Rubens Can’t Make Case for Trump

Jim Rubens’ June 15 Forum letter that ran under the headline “Why I Support Donald Trump” is unconvincing. I don’t buy that he believes Trump has a clear national security vision, or that Trump’s garbled pronouncements on the economy and trade amount to a plan for increasing middle-class jobs and wages. Rubens is too smart not to recognize that almost everything Trump says is at once factually challenged and manipulative.

In this year’s anti-establishment environment, Rubens’ efforts to place daylight between himself and incumbent Kelly Ayotte make sense. However, Rubens used to exercise his maverick streak responsibly: insisting that environmental policy be guided by facts, and that New Hampshire take a long-term view on legalized gambling.

I can see no excuse for Rubens’ embrace of Trump other than ambition. Case in point: Trump infamously asserts that an Indiana-born jurist, Gonzalo Curiel, should recuse himself from the fraud lawsuit against Trump and his “university” because his parents came from Mexico and Trump has said disparaging things about Mexicans. Even Trump allies have called his comments “racist” and “inexcusable,” but Trump has both a lawsuit and an election to win, common decency be damned. Such comments by a President Trump would go beyond being divisive and counter to our traditions. They would have destructive practical implications. If a defendant could get a judge removed from a trial simply by saying offensive things about his or her heritage or gender, chaos would ensue, and there is no reason to expect Trump’s lack of regard for an independent judiciary or the contempt he has expressed repeatedly for the checks and balances built into our system of government to melt away if he were to take charge of the executive branch.

The Trump playbook says that if someone challenges you, push back much, much harder, but our Constitution did not envision nuclear weapons. Voters should not give the reins of power to candidates who are willing to do or say anything to get their support, whether they are running for Congress or for the White House.

Chip Fleischer

Hanover

Learn About Asperger’s

Thank you for the inspiring article about Lebanon’s Terran Campbell (“I Just Hit It Back to Them,” June 7). Most of us know little about Asperger’s syndrome and do not know how to react to those who seem unable or unwilling to act in accordance with societal norms.

This can lead to intense frustration and isolation for those who exhibit the symptoms of the condition — and to misunderstanding, breakdowns in communication and too often cruelty from those who interact with them. I encourage everyone — but particularly doctors, teachers, mental health professionals, social service workers and anyone else who works with people, to read the book, Look Me in the Eye: My Life With Asperger’s by John Elder Robison, a man who successfully navigated the turbulent waters of the syndrome without knowing the cause of his inability to communicate normally until he was well into adulthood.

Like Terran, Robison was extremely talented. Mercilessly taunted by his peers, Robison credits the adults in his life who were willing to communicate with him on his own terms for enabling him not only to cope, but to succeed. Terran has also been lucky to have such understanding adults in his life. Kudos to his parents, Dr. Steven Atkins, Hank Doran, Billy Pontious and his teammates for recognizing the fine young man inside. Others are not so lucky, but perhaps after reading Robison’s book, more of us will be able to recognize the syndrome and be more supportive of those who do not seem to conform to society’s conventions. By doing so, we may even find our own lives enriched.

Cappy Nunlist

Lebanon

‘Valley News’ Makes My Head Spin

Let us once again recognize Steve Nelson’s skill in using thoughtful prose to twist the minds of Valley News readers with his illogic. Nelson makes the incredible claim that those who offer charges of racism without evidence are “not capable of racism” themselves, “because racism requires power.” Would Nelson really have us believe that there is no racism in the poor white, redneck South? There is, of course. Why cannot it also exist in the black inner city, or among elite college students of black as well as white color?

Nelson inserted himself into Dartmouth affairs, initiating contact with “several other students of color” to ascertain if they were troubled by a tenure decision marred by racial overtones. He then took the college to task on its guidelines for faculty promotions and tenure. Centered as they should be on professional academic accomplishment, they do not, he complained, take racial diversity into account. Would that not also be racist? Indeed, isn’t any act that is not color-blind racist by definition? Or does Nelson want to walk a fine line between good and bad racism?

In the same Opinion section, the Valley News raised the topic of Donald Trump making a judge’s ethnic background a concern in his legal proceeding, the paper writing that Trump is a racist or worse, a racial manipulator. Does the paper also believe that the million people signing a petition to remove the judge in the Stanford rape case are also all racists, if they argue his white male privilege makes him incapable of judging such cases?

My head spins to see so much leaping from one side of the fence to the other.

