Democrats should seize opening to cast themselves as true patriots
Every American should view Russian efforts to tamper with our democratic processes as an act of aggression. Employing cyberwarfare is arguably an act of war.
If there was one time that the Democrats could claim the mantle of being true patriots, this is it. But no, their cacophony is easily dismissed as hysteria by Donald Trump’s sycophants and his “state media’’ (Fox News).
Why are the Democrats so reluctant to take the moral high ground on this issue? To use the word treason implies impeachment, which will never happen in a cowardly Republican-controlled House and Senate. Rather, the Democrats should focus their criticism on Trump’s weaknesses as a leader and his willingness to sell out our democratic processes. The operative word here is “focus.’’ Sadly, the Democrats don’t have a consistent message. They just flail about and are dismissed as hysterical.
The Republicans’ abandonment of their supposed values as patriots is ever-present in every tepid condemnation they make of Trump’s remarks in Helsinki. This should present an opening for the Democrats to rebrand themselves as the real patriots — those who hold dear our democratic processes and cherish our institutions and our egalitarian values.
Henry C. Tarbi
Stow
It won’t be stretch to stoke fears of treasonous GOP
Re “Is Trump committing treason?’’ (Opinion, July 17): I have felt confident that Donald Trump is a traitor since he fired James Comey. The moral equivalency that the press and some politicians use to come off as fair to every American needs to end now. Journalists’ goal is to tell the truth. The truth is that one party is committing, or complicit in, treason, and one is not.
The Democrats should promote their policy agenda to the public for the upcoming election, but the centerpiece of their public narrative has to be the treason being committed by the Republican Party. If the parties were reversed in their current roles, the Republicans would demonize the Democrats with unfaltering precision.
The Republican Party has mastered its messaging to the voting public. Despite their relatively lower numbers within the general US population, the Republicans get their voters to the polls, while Democrats do not. They do this by fabricating something for the public to fear. Democrats do not need to fabricate anything; objective reality can do that for them. They just need to shine a light on it.
Civility needs to take a back seat in Democratic Party public discourse.
Timothy Collins
West Roxbury
No amount of obfuscation will cover whiff of scandal
Re “Confusion lingers on Trump, Russia’’ (Page A1, July 19): This headline misleads. There is no confusion. Obfuscation, muddying, smoke screens — they all linger. Not confusion. We know President Trump chooses to ignore the investigations into Russian meddling in 2016, simply because those investigations indicate that Trump won only because his KGB-bred backer, Vladimir Putin, threw the election to him. That’s knowledge, not confusion.
The only confusion is that which has been sown by Trump, attempting to hide his back-room deals with the dictator.
Maureen Doyle
Brighton
Russia is waging a cyberwar
In his letter “There’s a difference between disloyalty and treason’’ (July 18), Jonathan T. Melick argues that Russia is technically not our “enemy,’’ as defined in 50 US Code Section 2204, because our nations are not engaged in hostilities (such as a shooting war), and therefore Trump cannot be accused of treason under the code.
But are we not engaged in a serious cyberwar with Russia, which could potentially take down our entire energy grid and bring our country to its knees?
Have we not created the US Army Cyber Command in order to deal with this existential threat?
50 US Code Section 2204 needs to be updated.
Diane Simpson
Jamaica Plain
Collins, McCain could be key in containing Trump’s excesses
In “Congressional GOP should back up words with action’’ (Editorial, July 18), the Globe proposes the best solution to our current political crisis: Republicans should leave their caucus, thus “depriving Mitch McConnell of the ability to stop hearings or set votes.’’ Two of the most obvious candidates are Senators Susan Collins and John McCain.
Collins would likely not pay a political price with Maine voters, many of whom are independent and disapprove of President Trump. What’s more, she could negotiate significant leverage with the Democrats if she agreed to caucus with them.
McCain could put an exclamation point on his disapproval of Trump and would seal his reputation of being a maverick. There is no political price to pay with Arizona voters, since he has already announced that this would be his last term.
Unfortunately, others who are retiring are unlikely to follow this course of action because they are thinking about future elections or job opportunities as lobbyists.
If Collins and McCain were to leave the Republican caucus, they could put significant constraints on Trump’s excesses — that is, as you say, if they can find the courage.
Michael Biales
Acton
