Hands off our democracy: A call to rally in Knoxville | Letters

Hands off our democracy: A call to rally

No questions: Trump is destroying our democracy. His Cabinet is incompetent. He disgraces the Constitution. He abandons Ukraine, Canada, Europe and Mexico, while aligning with autocrats Putin, Orban, Kim Jong Un. Musk wreaks havoc, decimating thousands of good programs and people.

He was stunned by Bishop Budde, asking for decency. Various minions sought her exile. Purported Christians support him while he moves to eliminate any vestige of real decency, any real Christianity.

His incessant lies become normative; his relentless throwing of excrement against walls obfuscates, confuses, overwhelms. He cannot be serious about seizing Greenland, Canada, Gaza; no one believes him, but his erratic, even psychotic blather distracts and flummoxes everyone.

Time is NOW: there is no room for ambivalence, doubt, hesitation. WE MUST STOP HIM!!!

Email your senators, representatives, mayor, governor ... anyone with any power. So far, few are courageous.

But this is the CRUX: We MUST stop MAGA!!

Come to the protests this Saturday, April 5 at 2 p.m. − juncture of Henley Street, Western Avenue and Summit Hill.

Make signs, wear patriotic T-shirts, come with enough provisions to last for hours.

Be the courage, the integrity, the decency. Save our democracy!!

Peter Young, Knoxville, 37922

The evidence of evil in Trump regime

Gustav Gilbert, the American psychologist who observed Nazi leaders during the Nuremberg Trials, asserted that "evil is the absence of empathy." When Gilbert’s perspective is applied to the Trump regime, several acts stand out where a real absence of empathy is evident. These are:

• Family separation policy at the U.S.-Mexico border where thousands of children were forcibly taken from their parents and held in detention centers under harsh conditions. This approach led to significant trauma among affected families and drew widespread condemnation from medical, scientific and human rights organizations. The American Academy of Pediatrics, for instance, stated that the policy caused "irreparable harm" to children.
• Deportation policies affecting vulnerable populations where aggressive deportation efforts targeted individuals from countries experiencing significant turmoil. For example, the administration's attempt to strip Temporary Protected Status (TPS) from Venezuelan immigrants was blocked by a U.S. judge, who cited concerns over racial bias and the potential harm to those affected.
• Response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico − During his visit to Puerto Rico, President Trump compared the disaster's death toll to that of Hurricane Katrina, implying that Maria was not a "real catastrophe." Additionally, his distribution of paper towels to survivors was perceived as dismissive of the severe hardships faced by Puerto Ricans.
• Treatment of disabled individuals − Actions such as the removal of accessibility content from government websites and the dismantling of various protections under the Department of Education were seen as indicative of a disregard for the challenges faced by disabled communities.

During World War II, we fought against the profound evil of the Third Reich and Axis powers. This evil started with an elected group pursuing hatred, retribution and revenge. This has become the platform of Trump and his GOP. We must once again fight and refuse Trump’s orders.

Doug Kimzey, Farragut, 37934

Where are our benches downtown?

In touring our beautiful town during Big Ears last week, something became painfully apparent. Our benches are gone. All along busy Gay Street and within our normally welcoming Market Square, there is nowhere to sit!

This situation is not only cold to tourists, seniors, families and readers, it gives the general impression that the city does not want anyone “hanging out.”

I am aware there is a homeless problem in Knoxville and America. But towns are for “hanging out.” If we surrender the needs and comforts of our community because we are not imaginative enough to deal with the homeless, we have not only lost the battle, we have ceded the war.

Mark Faller, Knoxville, 37917