This is the text of a letter I just sent to the Seattle Times:
If I were to write a letter to the editor of the Seattle
Times, what would I say:
President Donald J. Trump is an American fascist, and his
administration is a fascist regime that is attempting to impose authoritarian
one-party control on the United States of America. Donald Trump is a threat to
American democracy worse than anything this country has seen at least since the
Civil War. He values neither democracy nor the rule of law and is hellbent on
destroying both. Fascists always have one or more a big lies that they use to
justify whatever it is they want to do. Hitler’s big lies, which overlapped,
were that socialism posed a direct threat to the German people, that the Jews
were the cause of all of Germany’s problems, and that the Germans were a
superior “race” who had the right to exterminate supposedly lesser “races”
including the Jews, all Slavic peoples, and various others for Germany’s
supposed benefit. Trump has a couple of big lies too. One is that all people
who support social programs that benefit people in need are anti-American.
Another, and if anything a more important and destructive one, is that
immigrants are the cause of all of the problems Trump says America has, most of
which we don’t actually have. Trump uses these lies to justify grossly illegal
and unconstitutional attacks on people he targets, mostly people of color and
people who speak Spanish, and the use of the National Guard to intimidate if
not terrorize people in cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and Portland who tend
not to vote for him or his preferred candidates. The federal courts, except
(tragically) the United States Supreme Court, usually declare Trump’s actions
to be unconstitutional and otherwise illegal, but in the end it is only the American
people who can stop Trump and his MAGA acolytes and supporters. We must stand
up and speak out with one voice against Trump’s fascist takeover of our federal
government. Silence is acquiescence. I pray that the American people will wake
up even more than we have so far, stop Donald Trump, and preserve our democracy
and the rule of law.
Rev. Dr. Thomas C. Sorenson
919 Perkins Way
Sultan, WA 98294
425-268-0649
