MY TURN: It's not common sense
“It’s just common sense.”
Apparently, not.
Brent Regan’s opinion: "Too Clever by Halfwit" in the May 26 Press would indicate that Mr. Regan, with his head cemented in sand to avoid the obvious, clearly isn’t finding any “common sense” among the silica. It would also appear that Mr. Regan has suffered from a sustained lack of oxygen at some point. He lists numerous occurrences as hoaxes, similar to the rantings of his political hero and former president Donald J. Trump, the disgraced, indicted, twice-impeached, dictator wannabe, consummate liar and conman.
It has been proven that Russia did interfere in the 2016 election. Trump did make a statement that there were fine people on both sides of the Charlottesville incident. Trump did suggest injecting bleach into our bodies in order to kill the COVID-19 virus. Trump did call for peaceful, non-violent protesters to be teargassed to clear them from his walking path to a church in Washington, D.C., where he was photographed holding a Bible (too bad he’s never chosen to read the Bible, but reportedly prefers to keep a copy of Hitler’s "Mein Kampf" by his bedside). D.J. Trump did mock a reporter’s disability on national TV. Several people were arrested and prosecuted regarding the Gov. Witmer kidnapping plot.
It is still unknown exactly what documents D.J. Trump illegally removed from the White House or what purpose he had in doing so. However, it is coming to light that he had been informed several times, during his tenure as president, of the process required for declassification, which he clearly did not follow.
We may never know who had access to these classified documents or Trump’s purpose in taking them and providing false information to the National Archives about them. Was the country damaged by his actions? Possibly. The FBI conducted a valid search for these documents via a search warrant; Mar-a-Lago was not raided, as the MAGA crowd would have us believe.
What did Mr. Regan think the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on our Capital was if not an insurrection to overthrow our government? People died. People were grievously injured and permanently harmed; this wasn’t accomplished by a bunch of peaceful tourists.
The MAGA crowd called for Vice President Pence to be hung and for Nancy Pelosi to be killed, all in an attempt to overturn a fair and legal election in the hopes of keeping Trump in power.
Certainly no hoax.
I have to wonder if Mr. Regan reads widely or just indulges in far-right TV “news” outlets to formulate his opinions and views of current political affairs. My guess would be the latter, since his opinions are far from informed or well-balanced.
I am of the belief that parents are the responsible body to control (and censor) what their children read and/or are exposed to at our public libraries, schools and at home. Plass and Hanley certainly leveled a smear campaign through the mail against their opponents, which proved to be wholly inaccurate. Mr. Regan notes that the campaign was “. . . uncivil, reprehensible and unbecoming an elected official ... '' Indeed. Obviously if people from the Republican and/or MAGA crowd commit bad acts politically, it’s OK, but if Mr. Regan’s political enemies retaliate, that’s not OK. It’s disappointing, but not surprising, that Mr. Regan’s opinions are filled with so much hypocrisy.
Mr. Regan is correct in at least one of his statements: “If you repeat a lie often enough, eventually someone will believe it and act.” This is taken directly from the Trump and MAGA Republican playbook. This group, including far-right media outlets, have used misinformation, disinformation, mal-information and outright lies to spread hate and discontent in an effort to divide this country. It is a sad truth that so many people have succumbed to this malicious propaganda and our country is, thus, divided.
As for Mr. Regan’s “It's just common sense,” closing: Common sense is no longer common.
Many years ago, I began calling it good sense, because I did not find it to be a common, everyday occurrence. It is my hope that Mr. Regan reads widely to acquire a more-balanced and knowledgeable base from which to launch his opinions in the future. Since his common sense, specifically, seems in short supply, I hope that Mr. Regan will be able to develop some good sense and open his eyes to the political realities that exist in our country today.
Candice L. Ford is a resident of Hayden.