This is in response to “Society has become far too forgiving” (Sept. 29).

Just who has this nation mistakenly “forgiven?” And just who are the real “anarchists?”

I see the real anarchy at work starting with the current lawless, corrupt president. That is followed by the white supremacists and those who ignore (and therefore forgive) their totally dangerous attempts to intimidate, thrust their power over others by openly carrying military rifles through American streets as though we are Nazi Germany, while that American president allows that anarchistic group to do those things, a corrupt president corruptly helped into office by Russians, a corrupt president who cheated his way to our presidency, who cheated on his taxes, who undermines our standing in the world as a free democracy.

The real anarchy stems from a justice system that is not just for all, and that has unfortunately been evident in recent killings that has resulted in protests in our streets.

This president and his white supremacy agenda undermine the rule of law and our justice system. This president condones and even encourages it. And those like the letter writer forgive it, out of ignorance. When protest occurs it is because leadership failed to fix something. It occurs because the democracy has allowed certain unjust things to occur for too long and it needs to be rectified. And these white supremacists, by the way, are labeled by the FBI as a terroristic group and the single group most responsible for deaths of police officers. He needs to acknowledge that white supremacists are the most dangerous group of anarchists in this nation — they are no friend to democracy.

The letter writer needs to study his American history again and he needs to clarify who he thinks the anarchists are in his own mind.

Protesters are not anarchists. Protesters are the builders of our democracy. They are the originators of our democracy and often throughout our history have helped to right the course of our democracy when it has gone astray.

In 1776 a group of protesters threw tea into Boston harbor and helped start the protest movement against the British Monarchy called “The American War for Independence.” Some might argue that destruction of the tea was looting. Now I am 100% against looting and destruction of property in the present time, and so are Democratic leaders, but then protesting cannot stop because selfish fellow Americans take advantage of a protest to loot. I saw one news report on a national newscast during a protest in California that resulted in looting, and I observed a white young man running out of a looted store with a surf board, jumping on the back of a motorcycle driven by another white young man, and driving off. They looked ridiculous and they needed to be thrown into jail. But they weren’t anarchists. They were opportunists, corrupt Americans who took advantage of a situation to steal. I also saw white men dressed entirely in black breaking windows in another protest in another city — people planted by the far right to make it look like the protesters were looters. So protest movements can be complicated — and not everything you see should be accepted as “real.” In the very hard years of the Vietnam War protesting often became unfair and insulting to our soldiers, men sent to fight a war who could either go to Canada or go to Vietnam. But in the end the protesters were right, that war should never have been fought, and 57,000 Americans should not have died there. Now Vietnam is a tourist destination and the last coat I bought in JC Penny’s was made there. Our democracy made a wrong turn into Vietnam and protesters helped stop it. Those protesters were not anarchists.

Democrat officials do not need the help of the current president to control anything — the president needs control himself and his mouth and his actions. Democrat officials know not to trust him. They need the current corrupt president to act like a president. He needs be president for all–including the protesters. And that he is failing to do because he has his own agenda, and that agenda into insert himself as an oligarchic leader with no limits — hence he undermines democracy.

Who would that president send to “control” protesters? Would he send men dressed in military attire without any form of identification? In other words, would this president send goons in a militia group — In other words, anarchists for hire? I think not. This nation does not want fraudulent military groups controlling any part of our democracy. I’d rather see the white boy steal another surf board than allow that. Again, these Democrat leaders know they cannot trust this president, a man who is undermining our justice system, who spreads chaos and division, and who refuses to even acknowledge he will follow the usual rules presidential succession should be lose the vote.

And what national monuments is Benson referring to? The white supremacist statues of traitors of the South who rebelled against our rightful government headed by President Abraham Lincoln? You mean those white supremacist traitors who killed thousands of loyal Americans in our Civil War, those white supremacists who wanted to continue the evil practice of keeping slaves, and whose current followers continue their hatred toward non-whites, Jews, Muslins and anyone not white like them? I do not care if those statues come down. They should never have been put up in the first place. They symbolize injustice and were un-American. As to other statues, to people like Columbus and Filmore, I do encourage careful thought and their placement in historic locations with proper explanation as to the roles of the subject in our history. But protesters are telling you their democracy needs to be righted and that the keeping of “admiring” statues of foolish white traitors is not right.

Democracy is not an easy thing, It is not for the faint of heart. It is not for cowards. It requires us to think just what the real threat to our country is, and I see two threats: a corrupt lying president who divides our nation, encourages evil, and has secrets ties to Russian oligarchs and to Putin, whom he defends, while distancing our nation to our true allies. That is Putin’s agenda and recent info reveals the vast amount of money this president owes Russian banks. He is the real anarchist and we need a true American elected who will unite the nation, clarify who is a danger to us and who is not, lead all of us to be more fair and more just to others. Too may Americans have been “far too forgiving” of this corrupt president. And the other threat are people like the letter writer who fails to recognize a corrupt president and who dares suggest ignorant things such as the idea President Obama “planted” anarchist judges in our courts and that trump is replacing them. Mr. Obama did not put anyone on the Supreme Court — Republicans unfairly blocked his right to do that. Neither did he appoint many federal judges. In fact he appointed a mere 55 out of the 870 that exist. So Mr. Benson has no idea what he’s talking about. He spouts his own lies and ignorance and that ignorance is the second greatest threat to our democracy.

Protesters with the right to disagree and the right to assemble and the right to march in a cause are the builders of democracy. Anarchists like whites supremacists, a president who is corrupt and unlawful, and fellow Americans who speak without truly knowing the truth destroy it.

Diane Andrasik is a Dunkirk resident.