To The Editor:
I wanted to send in this answer to the letter "Very weary” in The Valley Reporter of December 12, 2019. While nice in its support of “tolerance and respect,” I must respectfully disagree with the letter “Very weary.” Unfortunately, the opinion article that it was answering by David Van Deusen, “To impeach for treason, bribery, or incompetence,” was correct. President Donald Trump has committed these offenses against the Constitution that he has sworn to uphold by oath.
The letter stated, “I am weary of the hatred and bigotry of the left, very weary.” I share this weariness, but the author should look much closer at the president she said ran for “no other reason than to help this country and without pay no less.” What she and I are both weary of is coming from this president and his administration. It is deliberate and without precedent in a nation that already has a long and sordid tradition of bigotry and hatred and has not yet been able to get over it.
As a Democratic socialist in the Bernie Sanders tradition and an activist for health care reform and sane gun legislation, I can tell the author how it feels to be on the receiving end of right-wing hatred and bigotry. It’s far more savage than anything in Van Deusen’s column. I have been called every vile name in all the books and then some. Death threats were not uncommon and this is in Vermont. Several came from The Valley.
The author’s wish for tolerance and respect is admirable and I share it equally with her, just so long as she realizes where this “hatred and bigotry” is really coming from.
Walter Carpenter
Montpelier, VT
Walter Carpenter is an employee in The Valley during the ski season.
