where employees who’ve done the work of “We the People” have angered Trump and are now fired or threatened into “retiring.”
A Musk appointment will help fulfill Trump’s promise to use a wrecking ball on hundreds of thousands or millions more Americans whose lives were spent believing that if they worked hard, they’d be rewarded by their communities, society and employers.
While promising hefty tax breaks for the wealthy, MAGA wrings its hands over how to make ends meet with $3 trillion in proposed cuts that will hobble and destroy life- and dignity-saving programs like Medicare, Medicaid, food assistance and public education — ingredients of a great nation.
Yet, the non-MAGA Republicans who say they’re Christians or fiscal conservatives look away, whimpering, “I didn’t know this would happen.”
I say, get up and fight with the rest of us to help save our democracy. Refuse to stand with MAGA. Get educated instead of indoctrinated.
Detach your ear from the nonsense affirming right-wing echo chambers that got us into a mess that could lead to the annihilation of our species.
Janice Palma-Glennie
Kailua-Kona
Trump’s big move
regarding straws
Sanity has returned, and plastic straws have returned. Among all of Trump’s decisions, this is a big one. Hopefully, Hawaii will keep pace.
Keep the changes coming; maybe now we can revisit the plastic bag issue.
Roger Schweitzer
Volcano
Praise for the new
warning signage
Mahalo to Jenn Kagiwada, the Hawaii County Council and the Hawaii State Parks Division for installing additional signage at Boiling Pots to better inform, warn and remind unwary people of the dangers along the treacherous Wailuku River.
While I missed the unveiling ceremony and blessing by kumu Kimo Awai, I pray that the new sign, with its list of the 27 souls who perished at the Wailuku River State Park, will give folks pause before ignoring the other warning signs and recklessly entering the water.
Let us always remember that this river has taken the lives of at least one or two people a year for the last three decades.
If this simple, low-cost solution saves even one life, it will be well worth it the effort.
Sylvia Dahlby
Hilo
