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Letters to the Editor - May 8, 2025
May 07, 2025
After 100 days, Trump has totally outsmarted and outclassed the Democrats
After Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office, he has totally outsmarted, outclassed and outplayed the Democrats.
For all Trump’s myriad faults, the Democrats are worse. That goes for veracity, decorum, cognitive ability, fealty to democracy, hypocrisy — you name it.
The Democrats and media just gave us four years of the biggest con job of modern times — the coverup of a sitting president’s unfitness for office. New books are showing just how bad Joe Biden really was during his shadowy term.
Trump, by contrast, is in front of the cameras every day. He never stops talking. He has remarkable energy, vigor, memory and acuity for 78. He has already answered more press questions in three months than Biden did in four years.
Trump exaggerates and self-promotes, but so do the Dems. Trump just lacks their political veneer. He’s an honest liar, so to speak. You know where he stands, and he delivers on promises. Regardless of how much he golfs, he gets more done each week than Congress does each year. Tee it up!
Trump is smarter than the Democrats. He learned a lot from his first term. The perpetual war waged against him is just as fierce this time around, but Trump was ready for it this time. He learned how to play the game.
That’s why he and Elon Musk have taken a sledgehammer to government reduction and bureaucratic red tape. They have to. If they tried to cut incrementally, the Democrats would block every step.
Trump has also mellowed. He texts less and is more disciplined. And unlike Biden, whose strings were pulled by his staff, Trump runs his own team.
Like most Americans, Trump wants to fix tariff imbalances and trade deficits. The Democrats and press reflexively fight him every step of the way. But new trade deals are in the works, and we just signed a rare-earth minerals deal with Ukraine. Trump is shaking up the planet. It needs it. The old status quo is out. Gaza as the new Riviera? Good idea.
On the border, the lying Dems insisted there was no crisis even as they let in millions of illegals. Trump fixed it in 100 days. Illegal entries are down by 99.9 percent! Order at the border - as promised!
As always, the Dems resist. They demand the return of a deported immigrant from El Salvador, claiming he didn’t get “due process.” Meanwhile, they support a liberal judge who just helped another escape due process by allegedly sneaking him out of her Milwaukee courthouse to evade ICE arrest. That judge belongs in jail.
The Democrats are leaderless, rudderless and clueless. Their agenda is indefensible, so they just chant and scream and call Trump a dictator, fascist and Nazi. No substance, just noise.
All this sound and fury signifying nothing is why the Dems are hemorrhaging supporters. They’re running on empty. Their old cliches don’t work anymore. They’re outplayed, outsmarted and outclassed.
Mark Godburn
Norfolk
Watching protests, remembering ancestors
While watching all the protests taking place across the country recently, it occurred to methat probably every one of those people I could see on the TV screen had an ancestor who came to this country because he/she couldn’t stand being pushed around.
From the Mayflower passengers to the recent southern border immigrants, covering a span of five hundred years, these people have been saying to themselves, “I’m not going to take this any longer! I’m going to get on a ship (or cross the desert) and go to America!”
And these ancestors usually found that when they got here, they might have been very hungry and very cold (or hot) and unsheltered, but at least there was no king or dictator here with the power of life or death over them. The government told them that they were free people and could become citizens, and they did.
Donald Trump’s grandfather did that. He came to this country from Germany to avoid the draft — possible death in warfare. So did my late husband’s grandfather. As young men, these German citizens were told they must die for a king’s whim, like it or not. So they came here instead. And, my mother-in-law’s ancestors came to Massachusetts from England in 1630 to avoid King Charles I’s religious restrictions, which could lead to conscription in civil war, or to death by execution for disobedience. Here, the king’s army didn’t have the power to grab them, or had been rendered powerless by defeat by our Founding Fathers.
All these young men would have been horrified to hear about what our present president Donald Trump is doing to American citizens and legal immigrants today. So are all their descendants now. No wonder they are protesting! And no wonder the crowds are so huge. Every one of those protesters — those who aren’t immigrants themselves, like me — would have had an ancestor who wasn’t going to be pushed around. It’s in their blood!
Gaile Binzen
Salisbury
Prayer Day gratitude
With grateful hearts, we offer our thanks to the wonderful Lakeville/Salisbury community members who came together on May 1 and celebrated the 74th National Day of Prayer.
