Dear editor:
Well, it appears that the POTUS' attempt to "drain the swamp" is not going so well. We have seen 17 of his administration either resign or get fired for either lying or spending too much of our tax money.
Judging by these acts, it seems the "swamp" got larger, not smaller, as the administration grew. A report by "Public Citizen," a nonpartisan consumer advocacy group (for the benefit of the one-third population dedicated to continuing support of the POTUS, that means a group attempting to protect taxpayers from fraud) has found that the "swamp" of lobbyists appears to have grown during the last nine months, with scores of former campaign staffers and transition workers parlaying their "connections" into big cash.
Evidence: 44 registered federal lobbyists with ties to either the POTUS or his Vice President Pence have collectively billed nearly $41.8 million through Aug. 31 (that's eight months of the administration).
It's a fact that transition workers received guidelines to avoid lobbying activities for six months, but those guidelines were ignored, obviously. On record are 17 of those 44 who engaged in lobbying during the first six months, taking in a total of $14.9 million. Tax dollars were used to pay those transition workers' salaries. In addition to this information, several new lobbying organizations began in Washington, fewer than two weeks after the inauguration of the POTUS. A complete report of these questionable acts can be gleaned from the Public Citizen online site.
Of course, the one-third population still strongly supportive of the POTUS will probably call this "fake news," as they seem to call anything of fact that does not cast the POTUS in good light. They all seem so misled they are a modern-day example of Plato's tunnel, where the man inside calls the light ahead "false" until he finally gets out of the end of it, curious about that light that gets larger, and when he finds himself outside in the sunlight, he finds the "truth" difficult to accept.
I am certain that such local writers like Hoffman and Robinson will deny the report of Public Citizen, because they, along with several other regular writers, are strong supporters of the POTUS and almost always either avoid the issue of "facts" presented with substitute tangents or simply deny.
They usually label anyone who disagrees with this corrupt administration as "crybaby liberals (they love labels that are inclusive) who are leading our country into perdition. It's strange to me that such supporters pull the "religion" card and cite scriptures and preach to those who disagree, wearing their own religion on their sleeves. I suggest that such writers bother to read the four gospels of the teaching of Jesus (whom they proclaim to follow) and discover what He really is reported to have said. If any one great teacher despised those Jewish leaders of the times pulling out their little scripture containers handing around their necks, it was He.
Try to have a good week; it's difficult, I know, with our administration in chaos most of the time, but giving a smile to someone might relieve the stress.
John W. "Doc" Crawford
Hot Springs
Editorial on 10/12/2017