Our national security is in peril

“All roads with you lead to Putin” said Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, confronting President Donald Trump at a recent White House meeting.

Indeed.

Who does the president profess to believe when asked if Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. elections? Not the unanimous conclusion of his own intelligence agencies, but Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Who is the beneficiary of Trump’s frequent attacks on our European allies? Who benefits when the U.S. withholds money needed for Ukraine’s defense against Russia to try to force a desperate country to create a false narrative about his Democratic opponent? Who gains ground in Syria and Turkey when Trump abandons the Kurds, our allies in Syria, to slaughter? Who gets access to the 30 or so U.S. nuclear weapons still in Turkey?

Vladimir Putin does.

Putin is a former KGB spy who has journalists and his own people murdered to maintain his hold on the Russian narrative and his and the Russian oligarchy’s money and power. This is the man that our president would, and may yet, try to emulate.

Before the election in 2016 there was near universal agreement in this country that Russia must be contained on the world stage. Have we all lost our minds now?

I hope the Republicans will understand that our national security is being imperiled and that unacceptable precedents are being established. They must speak out and condemn President Trump’s actions in support of Putin.

DON COLLINS

Lebanon

It’s hard to change beliefs that are strongly held

I believe that character, competence, discipline and stability are important requisites for the presidency of the United States. These transcend political beliefs. By these measures, Donald Trump is not qualified to be president. He is simply unable to get beyond his own ego and narcissism.

He has little curiosity and has admitted that he does little to no reading. He does not have the patience to learn about the complexities of governing, believing that his gut instincts will be adequate for the job, no matter how difficult the problem. Simple answers to complex problems is not a sound leadership attribute and ultimately can lead to disastrous results.

He was elected by people who feel left behind, and in many respects their grievances are legitimate. He was elected by people who feel the nation has been moving too far to the left, and there are some legitimate arguments for that view. However, they did not understand nor take into consideration the basic character of the man. He often displays a deep ignorance of how our system works and, more important, an ignorance of the shared values of our society. And his erratic behavior is creating, almost daily, anxiety within the nation and around the world.

However, for his supporters to change their strongly held belief in him would be pretty tough. It is now known that, for nearly everyone, the ability to receive and accept contrary information about a strongly held belief most often results in a strengthening of that belief. The reason is that to admit to error is pretty hard for anyone to do.

PAUL BIDWELL

New London

Tulsi Gabbard ready to serve as commander in chief

As an independent voter, I forced myself to watch the fourth Democratic “debate.” Unfortunately, there wasn’t much of a debate. The forum is lousy to begin with, and it was really a promotion piece for “Hillary 2.0” — U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren. The program was so lousy and slanted that one of my avid Trump supporter friends called from Utah and asked if I was watching this crap. He was very concerned that U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and others were being ignored.

My candidate, Gabbard, had considered boycotting the debate as both CNN and The New York Times (the debate hosts) had published disparaging articles about her in the days before. With Gabbard getting about 6 minutes of airtime and Elizabeth Warren getting 24, I guess we know who the Democratic National Committee, CNN and The New York Times have anointed as their presidential candidate.

Some will say that Gabbard and other “second tier” candidates aren’t polling well. I don’t know how you can possibly get a poll in this day and age. My wife and I have gotten to the point that, if our phone doesn’t recognize the incoming number, we are not answering. Even then if we recognize the number, there is a good chance it is not who we assume it is. It’s pretty much the same with email.

I will continue to support Gabbard as she is the only candidate who has voter appeal from Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Libertarians, etc. She is 38 years old and has served 16 years in the military (she missed the third debate as she was tied up serving her two weeks duty in Indonesia), including two combat tours in the Middle East. In her seven years as a representative for Hawaii, she has served on several committees that give her the best experience to assume the position of commander in chief on Day One.

I urge anyone not familiar with Tulsi Gabbard to go to her website, tulsi2020.com, and check her out.

GARY HUTCHINS

Enfield