There comes a time when everyone who puts their opinions out there should receive a little scrutiny, it comes with the territory and it’s good to encourage accountability in what we tell the public.

Do you know what happens when you hold a mirror up to a mirror? In a commentary, “Democrats need a mirror on rhetoric” (Sept. 26), the writer does exactly that by using such cool rhetoric as “venomous” and “evil” to describe, I guess, a good portion of the American people. He’s repeating the problem that he is trying to address, only it must be OK to do it if you’re not a Democrat. And it goes on and on and on.

Attacks on Donald Trump are only “baseless” if you refuse to acknowledge the basis. Democrats are not destroying Trump’s “business empire” – he’s done it to himself. Trump’s business “façade” was put at risk by his own fragile ego. Remember the Correspondents’ dinner when President Barack Obama roasted him? From that moment, Trump had to prove to Obama that he could do his job. Well, he won.

But do the job? No. It just opened his can of worms for all America to see. How he got elected is a testament to his one true talent, grifting.

How many “baseless” legal actions does it take to define a conman? From 1970 till he was elected president, Trump and his businesses were involved in more than 4,000 legal cases and 100 tax disputes. After 2016, there was: a tax fraud conviction, defamation and sexual assault conviction, election fraud conviction with 34 felony counts, and pending illegal removal of documents from the White House and election interference which are on hold due to favoritism of judges and even Supreme Court Justices that he had a hand in appointing. He’s gotten in so deep that he has no choice but to run again, as now the oldest candidate in American history, to save his own skin.

Let’s not give Democrats all the credit for comparing Trump to Hitler.

No, way back in 2016, a certain JD Vance had that very thought. In Facebook he posted “I go back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical (expletive) like Nixon… or that he’s America’s Hitler.”

Now, about the writer’s claim that many Americans have no understanding of Hitler; is that why Charlottesville had good people on both sides? Whose fault is it that those Neo-Nazi protesters have no idea how horrible the Nazis were? Who’s influencing them? Not Democrats.

The comparisons that are being made refer to conditions in Germany in the 1930s that allowed Hitler to rise to power, before the war and the holocaust. That’s where the similarities lie, where the seeds of fascism were sown.

Trump makes it obvious that he is enamored with strong authoritarians and wants to be just like them. Personality comparisons done by experts in the field of clinical psychology and psychiatry are undeniable. Certain personalities are capable of certain things under certain circumstances.

As to the reactions to the assassination attempts, of course Trump should take some responsibility. And use some common sense when he knows he is putting himself at risk, as well as his bodyguards and his rally-goers. His protection can extend just so far. His campaign chose a poor location for a rally, hard to defend, a man lost his life, others injured.

The perpetrator was not even political, just looking for the most convenient target. The second was a fed-up Republican.

If characters like that continue to be able to carry deadly firearms, then thoughts and prayers are our only answer. Trump said after a recent school shooting in Iowa, “We have to get over it.” That’s the best we get for our children to be safe in school? But he gets extra protection now so his freedom to golf isn’t interrupted.

So, is the writer actually watching MSNBC to quote Hillary Clinton and Tim Walz? Or is your information being filtered somewhere else? You really don’t know what “propaganda” means? Let’s put it this way – “fake news.”

The courts do have the right to prosecute “fake news” under certain circumstances. The judiciary can legally restrict speech based on content if the result falls under their jurisdiction – i.e. causes “legal injury.”

I found an excellent report in the American Journal of Comparative Law titled “Freedom of Speech and Regulation of Fake News” published on June 2, 2022, if you care to delve into the matter.

Political propaganda is covered as it affects election law and the rights of voters. Hillary Clinton has a law degree and has been a practicing attorney with years of experience and expertise. You have pocket Constitutions. Walz is correct, and nowhere in the Supreme Court quote you used for your argument, did the word “democracy” appear. Apples to oranges, wouldn’t hold up in court.

Kamala Harris has taken on several roles in her career; as a prosecutor, an attorney general, a senator, and a VP, each requiring a different focus. So as a senator, she had to reflect the needs of the constituents of her state; as a VP, the administration she represents; as a presidential candidate, her own ideas to move forward the country as a whole and of course to win an election; and as POTUS, the best interests of all Americans. So, flip flop or rather evolve and adapt to the needs of the role she is filling at the time? Some people get stuck; they become rigid and unable to change, most of us do change our points of view as we go through our lives, it is normal.

Lastly, the final sentence the writer uses Sept. 26 to end his piece is ironically a reflection right back onto Trump.

Why else would Republican “party elites” glom onto someone like Trump; who has already demonstrated his ‘tractability” and willingness to do the bidding of the holders of the power and the purse strings, all the while extracting as much personal benefit as he could. He had to switch parties — he was formerly a Democrat — in order to run, the Democrats wouldn’t have him. He could never come up with a Project 2025 himself, but he will enact it, sure as Hillary Clinton said, “He’s a puppet”.

Susan Bigler is a Sheridan resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com