Tim Dreisbach

South Royalton

The Loss From Drugs

Three people died in the Upper Valley from opiates or heroin in the last 45 days. I knew one of them. With the exception of the environment, the carnage of the drug trade is the single greatest threat today. It laps at our humanity. It suffocates our compassion. It breeds poverty and despair.

Don’t give in to fear; legalize all drugs. Believe life is worth living and share that love with everyone you know.

Matt Cardillo

Sharon

Moral Duty and Trump

While driving home on a recent Friday afternoon, I was fortunate to catch NPR’s Week in Politics broadcast involving guest columnists E.J. Dionne of The Washington Post and David Brooks of The New York Times. In the NPR broadcast recording, as well as in his June 10 column, Brooks thoughtfully articulates why Paul Ryan and (by implication) other members of the Republican Party leadership are “morally wrong” to support Donald Trump, and that by doing so, act contrary to fundamental principles of their party (and for that matter, society in general).

In particular, I found the following statement by Brooks to be exceptionally insightful: “Ryan’s position is just morally wrong. To be united with a person on policy grounds even though you think he’s a racist is to invert the normal values of humanity. The normal values of humanity and of candidates is that culture and character come first, and that’s fundamental and foundational, and candidates have to pass a basic threshold as a decent human being before you can even think about their policies. And you can’t paper over a moral chasm because you agree with their tax-reform plan.”

Brooks is saying to Ryan that he understands his position and the rationale for his actions but that he and the party must do the morally right thing, even at this juncture, and dump Trump.

I highly recommend that readers check out the transcript of the June 10 NPR broadcast as well as David Brooks’ June 10 column.

Also worth noting is E.J. Dionne’s zinger twist of a famous Love Story catchphrase: “Endorsing Donald Trump means always having to say you’re sorry.”

Jim Lacombe

Grantham

Thanks for the Support

As co-chair of this year’s American Cancer Society Relay For Life of Greater Lebanon, I would like to thank everyone for their generosity and support. Nineteen teams joined in this year’s Relay For Life and raised over $41,000. That $41,000 means that 4,000 cancer patients can get rides to treatment; or 800 people receiving cancer treatments can receive a free wig; or 500 people can be provided lodging assistance while in treatment; and so much more.

Thirty-five cancer survivors walked the opening lap and inspired those currently battling cancer, then enjoyed a luncheon to celebrate their victory over cancer. Our luminaria ceremony showed the community’s warmth and caring for loved ones who have faced cancer, both living and those who are no longer with us.

Thanks to our 47 community volunteers who donated over 180 hours that weekend. And thanks to our corporate sponsors. The planning is already beginning for 2017. Save the date, Saturday, June 3. To get involved, or for more information, visit RelayForLife.org or call the American Cancer Society office for our area at 866-466-0626 or 802-872-6300.

Norma Alley

Co-Chair, Relay for Life of Greater Lebanon 2016

Take Better Care of the Land

I was disappointed to see a large wooded lot cleared during bird-nesting season on Morgan Drive in Lebanon. I thought this would be a good opportunity to remind myself and your readers of how human activity impacts wildlife. I understand the need for development and the importance of maintaining our economy and keeping sustainable jobs in northern New England. However, we need to balance consumerism and development with preservation of our environment.

Please consider clearing land and bird habitat in the fall and winter months to avoid destruction of bird nests. I hope the developers and future condominium owners appreciate the sacrifice that was made in clearing this land, particularly in the spring. I walked by the site shortly after it was cleared and it was a chaotic scene with frantic bird activity and a doe with her newborn fawn.

The National Audubon Society is an excellent resource for information on ecologically minded development and how we can reduce our impact on our surroundings. I ask the developer and investors of the Morgan Drive project to consider making a donation to a charitable environmental organization and in the future take better care of our environment.

Benjamin Boh

Lebanon

Tip of the Cap to Athletes

Your “Athletes of the Year” supplement is an excellent piece of work. The photographs are imaginative and full of life; the copy is thorough and well-researched; the sports card motif is a stroke of inspiration. It’s very clear that your staff had their hearts in this project, and I assure you the result was outstanding.

Grander publications than the Valley News also undertake to produce a supplement to honor scholastic athletes, but I’ve seen none that conveyed the joy of games as yours did. Your contributors brought honor to high school sports, to the young people who were deemed the best of the best, and to your newspaper.

Tom Turkington

Lyme