(Editor’s Note: Numerous writers responded to a recent letter from Barry Godofsky of Port St. Lucie, who predicted a Donald Trump victory in 2024 followed by an “epic revenge tour.”)
If Democrats and reasonable Republicans are not already adequately motivated to vote to save our fragile democracy, then the letter to the editor in the Sun Sentinel promoting an “epic revenge tour” by Donald Trump ought to help. If nothing else, it exposes just how far down the rabbit hole of ignorance, denial, fantasy and fear the MAGA cult has gone.
Facts do not exist. Trump, in all his criminality, ignorance and apparent mental instability, is their god. Democracy? Meh. The Constitution? Yeah, cancel that.
In an era when Republican gerrymandering has deliberately made it harder to vote in fair elections, the commitment to go to the polls and to cast a ballot for sanity and the salvation of our beautiful American experiment is more important than ever.
The alternative is unthinkable.
Susan Walsh, Coral Springs
Smug cheerleaders
I’m appalled but not surprised by the letter gleefully touting the prospect of a Trump “epic revenge tour.”
Nor am I surprised by the oft-heard repetition of the childish “we don’t care” mantra as justification for abandoning critical thinking and our democratic way of life.
“We don’t care” now competes with ” … but what about … ” as the most common counterpoint heard on elementary school playgrounds and from die-hard MAGAs.
While Mr. Godofsky’s message would undoubtedly please Trump and excite the Freedom Caucus and misguided hardcore MAGA zealots, no one would be happier than Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, who confidently predicted that Trump’s misinformation and conspiracy theories, swallowed by the right, would more effectively destroy us from within.
Tragically, and ominously, the smug revenge tour cheerleaders don’t care.
John Kelly, Parkland
Careful what you wish for
Barry Godofsky makes a couple of statements that should be addressed.
It is true that Republicans don’t care that Trump is a fraudulent businessman (many knew that long before he ran in 2016). The New York judge’s recent ruling surprised no one.
Republicans don’t seem to care that Trump is a tax cheat, marriage cheat, golf cheat, rapist, compulsive liar, domestic terrorist, narcissist and sociopath, among other things. He’s exactly the type of nihilist that Republicans need to “get back” at perceived enemies.
Republicans don’t seem to care about income inequality. That’s why it’s so hard for working people to afford a home, car or to raise children without help, because of giveaways to the rich. Republicans do not care about climate change. They purport to be for “family values,” but will leave a melting planet to their children and grandchildren to swim in their own sewage.
I could go on, but for brevity I’ll say that Republicans do not care about policies that help the general public.
What will an “epic revenge tour” look like? Will democracy die? Will your friends or family members be jailed for not voting “correctly”? Will there be a civil war?
Be careful what you wish for, Mr. Godofsky.
Bill Longmuir, Margate
A misguided acolyte
How sad for our country and our democracy that Barry Godofsky revels at the prospect that if Trump wins in 2024, he and his minions will celebrate with an “epic revenge tour.”
Revenge? These misguided acolytes see the seemingly sole mission of an improbable Trump victory is to extract revenge on Americans and our Constitution.
He should revisit his high school civics class notes. The president’s role is to support our constitution and govern — not to go on narcissistic personal vendettas to mete out “retribution” (Trump’s promise) for unhinged complaints about his personal treatment.
Harvey Starin, Boca Raton