Letter: A Conservative/MAGA Response to Recent Anti-Trump Protests
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To the Editor:
I am writing this letter, unburdened by what has been, not connected with any local political parties. I am an Unaffiliated voter and have been with Trump in spirit since day one down the escalator at Trump Tower in June 2015. I was one of the lucky 21,000 to get tickets to the Trump rally at MSG on Oct. 27, 2024. It was the political event of my life. The past three weeks have been three of the greatest weeks in my life witnessing the transformation of this country that I felt was badly needed.
From learning about the 600 person rally last Saturday and just observing and hearing things around town, I acknowledge that my fellow town residents are becoming very upset about the Trump 47 administration. West Hartford, on the whole, represents an increasingly fringe viewpoint when compared to the national political consensus. In my opinion, some people are becoming unhinged and losing their marbles. The term TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome) is tossed around from our side and I mean this with no disrespect, I think it is real. While this is not a clinical diagnosis from me – believe it is a form of obsessive compulsive disorder. I am saying this as someone who suffers from OCD myself. From 2009 to 2013, I suffered from a bad case of ODS (Obama derangement syndrome). It got so bad, that I closed my business for a time, kicked a lot of people out of my life and then went back to school and earned an ill-advised Master’s Degree through which I racked up a lot of student loan debt. If it hadn’t been for a student loan discharge program and being misled by a for-profit college, I would be in financial ruin today. I nearly destroyed myself financially due to my political obsessions. I do not want that to happen to anyone else.
I do feel that the anti-Trump forces need to take steps in our direction to mend fences and at least have dialogue. I am not trying to make anyone like or support Trump. I just want us to get back to being neighbors and civil citizens. I serve clients through my business that are about 80% Democrat/liberal. We get along just fine and I help everyone equally. I am going to leave the transgender issue out of the mix right now, but here is where I think the Democrats have some work to do ….
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- I hope we can all agree that there is wasteful government spending that needs to be curtailed. There is waste in everything from foreign aid, domestic disaster relief, and even defense spending. The fact that Trump and Musk are exposing it should not be an excuse to lose one’s mind.
- THIS IS THE BIG ONE FOR ME – The other side needs to acknowledge that their presentation of and response to COVID-19 was an overreach. Democrats and counter cultural liberals used to be the side of vaccine skepticism. The tables have turned. Mask mandates, vaccine mandates, lockdowns and general scorn for people who did not agree with “the science” were flat out abusive. The failure to acknowledge vaccine side effects and even entertain the mere concept that the MRNA vaccines may not be appropriate for people under 30 or at least under 18 and that there may (just a thought) have been and still are effective alternative therapies – which all had to be denied in order for emergency use authorization – is why we are where we are today. The “militaristic,” drastic, seemingly revolutionary tactics of this administration are a direct response of what you did to us and how you “tortured” us during the COVID-19 Era.
If you cannot take steps to build bridges with us especially concerning your behavior on point No. 2, we are going to put the pedal to the floor on you. With that said, I am open to dialogue with anyone from the other side and also to share what I went through from 2021-2023.
Kevin Boudreau
West Hartford, CT
You know what’s funny. On the Trump deportation flights to lawless Guantanamo where he can torture migrants with impunity everyone is wearing masks because covid is rampant again.
I think the concerns with trump go beyond policy: a major concern is the way trump is steadfast in his commitment to circumvent congress to completely eliminate entire departments and social safety net programs, as opposed to rooting out waste within those organizations within the laws governing our nation.
It is further concerning that access to (unprecedented, and arguably illegal) presidential power has been purchased by Elon Musk.
I sympathize for the hardships you mentioned in your letter and I wish you well.
I imagine many of the attendees at the Madison Square Garden rally in 1933 were equally exhilarated by the experience and equally sure they were on the right side of history.
it is absolutely sickening that you are calling me or implying that I am a Nazi. I doubt you would call me this evil term if we met in public. I was standing shoulder to shoulder at that rally with Hasidic Orthodox Jews. We were brothers and sisters together along with black and brown people as well. I am a Christian Zionist. I believe in a one state solution – Israel forever!!
In 1933, no one had any idea what the leader they so greatly admired had planned. They thought he would make Germany Great Again and didn’t mind that he was attacking minorities, the press, the judiciary and anyone who disagreed with him. The first mass arrests/deportations did not occur for five more years. History rhymes.
I missed the conservative/maga references trumpeted in the headline for this editorial. Just sayin….
In 1933, no one had any idea what the leader they so greatly admired had planned. They thought he would make Germany Great Again and didn’t mind that he was attacking minorities, the press, the judiciary and anyone who disagreed with him. The first mass arrests/deportations did not occur for five more years. History rhymes.
A few unrelated notes:
1. At the heart of Christian Zionism is Christian Nationalism, not respect for the Jewish people and their beliefs.
2. Saying “we are going to put the pedal to the floor on you” unless you get an apology sounds like a threat.
Author’s Note: For the people deeply afflicted with TDS who may be reading this Letter to the Editor, the “put the pedal to floor” comment was a reference to Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s 2012 Democratic National Committee convention speech where she said — put the car in D to go forward and put the car in R to go in reverse. Putting the pedal to the floor here refers to policy and legislation and activism. Anyone who feels threatened by free speech doesn’t understand what America is all about. We are where we are in America today with a new sheriff in town because of radical Covid policies, radical transgender policies, and government waste. There you go, I could have written the whole editorial in one sentence.
The “new sheriff” is a convicted felon. Orwellian.
Free speech? Is that why Trump banned the Associated Press from events?
When your first acts as president include illegally firing 17 inspectors general and dismantling the congressionally approved Financial Consumer Protection Bureau, your goal is to engage in waste, fraud and abuse — not eliminate it.
