Letters to the Editor - 9/12/24

Response to the Biden candidacy ‘coup’

Ah, Mr. Godburn — you have gone really FOX(y) on us again, with an added soupçon of misogyny, Trumpian nickname-ism, and other weird aspersions flavoring your letter about VP Harris of last week.

But seriously: to suggest that the people who convinced Biden to end his candidacy were executing some sort of coup is laughable, particularly compared to Trump’s actual coup attempt on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump knew he lost the election, yet he called a mob to Washington and even wanted to lead it to the Capitol himself to stop the electoral ballot certification. The will of the people be damned!

More egregiously, he did nothing for hours, despite the danger in which he put his own VP and other elected officials.

If Trump had a fiddle and not a TV…

As a person of a certain age, I trust that my children will remove the car keys if and when I am longer a competent driver. They will do it to safeguard me and others on the road.

Trump has no such gatekeepers. The Republican Party is a one man show, its members terrified of standing up to him, even as his current, often incoherent ‘word salads’, (far too mild a word), reveal mental deterioration, along with a dangerous obsession with retribution that promises even more violence if he is thwarted.

If he were your daughter’s Gentleman Caller, and you did some research on him, would you even let him in the door?

Barbara Maltby

Lakeville

Perspective on shooting

It isn’t easy being a human. There are so many ways we can go bad. Our frontal lobes, the most recently evolved part of our brains, are in a perpetual, usually losing, battle with the older, deeper part, what could be called the “animal” brain. From the frontal lobes comes the ability to plan, to wait for a reward, to see the “big picture,” to cooperate with others for a future good, to fashion complex tools.

Civilization came from the frontal lobes. Meanwhile the rest of the brain just plods along doing what it has always done: driving us to survive, driving us to reproduce. The frontal lobes say, “sharing is a better way for us all to survive.” The deeper, animal brain says, “if I keep it all for myself and my family, we will survive.” With the frontal lobes comes peace, with the rest, war.

For many people it is almost impossible to control our instinctual impulses. Our frontal lobes say: “Don’t do it, you’ll be sorry.” So, we silence them with drugs and alcohol and act out anyway or let ourselves be convinced by the mob around us. We are new at this game of having frontal lobes. Evolution hasn’t perfected it yet.

Science has long known that the frontal lobes are the last part of the brain to finish growing by finally laying down myelin sheaths around the nerve fibers. Without myelin sheaths, brain cells don’t function properly. The age at which that happens is inexact, but most states have recognized that age as 22. How do we know this? Look at how states define “developmental” disability, which is a disability that prevents normal functioning and that can show itself anytime during a child’s growth and development. People with developmental disabilities are given varying amounts of assistance by states. Special Education is an example of that assistance. Group homes with trained staff is another. In the old days, states built large institutional “training schools” for such children. The nearby Wassaic Developmental Center comes to mind, as does the Southbury Training School. Both Connecticut and New York State define a “developmental” disability as one that develops before the brain has finished developing” and that is set at 22 years. The state of Georgia separates out “intellectual disability” and “developmental disability” with age 18 for the former and 22 for the latter. The age at which the brain finishes developing is the age at which the states providing developmental assistance cease to do so and is the age at which we might be considered “grown up”.

The boy in Georgia is not grown up. He has an immature brain. He was driven to do what he did by a bunch of emotions over which he had no effective frontal lobe control. To try him as an adult is a travesty. People who insist on revenge have their own frontal lobe immaturity issues.

Anna Timell

Cornwall

Another success story for Salisbury housing

The Salisbury Housing Trust has just helped another local family to purchase a home that is affordable here in Salisbury. This would not be possible without strong community support and our donors. The new owners work locally and up until now, it was impossible for them to even think of becoming homeowners in the town they love.

For the Salisbury Housing Trust to create affordable housing opportunities, it truly takes a large community effort to make it a reality. In this case, the following have all helped: Roger Rawlings of Resource Valuation Group; Susan Dickinson of Litchfield Bancorp; Neil White and Terri Carlson of Cramer and Anderson; The Law Office of Kevin Nelligan; Corrine Hammond and finally Ryan Cooper and his employees who helped to pick up donated furniture for the new owners.

The Salisbury Housing Trust has for decades been active in the building and or renovating homes in Salisbury to create opportunities for families to realize their dream of homeownership. The Housing Trust retains the land which we lease to the home owners to help reduce their property taxes and establish deed restrictions to keep the homes affordable now and into the future. For more information, please visit our web site at: www.salisburycthousing.org, where you will also find how to apply for future Housing Trust homes.

Thanks to everyone for your generosity.

Salisbury Housing Trust Executive Board

John Harney

Jennifer Kronholm Clark

Margaret Monaco

Karen Sunnarborg

A vote for Stephen Harding

As a recent college graduate living in Connecticut, I know firsthand how challenging it can be to build a future in this state. Young people like myself are faced with high living costs, making it difficult to stay here after graduation. We need leaders who actively work to make Connecticut more affordable for young professionals and families.

This is one of the many reasons I’m supporting Stephen Harding in his re-election campaign for the 30th State Senate District. Senator Harding has consistently fought for policies that ease the financial burdens on young people, whether it’s by advocating for lower taxes, calling on the legislature to go into an emergency session to find a solution to the absurdly high electric rates we have to pay, or by working to ensure that our communities remain attractive places to live and work.

