Letter to the editor: Don’t let President Trump devalue democracy and its principles

The president was slow to understand there was a problem in his midst, over immigration and displaced masses of people, that many of his fellow Americans were quick to realize and distressed over.

He failed to carry out anything other than a divisive tactic of separation of these people from Central America, taking children away from parents. It took mounting pressure from countries around the world to force him to reconsider the policy (he initially denied there was such a policy or blamed it on his political opponents) and end the separations by executive order.

But many other problems have followed, such as reuniting these children with their families and ending the restrictions on media access to detention centers, an anti-First Amendment policy.

The latter will be crucial in defining this administration’s practices as dictatorial or not. Democracy is the backbone of this nation, and all administrations are responsible for upholding its principles. The president’s use of such terms as “fake news” and his constant condemnation of the media as the “enemy of the American people” do not begin to do that.

These are crucial principles of our Constitution, never to be compromised or surrendered. The valiant fight to give us these great freedoms and liberties cannot be allowed to fade in memory in this convenience-oriented time of modern toys, internet and excess.

John Flynn

Sanford

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