GOP must stand up against Trump tyranny

The news on TV is maddening – the county’s billion-dollar masked army occupying and terrorizing Democratic cities in the name of law and order? It’s all based on a lie. That’s not surprising, based on all the other lies that make up the foundation of MAGA power.

There is an immigration problem; not a crisis. Immigrants are not murderers and rapists, as trumpeted by a campaigning president to scare the populace.

Who imagined that this exploitative political noise would result in masked hordes of federal police going door to door to terrorize, capture and deport brown-skinned strangers?

One woman is dead, shot in cold blood for trying to implore the government to cease the terrorizing dragnet that’s gone too far. All the government does now is tell more lies and send in more masked agents.

If the federal government were sincere about restoring law and order, they’d work with local government. Instead, they’re at war with the local and state government in Minnesota and its people in furtherance of Donald Trump’s and Stephen Miller’s (MAGA) culture war waged to sustain power.

The people who have the power and could now stop the devolution into fascism are Republicans, who’ve abdicated their constitutional powers to a thug.

Local Republicans, you see what’s happening; you know the lies. You used to stand for the Constitution. It’s time to show it. Stiffen up your spine. Don’t be intimidated by a charlatan. If we lose America to authoritarian rule, it’s on you. Reread 1984.

Al Singer

Ballston Spa

Give me a Nobel Prize or else I’ll throw a fit

I am writing an open letter to the government of Sweden — or perhaps it is Finland — that I should be awarded the Nobel Prize in Peace for 2026.

In my career, I have put an end to 10 foreign wars, which I believe is two more than the American president.

I realize this claim that I have ended so many conflicts may raise some eyebrows. To this, I answer that I will regard any attempt to fact-check my claim as unpatriotic. Those who are devoted to the betterment of the world are, after all, above criticism.

If I do not receive the Peace Prize this year, I will resort to the option that all well-adjusted grown-ups do when they are disappointed: I will log onto my social media account and throw a tantrum.

William J. Good

Schenectady

Support local growth of affordable housing

Thousands of people are forced to choose between having a roof over their heads or food in their stomachs.

This is not a problem in faraway lands happening to people you will never meet — it is happening right in our own backyards to people who are our neighbors.

This is why action must happen now. According to the 2023 Capital Region Housing Report, annual renter wage in Schenectady is $36,234, meaning that a household can afford to spend (30% of yearly income) $905.59/month. But the Fair Market Rent of a single bedroom apartment is $1,079. This is a gap of $173.41. That $173.41 is being taken out of budgets for food, medicine and transportation every month, and people are instead forced to spend it to afford their rent.

A one-bedroom apartment is a small space to raise a family. The budget gap is even greater for a larger apartment and costs to feed a family are much higher. Currently, living in Schenectady County is unaffordable, and it is our job to help fix this problem by supporting affordable housing projects so our neighbors can be safely housed.

Alannah Zingelewicz

Scotia

How did Rogan not see Trump’s true nature?

Poet Maya Angelou said, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”

It’s wise advice. So I’m puzzled why podcaster Joe Rogan is upset by Donald Trump’s actions.

A favorite Trump story, which he repeated often, is based on a song called, “The Snake.” It tells the tale of a woman who finds a poisonous snake near death. She nurses it back to health and then is fatally bitten. She’s devastated and can’t figure out its betrayal. The snake replies that she knew damned well he was a snake all along.

Trump used this story to demonize immigrants. I also believe Trump identifies........

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