Letters to the Editor: Resist tyranny. Believe what you know to be true about Trump and the law

To the editor: I am not a young man and have voted in many presidential elections, sometimes Republican and sometimes Democrat. I’ve witnessed the far extremes of both parties lose, and I truly believe that most Americans are middle-of-the-roaders like me. (“Signposts on the road to authoritarian rule,” Opinion, Feb. 10)

That said, I have great anxiety that our democracy is under threat.

A president cannot just declare part of a constitutional amendment invalid. Enacted legislation cannot just be ignored. Immigration policy and budget deficits are major issues that have developed over years; they cannot be fixed in a few weeks by firing government workers or deporting people at will.

The Jan. 6, 2021, attack was reality. People currently serving in Congress were trapped inside the U.S. Capitol that day. More than 1,500 people were convicted by a jury of their peers or pleaded guilty in connection with the attack. And now we are to believe that no one did anything wrong. I cannot accept that an attack on Congress is somehow OK.

It has been suggested that the Republicans in power fear retribution from President Trump. But we are a democracy, and while they may have won the election, they were not given unlimited power.

I’m at a loss to understand why Republicans today cannot remember Abraham Lincoln’s words extolling “government of the people, by the people, for the people” — and not just the people who agree with Trump.

Walt Oliver, Santa Paula

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To the editor: Does UC Berkeley School of Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky believe that democracy in the United States will end during the next four years?

Trump was elected to slow down or halt the excesses of the previous administration, not to install authoritarian rule. If he goes too far, the people will resist and vote in someone with whom Chemerinsky agrees.

Robert S. Rodgers, Culver City

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To the editor: Oh, America, what have you done? You’ve elected a malignant narcissist to be your president, and you’re well on your way to losing your democracy.

In 1933, it took the newly installed Chancellor of Germany Adolf Hitler 53 days to transform that country’s democracy into a dictatorship.

Too many people believe it can’t happen here. In Europe they didn’t believe it could happen there either. Then it did. My parents saw the horror in Nazi-occupied Holland.

Our Constitution can’t enforce itself. People of good character must uphold it in the face of leaders who ignore it, demand loyalty to themselves, give illegal orders and fire watchdogs.

Here are some rules for resisting tyranny: Do not obey in advance, defend institutions, and be ready to say “no” to illegal orders. See the work of scholars Timothy Snyder and Ruth Ben-Ghiat, and read the journalism of Masha Gessen.

Matty Park, Ventura

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To the editor: I appreciate Chemerinsky’s clear itemization of Trump’s shredding of the U.S. Constitution, but I believe he was too polite. Citizens must awaken to our peril. Trump’s violation of the law has slid or will slide us into despotism.

All media must maintain reporting of the attacks on the Constitution as their primary duty. Reports on the inside pages of newspapers are not sufficient.

Lloyd A. Dent, Northridge