Fitting the bill

Dear Editor,

Seven symptoms of a sociopath according to Google’s WEB MD are:

¯ Ignoring right and wrong

¯ Telling lies to get the advantage

¯ Not being sensitive to or respectful of others

¯ Using charm or wit to manipulate others for personal gain or pleasure

¯ Being unable to admit mistakes or quilt

¯ Having a sense of superiority and being extremely opinionated

¯ Having trouble with the law, including criminal behavior

Trump’s base cares not, the Fox News misled party faithful remain party loyal and the party office holders fearful of the “Trump’s base” and of “Trump’s wrath” remain publicly silent and go along. Even Trump’s primary election challengers remain timid.

Meanwhile the “wheel of justice continues to grind slowly” toward the inevitable conclusion.

Don Scott,

N. Warren

Opening our eyes

What is “woke?”

We are anti-woke. We are where woke goes to die. All fine and good. Until you ask someone to define it. Then the hem and haws begin.

But it is really quite simple.

Woke means an awakening to the reasons behind the Black Lives Matter movement. That slavery was evil. That slaves were equivalent to livestock. That the 13th amendment did not abolish slavery. That the last chattel slave was actually freed in 1942. That the Black Codes were worse than slavery. That the history we learned was not the full truth — not even half true.

Anti-woke is the movement to not erase, but simply ignore, history. It’s over. Get on with it. Let’s not hurt anybody’s feelings.

But there is an agenda here. President Lyndon B. Johnson knew it.

LBJ staffer Bill Moyers tells it best: We were in Tennessee. During the motorcade, he spotted some ugly racial epithets scrawled on signs. Late that night in the hotel, when the local dignitaries had finished the last bottles of bourbon and branch water and departed, he started talking about those signs. “I’ll tell you what’s at the bottom of it,” he said. “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”

Former President Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis are waiting for their checks.

James Spangler, OD

Warren

Helping the criminals

Dear Editor,

Newspaper and TV headlines are abuzz with antigun rhetoric. In Pennsylvania, now that Democrats have the House, Senate and governor, anti-gun bills are being presented at an incredible rate.

Who will be affected by the passing of laws and executive orders? Not the criminals, but law-abiding citizens. Laws don’t stop criminals. They are intended to punish criminals after they have broken the law. The laws only work when the criminals are adjudicated and appropriately punished. We have many fine police officers who cannot be present to protect all of us every minute of the day. We have the Second Amendment and Article 1 Section 21 of the Pa Constitution granting the right to bear arms for self-protection.

Laws don’t stop crime. There are laws against hurting and killing others. There are laws against rape, robbery, burglary, drugs, drunk driving and a long list of other crimes, but these crimes are committed daily. Every time we turn on the news or read the newspaper we are confronted with these crimes.

The number of crimes continues to increase. What does the judicial system do about those law breakers? In the big cities, they are reducing the number of police, or neutering their efforts to deal with scofflaws at the street level. After arrest, low bail or no bail puts the criminals back on the street.

At the next level crimes are pleaded down to save court costs and relax crowded court calendars. Reduced sentences don’t keep criminals off the street.

Warren County is 899 square miles. Outside the city of Warren there are a lot of hours that area is covered by only two policemen. It’s possible they might be 30 minutes from you if you need them. In Warren, the response could be five minutes or less. But, what do you do during those first few minutes? A lot can happen.

There is no reason to fear law abiding gun owners. Many citizens are armed both inside and outside of the home. What are they armed with? The very guns the Democratic legislature is working to outlaw: semiautomatic rifles, shotguns, and pistols. They want to limit the magazine capacity you may need. They are working to outlaw your right to self-protection. The laws they are trying to pass won’t stop criminals. Criminals will obtain those guns illegally like they do now. Call or write to your legislators to let them know you are against useless antigun legislation.

Daniel Reiff,

Warren