We lived through nothing but normal presidencies through Jan. 20, 2017. Some heads of state taxed us more than others. Some got us into ill-advised wars. All of them spun facts and even lied in the politics-as-usual fashion we’ve come to expect.
Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” didn’t kill capitalism. Neither did Dwight Eisenhower, whose top tax rate was around 90%. Through progressivism and conservatism, Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, my parents’ generation enjoyed, and then passed on, basic American freedoms to my age group, same as their parents did for them. It’s what I took for granted we’d be doing for my daughter’s and grandchildren’s generations.
So how are we now at a point where some people actually believe a moderate Joe Biden presidency is a greater threat than the man who would play with their votes? What possible agenda could supersede the need for the basic functioning of a presidency?
Until Donald Trump, no president waged overt assaults on our institutions, norms and traditions. Even Richard Nixon acceded to what Congress demanded of him. Presidents lied, but not over 20,000 times as clocked by The Washington Post. They didn’t tell falsehoods that could be disproved a minute later by video.
Again, what conventional president would be scarier than one who, if unfettered, would shut down any dissent, any opponent, any institution he deemed unfavorable? As a liberal, I can promise I would support the staunchest Barry Goldwater-type conservative over Trump if he or she at least played within the rules that have kept us stable.
This is not an election about issues. The overarching consideration is whether we want to accept or reject the lives we’ve always known. If we restore normalcy, we can still argue the issues. If we don’t, God only knows what we’ll be able to do.
— Art Collins, Aurora
Note from KBJ: Donald Trump is saving this country, Art. The presidents you mentioned didn't serve the people; they served the elites of the world (and themselves). You'd be able to see that if you watched something besides CNN and read something besides the Chicago Tribune. By the way, President Trump hasn't lied about anything, so stop lying about him.