From the glorious music and singing led by musician Michael Brown at the keyboard, to the heartfelt prayers given by community members, God’s goodness, hope and encouragement was availed to all.We so appreciate all the participants, from different walks of life, who led prayers for the government, all fire, police, and emergency workers, military/veterans, schools, churches, families, the arts/media, and businesses.
Thank you to those who took time out of their busy lives and came together as a community, united in prayer.Prayer is as vital to us now as it was to our founding fathers who prayed for God’s wisdom in the forming of this great nation.As Pres. John F. Kennedy so eloquently said, “Let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking God’s help and blessing.”
Marcia and Paul Ramunni
Salisbury
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Turning Back the Pages
May 07, 2025
125 years ago — May 1900
SALISBURY — Billy Washington is the proud possessor of a new wheel.
Geo. McCann seems to be a successful fisherman. On Wednesday he returned from Twin Lakes with a fine lot of pickerel, which were estimated to weigh over 30 pounds.
The E.W. Spurr Co. have received from Prof. Tucker, the New York State Chemist, a certificate of analysis which certifies that Devoe Lead and Zinc is made only of lead, zinc, color, turpentine dryer and linseed oil; nothing else; no adulteration.
SHARON — Miss Nenah Ryan has lost a very valuable Angora cat. She would be very glad for any information concerning its whereabouts.
LIME ROCK — More than the usual amount of sickness has prevailed among our citizens this spring. Mrs. F. Brasie has been ill for some weeks from inflammation on the eyes, but is now around again. Frank Cashdollar is recovering from pneumonia. James Cummings has one of the regular grip colds which everyone has experienced lately. Victor Quillard, who has been afflicted with paralysis of the spine since last fall, remains about the same.
LIME ROCK — Michael Dunn and Miss Mary Malcuit were married last Thursday. The house on Elm Avenue, last occupied by Mr. Lamont, had been made ready and the young couple began housekeeping at once. Mrs. Dunn was taken sick with measles the following day, but is now recovering.
Many of our farmers have been plowing the past week.
The enumerators who will take the twelfth census will be required to wear badges, 60,000 of which have been ordered by the government. When you see a man approaching wearing on his breast a big German silver shield, surmounted by an eagle and engraved with the legend “United States Census, 1900” get down the family Bible and be prepared to give names and ages of your household on demand.
“Dick,” the family horse of W.B. Perry, died Monday morning in spite of great efforts to save his life. He was a faithful old steed, and has been owned by Mr. Perry for 19 years. His age was 21 years.
100 years ago — May 1925
Mrs. Ora Hoysradt has received word from the war department at Brooklyn that the remains of her son, Sergeant William Ostrander, who was killed while in action in France, will arrive May 11th. At this writing it is not possible to announce any definite plans for interment.
The countryside is now presenting a very beautiful appearance in its new green dress with the floral trimmings of early spring. This is the time of year when one is glad to live in the country. The lawn mower is now taking its innings.
50 years ago — May 1975
Two men, one armed, held up the Edgewood Restaurant on Route 343 near Amenia Wednesday mid-afternoon, escaping with $5,000. No injuries were reported. The New York State Police immediately set up road blocks in Amenia and on the Connecticut border and a helicopter scanned the area trying to locate a blue van allegedly used as the getaway vehicle. Connecticut police were assisting. The robbers were both believed to be about 5’ 11” tall and 180 pounds. They were wearing denim jackets, blue jeans, ski masks and gloves at the time of the holdup. As The Journal went to press the police, as one Amenia resident put it, were “hot on the trail of suspects.”
An overnight explosion of red algae in Lakeville’s Lake Wononscopomuc late last week brought residents to the lakeshore by the droves, curious to see for themselves the water’s condition. The reddish algae, which for a time late last week were the consistency of jelly or pudding, floated on the surface frightening many residents and fishermen, and even baffling and amazing state scientists who visited the lake Tuesday to take samples and water measurements.
Four Northwest Corner towns are expected to join forces shortly in the operation of two separate solid waste transfer stations. Salisbury and Sharon will cooperate in the use of a facility to be built by Salisbury on a tract acquired by the town a short distance south of The Hotchkiss School on the west side of Route 41. Kent and Cornwall are in extensive discussions with representatives of the State Department of Solid Waste Management about building a transfer station in the vicinity of the present Kent town dump near the Cornwall-Kent border.
Carol Crawford, 12, is the first girl to ever make Millerton’s Little League team. Coach Craig Summers said that she is “a good ball player. If she wasn’t she wouldn’t have made the team.” He said that her teammates treat her just like any other player.
