Dear editor:
A lot of Republicans are dropping out of the political arena by not running for re-election this fall. Before they do, I believe they will pass as much legislation as possible to appease the corporations they hope to go to work for as lobbyists or other shills once they leave office. This legislation will be passed with the intention of weakening any regulation that hinders these corporate interests intent on stripping the country of its resources before there is nothing left to exploit. The results will be that next November we will elect replacements with the idea they will fix what has been done to our country. They will have pieces and remnants of our country to try and reassemble after they are sworn in in January.
The tax bill passed last year will take effect after the first of the year, at which time the Democrats will probably be in control and the fault will not be in the Republicans' hands, but in theirs when the country crashes. Ergo, they are in power, therefore they are to blame. It has worked throughout the history of our country. Leave a mess so the incoming Congress can't do anything but clean it up and be blamed for the consequences.
The Second Amendment has been used as a tool to divide and control, much as abortion after it was approved as a woman's right to choose. Although it's still an issue with some voters, it's not as strong as the fear of losing one's guns.
We, the majority of people, will sit silently by as the country becomes an oligarchy in name as well as in fact. Not out of fear, but out of the inability to do anything after working for food and shelter for minimum wages. Too exhausted to care. We will "elect" the ones that are chosen for us by those in control with the money to pretend we have a "free press" and a choice of candidates. Information will be assimilated and processed much like American cheese. It looks like cheese; it smells like cheese, so it must be cheese.
The rule of the land has been used against us and as we have seen, it has become so refined people don't even notice when the current president lies and then denies lying while continuing to lie. We accept it as the way he is. We deal with each catastrophe, emergency or complaint he tweets as business as usual. Using race and misogyny to divide are the tools of a tyrant. We're numbed to his failure to lead. He has lost shock value.
Soon social services will be privatized so that the control is in the hands of those at the top, the ruling elite. People will get whatever the elite wish to dole out and for wherever length the elite feel we deserve, if at all. Our reign as the "beacon on the hill" will be over.
Judy Ladd
Hot Springs
Editorial on 01/14/2018