USAID cuts
I am all for making America great. I have to leave off the “again” as I have no idea what time frame of greatness the “again” represents. However, we are not making America great when we are responsible for allowing people to starve to death, when we take away their oxygen and cause their death, when we stop supporting medicine and protocols that stop the spread of AIDS, and when we cancel clinical trials for cancer patients.
If the goal is to investigate corruption in the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), or any other agency, then do it the right way — examine documents and practices one by one, rather than just cut off lifelines for so many people.
However, I do not think that the Elon Musk-Donald Trump alliance wants to do anything in a systematic, studied manner. Throwing out the baby with the bathwater comes to mind.
I do not believe that voters cast their ballots for cruelty, death and mayhem for so many. If you support government efficiency, then remind your congressional representatives and senators (or anyone else who will listen) that you are proud to live in a democracy where laws matter. If we subscribe to the belief that whoever has the most money is the winner (and therefore the rightful ruler) we are all in peril and there will be no greatness.
Dr. Rosemarie S. Hughes, Virginia Beach
Good work
Since late January, President Donald Trump has stopped USAID from helping the world’s neediest: children, the elderly, the sick and others. For years USAID has helped save millions from disease, malnutrition and hunger. Trump and Elon Musk have stopped this good work.
Although Musk was not elected, Trump has let him and his gang loose on our federal computer systems. The private information of millions of American is now in the hands of Musk’s minions
Now Trump wants to make the Gaza Strip a seaside resort while moving the already traumatized Palestinians to where? The Oct. 7, 2023, actions by Hamas in Israel were horrifying, but the destruction of the Gaza Strip and the mass killings of Palestinians have been equally so. Trump also wants to buy Greenland, reclaim the Panama Canal and annex Canada. Seriously?
Trump promised a lot for day one, but the Russian invasion of Ukraine is still on. The deportation of undocumented immigrants has hit snags. Some immigrants are criminals, but most are farm workers, or help build new homes and other trades.
Trump said he wanted to disrupt things and he has. The U.S. has gone from being the leader of the free world to being a laughing stock, the butt of late night comedians.
Susan P. Mulnix, Williamsburg
Birthright
The first sentence of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.”
President Donald Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship is a cruel and unconstitutional assault on our democracy. Yet U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans has refused to take a stand against it. Her silence is not only a betrayal of the 14th Amendment and the fundamental rights it guarantees to every child born in this country, but a direct attack on our Constitution.
This is a moment that demands courage and clarity — not complacency and political games. This echoing silence from Kiggans is instilling a new fear in people across this country who have spent their whole lives calling this country home.
We need answers. Will Kiggans defend the Constitution, or will she stand by while families are targeted by this un-American policy?
Eddie Seay, Virginia Beach