Lakeville firemen extinguished a fire last Wednesday evening in a bedroom at the home of Mr. and Mrs. James Metz on Smith Hill in Salisbury. The blaze reportedly started when a lamp fell over, igniting some bedding. It was confined to the master bedroom, which was extensively damaged, nearby rooms suffered some smoke damage.
The dog-gonedest things happen to a dog warden these days. The other day Salisbury Dog Warden Hezekiah Goodwin received a telephone call from Canaan Dog Warden Alfred Thomen about a dog marooned on an island in the Housatonic River. As First Selectman Charlotte Reid related the story, because the island was closer to Salisbury, the canine became Salisbury’s responsibility and Mr. Goodwin had to hunt up a boat and go after the creature. But by the time he got there the dog was gone.
25 years ago — May 2000
Work on the Holley House Museum has begun on a top-to-bottom renovation that will include structural work on basement floors, floor joists, columns and stone walls. Repairs will be done on the roof, chimneys, porches and wood siding. John Milton Holley, a wealthy industrialist, built the temple-fronted segment of the house in 1808-1809. It’s located a stone’s throw from the Salisbury blast furnace that he owned. The original wing of the house was built in 1768 for the furnace’s then-owner and iron master, Richard Smith.
During her visit to the state House of Representatives, Rachel Bronson, a sixth-grader at Lee H. Kellogg School in Falls Village, was struck by how chaotic the chamber was. “Everyone was talking at once,” she said in awe-struck tones. “I don’t think anyone was listening to the person that was speaking.” She also noted that “almost everyone in the room was talking on their cell phones.”
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Scents and sensibility
May 07, 2025
You may have missed the barrage of television commercials dredging up one of our most intimate concerns — body odor. Often a music video featuring very active and sweaty people or a scientific-looking authority figure in a white lab coat informs us that perspiration oozes everywhere all the time. Underarm protection is not enough. Fortunately, there is a solution to this recently manufactured need: whole body deodorant.
Marketing strategies exploiting our insecurities and anxieties can be counted on to sell almost anything. Implying a sexual deficiency with a testimonial from a professional sports figure, usually male, is particularly effective. Often, the word “clinical” is bandied about before a disclaimer in tiny print informs us that there is no FDA testing or approval.
Playing on our deepest fears not only moves merchandise but also guarantees that very few will risk embarrassment and complain about a worthless product.When former Dallas Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson was hawking male enhancement pills I doubt that many men called the state attorney general’s office when results didn’t “measure up.” Sports personalities Doug Flutie and Frank Thomas promote a dietary supplement that’s been “clinically researched” to boost testosterone levels for men. The cringey tagline “… and she’ll like it too” adds just enough sexism and misogyny to put them in the snake oil hall of fame.
The cringey tagline “… and she’ll like it too” adds just enough sexism and misogyny to put them in the snake oil hall of fame.
It is tempting to blame or credit modern technology and our moral failings for the plethora of dubious solutions to real and imagined problems. In fact, all of this has its roots in the late 19th century. Before social media, before the internet, before television, before radio … there was Lydia Pinkham. The daughter of staunch abolitionists from Lynn, Massachusetts. Lydia Pinkham in 1876 pioneered mass marketing and the use of testimonials to sell Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound for menstrual and menopausal problems. It was an herbal-alcohol “women’s tonic” dismissed as quackery by a medical community generally apathetic to women’s health issues. In fairness to Pinkham and other purveyors of so-called patent medicines of the era, what passed for prescription drugs were often not very effective and sometimes more dangerous than home remedies. But it was her marketing approach that changed everything.
Lydia Pinkham put her own likeness on the label and marketed directly to women. She solicited their concerns and opinions and incorporated them into her advertisements. Shining a light on women’s health issues won her a legion of fans and a lot of sales. A reformulated version, Lydia Pinkham Liquid Herbal Supplement, is still available today at CVS and Walgreens, $17 at Amazon.
While body odor is generally considered unpleasant, sometimes our noses can mislead us. Conservatively, the underarm deodorant market is worth $8 billion. Armpits are approximately 4% of our body surface so convincing people to use whole body deodorant increases the market to $200 billion.
Now, take a deep breath.
Smells like money.
M.A. Duca is a resident of Twin Lakes, narrowly focused on everyday life.
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