Retaliation Travel Ban

Now that President Trump has insulted the heads of Mexico, Australia, China and a few others, not to mention the Muslim World, I’m counting off the places where I might not be welcomed at all, or subjected to “extreme vetting” before being allowed in. After all, I am an American, and all Americans voted for Trump. Therefore, I must be lumped into one category and vetted as such in order to weed out a few malcontents who do harm.

How crazy is that! Oh, wait, that is exactly what is happening in our “land of the free,” a land where only Native Americans can stake their claim as true natives. The rest of us came from “away” either directly or generationally.

My wife and I lived in Iran in the early 70s and both our children were born there. It has been my lifelong quest to return someday with our grown-up children and their children to visit a land that is beautiful and the people fascinated by Americans, at least at the street level. With Trump having antagonized Iran, putting our very existence in harm’s way, my dream will have to be put on hold.

On the other hand, I’m certain that I could travel with few restrictions to “Putinland.”

In late April, we are traveling with friends to Sorrento, Italy. Fortunately, most of us have trip cancellation insurance as we anticipate the president launching twitter blasts at its leaders.

Rob Jarratt,
Brunswick

Courageous or Calculating?

Was Susan Collins courageous, or calculating when she announced that she would oppose Betsy DeVos to be Secretary of Education? Collins initially approved DeVos in the senate subcommittee where Collins gave the semi-plausible explanation that she wanted the entire senate to vote on DeVos. However, if Collins really thought that DeVos was as unqualified as Collins said only hours later in her public statement, she should have voted against DeVos in committee where it would have scuttled DeVos’ nomination. Instead, and only after it appeared that Collin’s opposition vote with the entire senate would not make any difference, did she publicly come out against DeVos’ confirmation.

Collins cleverly tried to have it both ways. With only one other Republican senator currently vowing to vote against DeVos, a 50 – 50 tie in the Senate will be broken by Vice President Pence, ensuring that DeVos will receive the nomination anyway. The calculus? Collins will have the appearance of being a centrist, appealing to Independents and Democrats, without suffering any political consequences for her actions.

This may change if another Republican senator vows to oppose DeVos’ nomination. But for now, Collins is risking nothing and will pay no political price for her actions. It is a win/win for Collins and a lose/lose for her constituents. Republicans should be angry with her for voting against DeVos in the Senate, but Collins can easily point to her vote in favor of DeVos in committee and that she will win Senate confirmation anyway. Democrats should be angry with her because although it appears as if Collins is taking a stand, she is, in fact, counting on her actions having no effect whatsoever. Collins has cleverly calculated how to appear to be promoting herself without actually serving the interests of either her Republican, or Democratic, constituents.

James S. Myers,
Berwick