I was disappointed by your coverage of the recent hearing on changes to Hartford’s Fair and Impartial Policing policy (“Town debates policing policy,” July 18). Your photographs and your lead made it a story about angry white men. That was unfair. There was so much more to the story.
It was unfair to Simon Dennis, the chairman of the Selectboard. At the outset he acknowledged the passions on both sides of the issue and made it clear that he expected respect and consideration from everyone who spoke. He was remarkably successful, which, given the lack of civil discourse in our country, was a considerable achievement.
It was unfair to Police Chief Phil Kasten. While you managed to get a photo of him looking angry, his presentation was completely professional.
I think you unfairly represented the balance of opinion at the meeting. I believe it is safe to say that more people spoke in favor of the policy than in opposition.
Most important, it was unfair to the significant number of Hartford residents of color who spoke with passion and dignity. In your photos, they either appear unfocused or in the background and are not mentioned in print until the continuation of the article. You could have captured more of their voices. I was moved by the young black woman who spoke of her fear of the police and then turned to speak to one of the men you profile saying in a kind and caring voice, “I don’t want to hurt you.”
When you cover the meeting on July 30, at which a vote is planned on this issue, I would hope that you would not overlook the presence and voice of Hartford’s people of color. They are the ones most likely to be affected by this policy and deserve from you the same consideration and respect that they received from the Hartford Selectboard. Thank you.
LESLIE BLACK
White River Junction
In our hyperpartisan political scene, the tendency is to either seek changes that will dramatically improve things or to avoid risking current arrangements and asking the question: Is what you propose likely to take things too far, too quickly?
These tendencies are present in both political parties, though from very different perspectives. The problem is that Democratic and Republican voters are now deeply divided by race, religious belief, geography and even “way of life.” Party affiliation has become an identity. We can’t find common ground on which to respectfully disagree; the other side is the enemy. The implication is that the “center” position, or being a moderate, is an outlier at best. In fact, many commentators of different persuasions dread that the center is falling apart.
What if we think of “moderate” as a verb, as in: We’re all moderating what we do and what we think. In President Donald Trump’s world of autocracy and moral degeneracy, it can seem legitimate to respond in uncivil, Trumpian ways. We clearly need a course correction and it’s not surprising that the Democratic presidential contenders’ proposals reflect an impulse to move to the left. The Democratic candidates’ ideas are humanistic and worthy of attention. Who can doubt the value of universal child care, criminal justice reform, “Medicare for All,” free college and the like? But to achieve these goals will require significant change, which is likely to exacerbate party divisions.
How do we advocate for such changes and maintain broad public support? I think our Democratic candidates need to assure the electorate that the process for achieving goals will be context-driven. They will act like trim tabs, ensuring that the “ship of state,” our country, maintains an even keel despite the course correction.
To moderate, we Democrats can create an overarching vision providing a coherent direction to the party, advocate for ideas that will enhance democratic values, work toward mutual tolerance of different views and connect with significant segments of the electorate.
In doing so, our leaders will contribute a moderating influence for restoring balance in our society.
BOB SCOBIE
West Lebanon
President Donald Trump has two of three parts of his base: the neo-nationalist, whites-only group and the former conservative Republicans who once were concerned about debt.
Trump’s major problem is the expansion of the debt ceiling caused by his tax cut and increase in defense spending. Problem solved by misdirection: Throw the liberal Democrats some tasty bait and they will swallow it, hook, line and sinker. The bait: a dubious threat to round up “illegals” and an attack on “The Squad” of four representatives with a racial slur. Much tempest in the Democratic ranks.
Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was quietly negotiating with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to extend the debt ceiling and avoid a government shutdown. Pelosi stuck to her guns by demanding a two-year agreement instead of a temporary extension. Complete silence from conservative “Tea Party” Republicans.
The wild card: What will it take to offend the conservative Christian base that is solid for Trump?
HARVEY BAZARIAN
Hartford
The operetta Pirates of Penzance poses a paradox that allows the youthful Frederic to continue his anti-majesty pirate “duties.” Many of President Donald Trump’s nighttime tweets appear similar — paradoxes toward duty and normalcy designed to excite followers, who often respond to “incorrectness.”
On the other hand, critics and usually the press salivate with condemnation that highlights and enhances the impact of the paradox itself, but fail to clarify if it is a truly held belief or just playful mockery.
The recent taunt about several legislators who criticize the president concludes they thereby dislike our government altogether, and thus might do better by leaving. Since the president aimed these comments specifically at minority women legislators, it includes further presidential paradoxes about race and immigration, whether sincerely held or not.
Playing this verbal game of uncertainty is hilarious when framed in Queen Victoria’s time, but causes a justified uproar of mistrust and anxiety in our executive’s true intentions.
ANDREW L. TAYLOR
Grantham
I have long thought that President Donald Trump’s speeches and rallies, his words and how his audiences respond to them, are reminiscent of newsreels of Adolf Hitler addressing Nazi rallies.
When Vice President Mike Pence recently visited a border “detention facility,” that was reminiscent of newsreels of SS and Gestapo officials looking through the barbed wire fencing at prisoners in Nazi concentration camps. Pence’s visits were not that of an American official concerned with the frightened and oppressed who are yearning to be free.
The recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids to seize and deport poor and frightened immigrants are reminiscent of Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, Nov. 9, 1938, when German Nazis attacked Jews in their homes and businesses, seized them and sent them to concentration camps.
In April 1945, two weeks before the Nazi surrender, my father, serving in the American Army, wrote to my mother from Germany: “Things are still a bit confused over here. … I hope that the people back home don’t think that the atrocity stories that appear in the papers are just a lot of higher headquarters propaganda. As I wrote you once before, I saw one of them personally and I have no reason to believe that the others are any more made up than the one I saw. I am afraid that there will be an epidemic of them as this thing draws to a ‘close.’ ”
That was Nazi Germany. What are we witnessing here in America today? Is this the “more perfect union” that the Founding Fathers dreamed of when they wrote the Constitution and sought to “secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity”?
JOHN MUDGE
Lyme
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