Senator Harding understands the issues we face and is committed to making sure that Connecticut doesn’t lose its young talent to other states. His dedication to fiscal responsibility and his ongoing efforts to create a more affordable future make him the kind of leader we need.

I believe in Stephen Harding’s vision for Connecticut, and I encourage my fellow graduates and young professionals to support him in this important election.

Eric Green

Torrington

Voting 3rd Party is Not A Spoiler Vote

For the upcoming presidential election, I plan to vote for Jill Stein, the candidate of the Green Party. I am getting sick and tired of people telling me that I am a spoiler in that I am, in effect, voting for Trump. It’s presumptuous that such people think that I am even interested in having Harris over Trump.

I am not! I consider Harris and Trump to be bad choices. It is an affront to me for anyone to oblige me to vote for the lesser of two evils. I don’t vote for evil, even with a smiley face. Candidates have to earn my vote. If they don’t, then they are not entitled to it.

Both the Democrats and Republicans are bought by corporate and special interest groups. The lobbyists pay, and the politicians do what they are told. It is misguided to think that we have a true democracy in which our federal politicians govern according to the will of the people. And even if you do believe it, the presidential election of our “democratic” republic is nevertheless a perversion in which the electoral college, not the highest percentage of votes of the people, chooses the winner.

I cannot bring myself to vote for the egotistical, narcissistic, foul-mouthed, inarticulate, unintellectual, blowhard, criminal Trump. However, I totally get why he has so much support. People are fed up with politicians doing very little, not meeting expectations, but rather serving the interests of those bribing them on policies. So why not be nihilistic and burn down the whole place? It’s hard to disagree with them. Let the phoenix rise from the ashes.

I also cannot bring myself to vote for part of the current executive team, namely the vice president to Genocide Joe, who is directly complicit in the ongoing massacre of tens of thousands of civilians whose land has been occupied or put under siege. And then there are the unnecessary wars in Ukraine and Yemen; so there are now three wars in which our country has been a principal participant at the behest of the Democrats. Harris will do the same things supported by Biden’s and her paymasters such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the defense industry, the oil companies, the pharma companies, and all of the rest of the pay for play players. Money talks. The “liberals” are kidding themselves in thinking that their bribed politicians are somehow better.

Candidate Dr. Jill Stein is an honest candidate who accepts no campaign money from corporations and special interests. She listens to the American people and supports their interests. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party has done everything it can to prevent third parties from being on state ballots. They behave as if they are entitled to the vote of anybody who doesn’t want Trump. Their anti-democratic behavior alone is reason enough to not give them my vote. If they can’t beat the criminal Trump without squashing various third-party candidates, then they are so pathetic in their policies as to not deserve to win.

I urge people to vote third party to make a statement, and hopefully, to eventually build a movement, over time, away from the stranglehold of the duopoly of the “bought” Republicans and Democrats.

Lloyd Baroody

Lakeville

Vote Barbara Breor for the 64th District

Barbara Breor moved to Goshen on her 8th birthday and has a long history rooted in commitment to this beautiful district. Barbara is the Republican Candidate for the 64th House seat. The 64th district has a population of 24,424 people and includes the towns of Canaan, N. Canaan, Cornwall, Goshen, Kent, Norfolk, Salisbury, Sharon, and Washington. Our town of Salisbury, with 4,240 residents, is the largest, followed by Washington and Goshen.

Breor is hardworking, intelligent, fiscally responsible and cares about people, the farms, and local business. Barbara is the Town Clerk in Goshen for the past 28 years and is ingrained in the fabric of the town, many of her other roles are volunteer. She is an EMT member since 1996, past president of the Fire Dept., is the vice president and superintendent of concessions for the Goshen Agricultural Society. Breor was assistant coach of Little League, secretary of the Goshen Land Trust and the Goshen Historical Society.

The Republican candidate supports freedom of choice in many things, for example, electric vehicles should not be mandated. They are expensive to fix and maintain and would create imbalance in the economy. She supports law enforcement, police, firefighters and EMTS who put themselves in high-risk jobs for our public safety. She will advocate for farms and small businesses and opposes mandates on small businesses and statewide property tax. She is fiscally responsible and is opposed to wasteful taxpayer spending, such as excessive early voting days for minimal turnout.

Breor supports local control of schools and zoning believing it should be left to experienced municipal officials to make the decisions and not Hartford - as they face different landscapes and issues. Barbara said, “We like our trees here, people move to this area and then they want to change the very things they liked, nature, land, low mill rates and the peace and quiet.” Barbara wants to preserve and protect the natural beauty of the district’s lakes, rivers and open spaces.

Barbara is pro the Second Amendment, the right to bear arms. Typically, it is not the legal gun owners committing gun crimes and residents should be able to protect themselves. Regarding gun violence, she advocates focusing on addressing mental health issues early. Post Covid – she believes more people need access to mental health than before in all sectors of the population.

I believe Barbara represents residents of this district well and she is a conservative with heart. She lives in Goshen, with her husband Thomas and her son Adam and owns Windy Hill Farm.

Finally, you can come meet Barbara Breor at the Meet the Candidates Pizza Party at the Lakeville Town Grove on Saturday, September 21st from 2 to 4. Free, with refreshments and entertainment, sponsored by the Salisbury Republican Town Committee. You can also reach out to her at barbaraforthe64th@gmail.com or 860-491-0022 to contact her directly.

Elizabeth Ives

Salisbury