Dear Editor,
First, we were told to be afraid of immigrants. That fear has enabled the deportation of hundreds of thousands of people who have harmed no one as well as the murder of American citizens who dared to confront the injustice. Rather than producing any discernable benefit to the public, this campaign has fueled increases in the price of food and housing, nationwide.
Then we were told to be afraid of “narco-terrorists.” After the blatant slaughter of 200 foreign nationals and the kidnapping of Venezuela’s president, the flow of illegal drugs into the U.S remains unabated.
Even more frightening, we were told, were Iran’s nuclear weapons. Which – though having never existed – might someday rain down up us. We are now embroiled in a fiasco of our own making in the Persian Gulf. It has upended the global economy, killed thousands of innocent civilians and rewarded the folks back home with $4 gas.
So, headed into the mid-term elections, what do Republicans have to run on? From Trump’s lips down through the roll of sycophants in Congress to letters posted in this very publication, the answer appears to be: more fear. This time, it’s communists.
For over 100 years, Americans have been conditioned to fear communists. The most pivotal event of my generation was the war in Vietnam, during which the U.S. suffered over 350,000 casualties and spent the equivalent of over a trillion dollars. It was sold as necessary to prevent world domination by communists. Well, the communists are still there. And last year, we bought over $190 billion worth of goods from them. On April 4th of this year, Trump engaged in a phone call with the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, for the purpose of negotiating tariffs. Trump praised the exchange on Truth Social.
Trump has actually taken steps to punish communist China with tariffs. That has contributed to a 62% drop in U.S. agricultural exports since 2024. Somehow, during recent decades, Americans had become more than content selling crops to Chinese communists while purchasing from them every kind of retail consumer goods, including electronics and clothing. Interestingly, the administration does not consider China to be “The Capital of 21st Century Communism.” In a recent State Department report, that prize was awarded to Cuba – an isolated island with a population less than that of New York City, and which currently can’t even keep it’s lights on.
For at least the next 90 days, expect to hear a lot about communists “taking over the government.” So far as any explanation as to what exactly, that means, expect no more than name-calling and finger pointing. If you identify as a liberal, a progressive, or a democratic socialist, you will be accused of being a communist. It will be stressed that any Democrats who are not themselves communists will be utterly incapable of protecting you from those who are.
And if Trump interferes with the November elections, or refuses to allow the seating of victorious Democrats, expect “communists” to define his rationale.
Michael Brandt Spring Green, WI