I love the line in the Pledge of Allegiance, “with liberty and justice for all.” I am concerned that principle is being violated now. When people are taken from their homes or workplaces without due process, that is not liberty and justice. When people who are barely able to make ends meet or get through their day due to health problems are required to work eighty hours a month for Medicaid, this is not justice for all. When I think about those unfairly imprisoned in El Salvador and now at Alligator Alcatraz I am dismayed, almost despondent. Sometimes I think, “What can I do?”
My action might be small, but I stand at the Lebanon Green in front of the emerging fire station with a protest sign, every Thursday from 5 to 5:45 p.m. That is my way of saying what is happening is not OK. The beautiful part is that it builds community when I stand beside my neighbors and share concerns. I’ve made new connections and learned more about how to promote democracy and well-being for all.
Julia Neily
Lebanon
What the Valley stands for
More than 59,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza, including more than 17,000 children. This is not a distant tragedy — it is a moral crisis we cannot ignore.
I live in the Upper Valley, and I’ve always believed this community stands for compassion and human dignity. That’s why I’m calling on our congressional delegation to demand an immediate cease-fire, full access for humanitarian aid, and independent investigations into alleged war crimes.
The U.S. provides military and diplomatic support to Israel. If we stay silent as aid is blocked and civilians are starved, we become complicit in that suffering.
This isn’t about politics — it’s about humanity. Let’s prove the Valley stands on the side of life, justice, and accountability.
Charles E. Ray
Hanover
Cruelty is the point
One of the defining characteristics of despots (Josef Stalin, Adolph Hitler, Vladimir Putin, Mao Zedong) is cruelty. How does our current President stack up?
Trump has constructed a gulag of ICE concentration camps, warehousing overwhelmingly brown and black immigrants for deportation. Trump no longer pretends that these are violent criminals; often they are law-abiding, tax-paying individuals who perform essential jobs in our economy. And sometimes even tourists! Masked, unidentified ICE thugs summon images of the SS rounding up Jews.
Trump has turned a blind eye to war crimes and genocide in Gaza, in anticipation of displacing Palestinians to create a Gaza Riviera. Meanwhile, civilians in Ukraine are being killed daily by drone and missile attacks, while Trump drags his feet in sending promised arms. The virtual elimination of USAID funding for health services and disease prevention will likely cause 14 million deaths, including 4.5 children under 5) by 2030, according to The Lancet.
Here at home, the most vulnerable among us have had their health care and food assistance cut to give tax breaks to the wealthy. Our children and grandchildren have been handed more crushing debt from the BBB, have watched the Education Department being dismantled, and cannot expect any help to ease their anxiety about science-confirmed climate change. FEMA assistance after disasters? Not so much. Nonpartisan federal workers are being fired sometimes arbitrarily (e.g. NASA) and always with the intent to “Put them in trauma,” (Russell Vought). Trump continues to persecute and punish perceived enemies. Is this America being Great Again?
Allan MacDonald
New London