I would like to commend Kevin Boudreau for his thoughtful and candid letter. His personal journey and reflections resonate with many who have felt ostracized or misunderstood for their political beliefs. Kevin’s call for dialogue and civility is not only refreshing but necessary in today’s polarized climate.
However, the responses to his letter expose a glaring hypocrisy among some detractors. Critics like David Shea, Danielle Wu, and Linda Smith seem quick to vilify and fearmonger, while their arguments lack substantive counterpoints to Kevin’s points on government waste and the overreach during the COVID-19 response.
David Shea’s comment about Guantanamo is not only baseless but also an inflammatory exaggeration devoid of factual backing. Danielle Wu’s fears about Trump circumventing Congress are speculative at best, ignoring the checks and balances inherent in our government system. Meanwhile, Linda Smith’s repeated invocation of Nazi Germany is not just a false equivalence; it’s a smear tactic that does little to advance rational discourse.
Kevin’s acknowledgment of his past with “Obama Derangement Syndrome” shows a level of self-reflection that his critics seem unwilling to match. They fail to address the core issues Kevin raises – like the need for fiscal responsibility and a critical look at how the COVID-19 policies might have been mishandled or overreached. Instead, they resort to ad hominem attacks and historical analogies that serve more to inflame than inform.
Moreover, the arrogance in these replies is palpable. They dismiss Kevin’s experiences and insights without providing alternative solutions or even acknowledging the validity of his personal growth narrative. This isn’t just dismissive; it’s counterproductive to any hope of mutual understanding or progress.
The lack of facts in these responses is striking. Assertions are made without evidence, historical parallels drawn without context, and personal attacks leveled without regard for the truth or the complexity of political discourse. If we are to move forward as a community, we need to engage with each other’s arguments on their merits, not on the basis of fear, misinformation, or personal bias.
I stand with Kevin in promoting a dialogue that respects differing viewpoints and seeks common ground, rather than deepening divides with baseless accusations and ideological entrenchment.
Dave
We are all going to have to agree to disagree about whether America’s future looks bright or dark right now. Kevin is exhilarated about the changes he is seeing but many other Americans see troubling parallels to dark times in history and are deeply troubled by them. (I can’t list them all in a Letter to the Editor.) We will find out soon enough who is right about America’s future. If our checks and balances hold and the rule of law survives, I would love to have a robust and respectful policy debate about everything from public health to transgender rights to government waste and abuse with you and Kevin.
I’m not a fan of Trump by any stretch of imagination. But I’m all for civilized discourse and dialogue. When there was a pro-Trump demonstration in West Hartford center a few weeks before the election, I crossed the street to talk to them. I’m not saying it did much, but I just could not walk by without trying. Given what is happening right now in our country, I would like to invite all republications, and those democrats who actually think that good things are happening under the current administration, to join me in a common cause for all Americans which is to save our democracy. We can temporarily put our differences aside because if we do not condemn and protest against the manners in which Trump, Musk, Vance and all republicans (except for one) in the house and senate are implementing their plans (by breaking laws), any form of dialogue and discourse will become impossible if it is critical of the current regime. Republicans in the house and senate have made themselves superfluous and if the supreme leader will ignore the courts, the American experiment is over. So my call for action is: let’s join forces and save democracy save the American experiment.
democracy doesn’t need saving sir. Democracy is working as it should. If you look back to the mid 1990s Bill Clinton and Al Gore implemented massive government spending cuts and employee reductions when they took office. What needs to be stopped is the implication that people who support the current president are affiliated with the Nazi party or are somehow reminiscent of a disgusting 1930s political movement. When I was at that rally at Madison Square Garden, there were no Nazis there. There was nobody waving swastikas. I was shoulder to shoulder and shaking hands with blacks, latinos , and jews. I’m sure there was equal camaraderie and joy at Kamala Harris rallies and Barack Obama rallies. The mistake that people are making is that they are saying that people who support Trump are worse human beings and somehow less equal than people who supported the Democrat party alternative now or in the past. That’s not true, there may be political ideas in power right now that you and other readers here don’t like – but our ideas are not dangerous. Fix your party and stop demonizing us and maybe you will win again. That’s democracy.
Productive discourse requires a shared reality and a shared understanding of history. Our allies around the world understand that fascism is at America’s doorstep and are organizing to prepare themselves for it. Meanwhile, 1/3 of Americans think their biggest enemies are transgender people, vaccines, equity/inclusion and atheists. Where would we even begin?
I want to echo the sentiments expressed by Kevin Boudreau and Harry van der Hulst in their comments. Kevin’s personal narrative of political evolution is commendable and highlights the importance of understanding and civility in our political conversations. Harry’s call for unity across party lines to safeguard democracy is equally important, even if we might disagree on the specifics of the current political landscape.
However, I must address Linda Smith’s assertions, particularly her claim that “1/3 of Americans think their biggest enemies are transgender people, vaccines, equity/inclusion, and atheists.” Linda, where exactly are you pulling this data from? This statistic seems either exaggerated or misrepresented to fit a particular narrative.
First off, saying that equity means nothing more than equality is a gross oversimplification. Equity in policy aims to ensure fairness and justice by acknowledging and correcting systemic imbalances, not just treating everyone the same regardless of context.
Moreover, to claim that a third of Americans view these groups or ideas as enemies is not only inflammatory but also lacks substantiation. Without credible sources, such statements contribute to the polarization and fear mongering that Kevin and Harry are trying to move past.
We need to base our discussions on facts, not on assumptions or fear based rhetoric. If we truly want to address the real issues facing America, we can’t start with such divisive and poorly supported claims. Let’s focus on constructive criticism and solutions rather than demonizing groups or ideas based on misinformation or exaggeration. That’s the only way forward to a more informed and united democracy.