Donald Trump ... can't take the wrap for everything bad in America.
Donald Trump ... can't take the wrap for everything bad in America.
The case for Trump
We know that the editorials, like other columns on the opinion page, are just opinions, but it is interesting how the opinions are always "Orange-man bad" attacks on US President Donald Trump and never a balanced or opposite opinion.
Saturday's editorial writer (Chronicle, August 1) presentedtheir spin on the man and the situation leaving out any facts that might damage their narrative.
For example, the claim that federal agents were "militarised" and sent to Portland, Oregon, to "stage a 'surge'" and that the agents' presence caused "small peaceful Black Lives Matter protests – with some vandalism and clashes at night – to swell". Portland has now had more than 60 days of violence, assaults, rioting, property damage and attempts to burn down buildings, including a federal courthouse. At least one of those attempts to burn down the courthouse was done after blockading federal agents and staff in the building. Any President who didn't send more agents in to help and protect those agents resident in the city, the federal staff, and federal property like the courthouse, would be very clearly failing in their job.
The mayor of Portland has been failing in his duty to protect Portland's citizens for a long time, eg, his stopping police from doing their job when Antifa thugs have taken control of the streets and assaulted people. The fact that this mayor actually joined a "protest" and stood there as "protesters" just a few metres from him set fires and attacked federal agents and barricades set up to protect the federal courthouse, without him condemning these actions, says it all.
The editorial says the federal agents used "crowd-control devices, beat protesters, snatched some off the streets, caused injuries and suffered some themselves". This is using language to paint a false picture, and to avoid saying that federal agents attempted to stop rioters and violent criminals from hurting people and property, arrested some, and had clashes with violent people who clearly don't care about the law, people's safety or even common decency. [Abridged]
KA BENFELL Gonville
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Bag option
I have recently caught up with the Midtown rubbish bag development (Residents can dump bags at Midtown, Chronicle, July 31)
While I applaud this concession I feel it borders on extortion and waters down their "health and safety" assertion with 41.5 per cent being added to the cost of a bin.
Taking into account the cost of travel (vehicle a must) plus the additional transfer fee a further burden is being placed on certain sectors of our community, in particular, those who do not understand and/or have access to new technology. [Abridged]
