Re: 'Bon Voyage, Bro!' [Village News, Maynard letter, 2/01/23]

Maynard accuses me of making ad hominem attacks on him. I have not. I have only challenged the validity of many of his unsubstantiated claims. Regardless, he now envisions himself as Big Daddy who’s going to take little old me to the woodshed. I say, “In your dreams, Buster, in your dreams.” He also expresses his anger and frustration with me for being a figurative thorn in the side of his eloquent (but fact-free) oratory. He then engages in a lengthy ad hominem attack on me.

Despite his “bon voyage” to me, I have no intention of leaving this country that I love, and I will continue to fight the blight that the Republican Party has become. Considering the recent election, Republican Party leaders should look back and see if anyone is following their lead. Perhaps it would be more correct to say Republican parties: The Trump Party and the Traditional far right party. With Trump there would be the novelty of not knowing what he might do next. With the traditional party I would expect them to do what they usually do: nothing constructive. There are better choices than these two.

Maynard tries to convey the notion that socialism is only a form of government, whereas there are Democratic governments with socialistic economies and hybrid economies like ours. Socialist governments have been shown to be failures, as in South America, and incompatible with democracy. He doesn’t mention how close Trump’s coup came to toppling our democracy and replacing it with fascism and a state religion.

John H. Terrell