Letters to the Editor - July 17, 2025

Trump keeps winning; Democrats keep whining

During Donald Trump’s first term as president, he threatened to leave NATO unless the European countries paid their fair share. Democrats screamed that Trump was destroying this critical alliance.

Now, in Trump’s second term, the Europeans have pledged to raise their defense spending from 2 percent to 5 percent, adding over a trillion dollars a year to their share and lessening our obligation.

Making NATO more equitable was Trump’s intent all along. His threat to leave it was a ruse that worked. The Democrats were clueless.

Similarly, when Trump struck Iran’s nuclear facilities, Democrats screamed that he was causing a constitutional crisis by not getting Congressional approval. But Trump was simply following precedents set by presidents of both parties. The mission was a success. The Iranian program was set back by months or years. No American lives were lost. The world is safer for it.

Los Angeles was also made safer when Trump deployed National Guard troops during leftist riots there. Democrats again screamed Nazi and fascist. But Trump halted any chance of the widespread death and destruction so often caused by violent Democratic protesters in Democrat-run cities.

The shrieking left also painted Trump’s Army anniversary parade as a goose-stepping Cold War spectacle. Instead, it was a patriotic, well-deserved tribute and a fine tune-up for the nation’s 250th birthday next year.

In other victories for Trump, the Supreme Court ruled that district court judges exceeded their authority in issuing nationwide injunctions against his executive order on birthright citizenship. The high court also found that school children cannot be force-fed transgender and LGBTQ indoctrination that their parents don’t want. And some schools are finally banning transgender athletes from women’s sports.

In all these cases, Trump was not the constitutional threat. It was liberal zealots in classrooms, locker rooms and judicial chambers.

On the economy, Trump’s new trade deals are moving ahead. The stock market has regained all it lost during the initial tariff turmoil and is now setting records. Inflation is low, employment is strong, and blue-collar wages have seen their best growth in three generations.

On the border, sanity and the rule of law now prevail. Illegal crossings are at their lowest levels since the 1960s. Criminals are being deported. The left grandstands about “due process” but had no problem when Barack Obama deported three million without it.

On Independence Day, Trump signed the new GOP Congressional spending bill. For Trump and the GOP, it’s win after win.

Democrats, meanwhile, running around like chickens with their heads cut off, nominated for mayor of New York City a Democratic socialist who wants to achieve income redistribution through higher taxation on white neighborhoods. Good luck with that.

Democracy and the constitution are just fine. It’s the Dems who are in big trouble.

Mark Godburn

Norfolk

Lime Rock’s Nascar event was more than our community can handle

The weekend of June 27, 2025, a NASCAR event occurred at the Lime Rock Racetrack. From various reports, it was attended by over 15,000 people. It was a major event and more than our community can handle.

There was not sufficient notice of the parameters of this event — not only the noise but the negative effects to the community including detours, road blockings, which created severe traffic problems. For anyone close to the track, the noise was extremely loud. The road closures on Route 112 created a nightmare for the residents.

Not only was there insufficient notification, but whatever was discussed in the notification was way understated. There were detours that were published, but it turned out that those were not accurate and were not the same as the actual routes imposed by the detours. It made it extremely difficult for anyone who lived in the neighborhood to get to their residence. As I understand it, the proper disclosures were not made to many representatives who should have known about the breadth of this event.

We consider ourselves lucky to reside in this lovely area. One could say it is akin to the fictional Shangri-La. A major event like this should not be permitted in the future.

Mike Nachwalter

Lakeville