Sounding off: Presidential election still top of mind
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Trump committed to his promises
President-elect Donald Trump unburdened me of another great fear when it was announced Mike Pompeo would not be joining the Trump Cabinet.
For context, as CIA director in 2017-18, Pompeo plotted to kidnap and assassinate WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. And, more recently, Pompeo was caught on video dancing with Israeli soldiers as they celebrated the continued slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza.
This was the auspicious sign I needed to show me that perhaps Trump has learned from first-term missteps. By overlooking Pompeo, Trump is declaring loud and clear that conscienceless, war-itchy neocons — like Victoria Nuland, Liz Cheney and Pompeo — have no place within the ranks of this visionary administration.
But I also detect an honor-bound commitment to the pledges Trump made while campaigning, to men and women in hardhats, with calloused hands and weather-beaten work boots, and to that vast hopeful sea of resolutely supportive red caps.
In two such campaign promises, Trump vowed to end what he described as the indoctrination of schoolchildren and to deport the millions of illegal migrants waved in under President Biden’s watch.
The inference is that these will be more than Band-Aid fixes, that with his election mandate of winning the popular vote and gaining a Republican majority in Congress, Trump will overhaul the education system into a fountainhead of moral and academic excellence and sign into law immigration reforms that enhance America and that will impregnably safeguard against a future domestically engineered invasion.
Good luck, President-elect Trump. I know you won’t let us down.
Scott Hammond
Point Breeze
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Sore winners should give the other side some grace
My congratulations to the writer of the letter “Shame on those who supported the Harris charade” (Nov. 9, TribLive): The idea of “sore winner” has been taken to a whole new level.
The writer seems offended that almost half of his fellow Americans cast their ballots for a candidate he opposed. That Americans see things differently in an election is nothing new — it happens every four years. But the suggestion that one of the candidates was “hiding” her positions was as disingenuous as it was ill-informed. Both candidates made their visions for America and their plans to fulfill those visions abundantly clear. All one had to do was listen. And while Americans disagreed on the best path forward for our country, the ability to have those disagreements — and resolve them at the ballot box — should be celebrated, not denigrated.
Time will be the judge of the letter-writer’s choice. Until that final judgment is rendered, I’d humbly suggest that he not only give his fellow Americans who made a different choice some grace, but that he take the win and pray for the best.
Maxine Nagel
Arlington, Va.
The writer is formerly of Ligonier.
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Grow up and accept the results
The election is over, and the Republicans have won decisively. I now see people are shaving their heads, swearing off sex, freezing out their own families and acting in other bizarre ways. I have two simple words for them all: Grow up.
In this world, you don’t always get things to go your way. Learning how to be a gracious loser is every bit as important as being a gracious winner. Try showing a bit more dignity and acceptance. It’s called class.
Donald Trump and the Republicans won. The world will be just fine, and you might just like where it’s going.
Mike Salera
Upper St. Clair
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Waiting patiently to have the last laughs
A lib, I never felt “owned” by Donald Trump 2016. Just resigned to enduring the longest, unfunniest Rodney Dangerfield movie ever. I also knew that a crash and burn would come with the first complex, extraordinary crisis, as intellect, not egotism, must devise the fix. Unfortunately for us, covid was that crisis.
Criminality, crassness and sedition no longer of concern, Trump 2024 has been gifted by The People. While another massive screwup is certain again (Checked his new BFFs and Cabinet nominee Brain Bust?), Dems regaining the House mid-term offers little solace.
I will seek relief, however, by taking pointers from the Make Amnesia Great Again crowd. I will read “from reliable sources” (online conspiracists) of millions of Kamala Harris votes trashed by Republican poll workers (80% of Dems quickly agree!). Proud of my still full head of hair, I’ll skip the ballcap but will sport a “Not My President” T-shirt as I “fight like hell” my way through the scanner and yawning security guard, and into the county courthouse. My Whiskey Rebellion flag — honoring the new drink of choice, waves proudly — not the flag of enslavers/launchers of a Civil War killing 700K. Bathroom break? Men’s room, not the lobby floor. Riot accomplished, the search for trashed ballots begins. Reusing Sen. Kim Ward’s Stolen Election Treasure Map, I’ll check the unchecked: where leprechauns stash their pots o’ gold and unicorns sharpen their horns.
No first laugh for the lib-owned in 2024, but the roar of last laughs is sure to be deafening!
Joseph Jamison
Greensburg
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Democrats won’t win again unless they change
It’s fun, however pathetic, to watch Democrats eat themselves alive as they race to place blame for the catastrophic election loss. I have a clue: Maybe it’s their arrogance, or maybe it’s their assumption that they are intellectually superior over millions of racist, fascist, Nazi, homophobic pieces of garbage known as MAGA voters. Regardless, their Neanderthal policies and thinking will have to change, or they will be relegated to the ash heap of history for decades to come.
Never again will they win a presidential election based on lies, personal destruction of their opponents, name-calling, etc. Never again will they be able to perpetrate their venom on the American public with the aid of their willing accomplices, the mainstream media. In order to achieve any success in the future, Democrats will have to run on the issues. They will have to articulate and defend policies as dictated by the American people and play by the rules of law and the Constitution, the ideals we the MAGA voters hold so dearly.
Will the lessons they should have learned become the guidelines for their future, or will their own arrogance be the virtue that destroys them? The future will tell. In the meantime, watch President Trump keep his promises. He will Make America Great Again. And this will be followed by eight years of the JD Vance administration.
Rudolph Puchan
Latrobe
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God help us survive Trump
I was astounded and saddened that over half the voters in our country chose for president a convicted felon who I feel has no belief in integrity, democracy or truth, acts like a 3-year-old, lies every time he opens his mouth, is a confirmed misogynist, cheats on his taxes and his wives, and incited a riot which caused injury and death to other Americans.
Many voters said their baffling choice was due to “the bad economy,” something Joe Biden inherited. Put the blame where it belongs. Trump essentially ignored covid until millions of people died, industry shut down and the economy tanked.
Trump seems to mistakenly believe he knows more than our country’s educated economists, most of whom agree that his proposed policies will increase prices, inflation and the national debt. Those who voted for him will get what they asked for. Unfortunately, those of us who voted for unity, democracy, reproductive rights and a chance for a better America will also get that vengeful dictator and people like Elon Musk and Robert Kennedy Jr. as policymakers.
God save America, because at this point, he’s the only one who can.
Genevieve Rose
Latrobe
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Trump won because Biden messed up
Many people are analyzing the election and offering explanations as to why Kamala Harris lost.
My 95-year-old neighbor said it very simply: “I voted for Trump because Biden messed everything up.”
Susan Stiles
North Huntingdon