LETTERS

TO THE EDITOR

Compare Trump

To the editor:

As a descendant of Midwestern relatives from Iowa and a frequent traveler through Kansas back to visit them through the ’50s and ’60s, it has been a delight to read the Record for the last year after the unfortunate attack on the its office.

I have been content to stay in my place and not comment on political gyrations of your lovely town and county. However, a recent comment on the overall politics of America reaches out to all of us and requires I respond.

A recent letter to the editor, “Harris = harm,” asks us to “compare what has happened in the last four years with what happened in the Trump years.”

Let’s just compare that Donald Trump inherited an economy that had been massively revitalized by the Obama administration after the disastrous Bush years, when inappropriate wars were launched with massive deficits and the catastrophic approval of real estate investing led to an imploded economy.

The booming economy Trump inherited continued to do well without much effort on his part (tax cuts — mostly for the wealthy — felt good for a while) until COVID appeared, and Trump’s failure to deal with the problem resulted in a sharp turn downward.

Compare death rates in the U.S. with those in South Korea, an industrialized nation that recorded its first COVID case the same day that America did.

South Korea had a plan. Trump threw the Obama plan out and did not create a new one.

Korea masked up; Trump refused to urge people to do so.

Korea was organized; Trump’s administration was not.

The result was massive destruction of life, wealth, and well-being as Trump continued to counsel, “One day it will all go away.”

America suffered under a death rate comparable to Third World countries, not industrialized nations like South Korea.

The recovery under Biden-Harris has been historic, unmatched since the 1930s after the Depression. Infusion of cash has led to a not-unexpected boost to inflation, which has been put under control and is receding. Statistics to represent our current situation are too numerous to present.

I am at a loss to explain why otherwise good citizens continue to be mesmerized by often incomprehensible speeches of a known conman, convicted felon, and repeat adulterer.

My thanks to Marion, the Record, and all of the Midwest for being there as I was growing and for being a huge part of America’s well-being today. We are in this together as long as we do not let outrageous words, opinions and actions separate us.

As a U.S. citizen for 76 years and an Air Force Vietnam veteran, I thank Joe Biden for stepping down and allowing Kamala Harris, a new generation of exceptional talent, to lead.

Doug McClelland
Brentwood, California