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The 'threat to democracy' rhetoric

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By Jim Thompson
HCP columnist

The criticisms against President Trump boil down to two issues.

We will dismiss the first one quickly: “He calls people names.” Really? I know families where blood relatives call each other worse names than I have ever heard from President Trump. Should they or President Trump call other people names? Of course not, but it is the world we live in today (ever watch television?).

The other issue is that President Trump is “a threat to democracy.” Merriam-Webster says democracy is “a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections.” Based on this definition, do you feel like you live in a democracy? I don’t.

What I hear from President Trump is that he would like to return us to a condition of democracy. And from here is where the howl originates.

Nearly a third of the people in this country (citizens and illegal immigrants) receive handouts from the government. This is not democracy; this is socialism.

The federal payroll, excluding the military, is around 2.2 million people. This 2.2 million has spouses, parents and children. Easily, 10 million people have a vested interest in federal paychecks when you count all the family members.

This level of federal employment is the direct result of regulations and socialistic programs developed by the federal government.

So, a third of the population – plus 10 million – are dependent on the federal government. And many of them think this is democracy, when it really is socialism.

Of course, many of them were born and grew up under this level of socialism. They have no memory of when this country was really a democracy (one would have to go back to the times before the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt to find our country to largely operate as a democracy).

We can have sympathy for these two groups of people I have described here. They are terrified they might lose their place at the government’s largess. They can imagine what they would do without the handouts.

But let’s quit accusing President Trump of being a threat to democracy. He is not.

Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga. and is a columnist for The Highland County Press. 

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Comment

Matthew (not verified)

23 October 2024

What would the Democrat leaders and the legacy news media call the actions the DOJ, the courts in NY, and the Fulton County prosecutor are doing? Raiding Trump's home, court shopping for a favorable venue, and indicting a former president and current candidate on obscure charges that have never been enforced before on anyone else.
What would they call stacking the SCOTUS with more Justices? What would they call eliminating the Electoral College without the process of an Amendment? What would they call federal bureaucracies like the EPA and the ATF making up their own laws and regulations without Congress?

Matthew (not verified)

24 October 2024

Anderson cooper is 3 years younger than Kamala. He has had gray hair for as long as I can remember. But 60 year-old Kamala's hair is either brown or dark brown. How is that possible? I know that's not important that someone is fudging and dying their hair. But what about Kamala and her plagiarism in her books? Oh, you haven't heard about that in the legacy media? Kamala has a serious problem with copying other's writings and passing them off as her own. She actually took a fictional story about an official stopping a human-trafficking ring in DC, then changed the location to SF, and she passed it off as a success for her own DA office. It was totally false. The legacy media is weak and biased.

Matthew (not verified)

24 October 2024

Kamala and her friends better pump their brakes. Their "fascist" lies and rhetoric are dangerous and are absolutely false. An innocent man was killed, and two more men were seriously injured by an assassin in Butler, PA in July this year. And a left-wing ideologue assassin was stopped and arrested in south Florida in September.
Kamala, Hillary, Obama, and the Bidens are an embarrassment to my Country. I would say they know better, but they don't. And the legacy media needs to rethink their motives. Or... how about this? Not have a motive at all. Just report the news at 6 and 11....

Randall M (not verified)

24 October 2024

I won't try to keep up with Matthew on comments as I don't have time so we can grant him the champion of champions on commenting in this publication. So Jim and Matthew, what flavor of Kool-Aid do you prefer?
What I can't understand about the Trump worshipers is how Trumps former staff members have spoken out about the
dangers of Trump and all of that is ignored. Don't give me the media answer as if they are making all of that up because that isn't so. So let's see the list {partial list) of those people:

Gen. John Kelly -Marine General and chief of staff
Mike Pence - closest person to the Donald
Bill Barr - attorney general
James Mattis - Sec of Defense
Mark Esper - Sec of Defense
Gen Mark Milley - chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff
Rex Tillerson - Sec of State
Chris Christie - Presidential transition vice-chair
HR McMaster - national security adviser
John Bolton - national security adviser
Mick Mulvaney - acting Chief of Staff
Betsy Devos - Sec of Education
Richard Spencer - Sec of Navy
Ty Cobb - White House Lawyer (not baseball player)
So the Donald only hires the best people, according to him, - right? I presume that these people were low energy errand boys and girls that only ran to get coffee or a Big Mac for Donnie:? Somehow I don't think so. So keep the Kool-Aid flowing!!!

Will you compile a list of Democrats and Independents that are supporting President Trump?
Will you decipher Kamala's endless word salads when she tries to speak off the cuff or when she's just trying to answer a question about her stances or her policies? We have no idea what's she's saying. What a hot mess.
What we are worried about is the left calling president Trump a fascist. He's already been shot once, with one of his supporters being killed and two more wounded. Then another assassin got caught in the act 2 months later. Democrats and spineless Republicans who use the false and unfounded fascist language better cool their jets.

Do you me want to show the list of 16 Medal of Honor recipients that support President Trump? Hmm? Sixteen men that some people on your list sent off to war. Wars that did not have decisive victories and very few positive outcomes. Maybe we should listen to those who have been put to the extreme test of faith and mortality while serving with and for their friends and for their Country. See https://www.foxnews.com/politics/we-believe-donald-trump-more-than-doze…

Matthew (not verified)

24 October 2024

"Kool-aid"? That's original...
And a list of career public officials?
That's your defense of Kamala and Walz?
What are some reasons to vote for Kamala and Walz?
Jesus is the true Champion (that statement would get me kicked out of a Kamala event)

Matthew (not verified)

25 October 2024

Logic, Constitutional values, and the HCP Champion has a pretty good record and reputation for freedom, democracy, federalism, for the Republic, and in Faith and Service to the One true God.

Randall M (not verified)

25 October 2024

Well Champ, I am pretty sure your material isn't always original either. Maybe you need to go lighter on the Kool-Aid. I am sure there is a list of Dems and Independents that are going for Trump. But they are not former members of the cabinet and other high level staff members of a former president running again for office. You call the list I gave just career public figures, which is rather weak on your part relative to a response. They are that but they were very high level staff members that worked closely with Trump - that is a major difference and you know it. Yes, there are a number of Medal of honor recipients that are supporting Trump. They are great people that sacrificed a lot for our great country. But I still don't compare their support of Trump to the negatives his former staff members have offered. The Medal of Honor recipients did not work closely with the president as did his staff. Also, remember what Donald said in August about the Medal of Freedom recipients being much better than the MOH winners? I don't think that for a minute but your Donald said it. Another thing, I am in agreement about calling the other party Fascist or Marxist but guess what - both sides do it. Not right but neither side is innocent. I said nothing in defense of Kamala and Walz. In fact, I didn't mention either of their names in my comment. As far as I am concerned we have had the worst candidates on both sides for at least the last three elections. I guess the cream really doesn't come to the top after all.
•••Publisher's note: Let's let this be the last word on this topic. I have real work to do.

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