To the Editor:

July 4th has always been a happy flag-waving day to celebrate America’s hard-won democracy of equality and justice. This year, however, not everyone celebrated “America250” because Trump subverted it into an it’s-all-about-me  “Freedom250” extravaganza. Although Trump’s politicians and Republican voters continue to applaud the right-wing’s authoritarian version of white rich male power, astute historically-minded Americans don’t.

After all, this GOP has routinely undermined respect for “we the people” by erasing years of progress in the struggle for civil rights.  Just ask women, those in non-traditional families or relationships, Black and Brown individuals, those of immigrant origin or members of non-Christian religions. They're not “celebrating” the GOP/Trump America that denigrates and ignores their legal rights under the Constitution.

Guess who does celebrate Trump’s America of “freedom”!? Republican/libertarian billionaires - who do as they please to get whatever they want by using unethical lawyers, bought-and-paid-for judges and our taxpayer money to subsidize their corporate profits. That includes our grifting President, his corrupt Cabinet and 80% of one-percenters who spend their millions to keep Republicans in power. (Big-money donors certainly aren’t going to support legislation by Democrat politicians who are proposing more tax on the wealthy and less corporate money in politics.)

Honestly, I’ve never encountered any upstanding responsible Democrat, Republican or Independent voter who doesn’t believe in fiscal moderation, rule-of-law, moral behavior, constructive immigration reform and fact-based cautious decision-making. The majority of Americans agree on those concepts.  But the Trump/right-wing media spreads false slander to insist that only the conservative GOP thinks like that.

Twisted fear-mongering and often ridiculous accusations coming from Trump’s Truth Social and Republican billionaire-owned media sources have torn America apart at a time when we could be finding common ground and reflecting on 250 years of shared history. 

As historians know, bitter political division has occurred pertaining to issues such as abolishing slavery or Sen. McCarthy’s fabricated 1950 Communist Red Scare. You’d think that Americans would have learned to be wary of any party that disregards basic human rights or floats unverified, purposeful misinformation to confuse voters and harm innocent people. 

But no. That’s why, for many Americans on July 4th, this Republican Party repeating previously-used, deceptive political manipulation to attack a democratic government “for the people” was cause for alarm - not jubilation.

Martha Hodges
Massena