Letter to the Editor: Support for Jillian Gilchrest
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To the Editor:
Republican candidate for 18th District State Representative Mary Fay claimed on WFSB’s Face the State on Sunday that “I haven’t seen anything discriminatory come out of his administration” in reference to President Trump. I fear Ms. Fay is woefully out of touch. However, the people of West Hartford are not.
My name is Sarah Raskin and I am one of the organizers of Women’s March Connecticut along with Jillian Gilchrest. For the first march in January 2017, we organized 80 buses of people to travel to the DC march, while 10,000 more marched in Hartford and other towns in Connecticut. The town with the largest number of bus riders was West Hartford. And they have not become complacent. Ten thousand came out again this past January. These marchers understand what Mary Fay does not. The policies of the Trump administration touch each and every one of us here in West Hartford.
The Trump administration is full of both rhetoric and policies that are indeed discriminatory. Just ask any of our neighbors who respect a woman’s right to live free from sexual harassment and violence about Trump’s many statements both derogatory to women and in defense of men who have assaulted women. Ask any neighbor who values a woman’s right to control her reproduction and healthcare about policies that are slowly chipping away at this right, including anti-choice nominees to the Supreme Court and changes in federal funding that allow denial of contraceptive coverage. Ask any of our transgender neighbors who want to openly serve in the military or who fear Trump’s judicial nominees with anti-LGBTQ records. Ask our Muslim neighbors about attempted discriminatory travel bans. Or our immigrant neighbors who face deportation or those who live in fear that he will go back on our promise to DREAMers.
West Hartford is a community that cares about our neighbors and that does not deny discrimination when it occurs. Join me in supporting Jillian Gilchrest.
Sarah Raskin
West Hartford
Ok another half a quote from “face the state”. It’s tiring to hear the same incorrect, misleading, and false attacks. I’m proud of my performance on this fine show and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Read my whole quote from the show in Ryan Langan’s recent editorial. It’s becomng tiresome to beat this same fake drum. I live this life daily, a life where I was routinely discriminated against and fought back. I crashed through the glass ceiling to the C suite as a woman, and a gay woman at that, in the 90’s, helping to pave the way for others. It’s time to talk about the real problem, not some made up falsehood . CT is burning to the ground, Democrats created this fiscal mess, and have no plan to fix it other than increase taxes. People and businesses are leaving in droves. My success record in Finance, with budgets, and turning around failing entities speak for themselves. Be constructive instead of being in attack mode, which accomplishes nothing. What are your solutions? Living and leading a life that fights discrimination means a lot more than paying lip service. Be truthful or silent. Sarah, have you taken the time to speak with me, listen, or get to know me? I thought organizers of the Women’s march were supposed to listen to different views with respect. What say you?
Furthermore, Trump is not on the ballot. As is not Malloy, the worst rated governor in the country who has compounded Ct’s Fiscal woes. Do we want to continue Malloy’s failed policies of tax and spend to further drive CT into the ground? We need real change and reformation, not switching one Malloy disciple for another.
Trump may not be on the ballot but, if you read my letter, his policies very much touch the lives of every person in West Hartford. And so whether you agree with these policies or would work in the state house to protect us from them is on the ballot. You say Malloy is not on the ballot and then in your next sentence act as though he is. And so I ask you, do you support the policies of Stefanowski and Markley? You brought up Malloy’s policies so it only makes sense for you to respond to a question about the policies of Stefanowski and Trump. Support them or not?
Actually, Mary, we spoke at length at the Thistle Bowling Club in Elizabeth Park. At that time you shared ideas that I found troubling, including saying you are in some ways, a libertarian. I shared with you many of my proposed solutions, but, of course, I am not seeking statewide office-you are. Be truthful or be silent? I am not sure what that means or why you would aim to silence a constituent. I am quite tired of Republicans speaking mistruths about the budget and the state of the state. And so I ask you–what are you solutions? I have been asking West Hartford Republicans this question for years and have never received an answer. If you are running on a platform that says no more taxation and rather depends on cuts I ask you to be honest right here and now–what would you cut? Don’t the voters have the right to know what I vote for you would mean? What are they voting to give up that you would cut? I would welcome a straightforward answer.