I hardly, if ever, respond to anyone who disagrees with my editorials. However, in the case of the Marconi missive published in the Gazette on Aug. 22, I will on this one occasion, and most likely never again, respond. In contrast to what the Marconi article said, I believe that opinion verses fact is the direction most of our social and printed media operate under today. That is not opinion. Just review all social and printed media about our president since the day he took office. Judge for yourself.
The Marconi editorial said I bought wholesale into President Trump’s “fake news” rhetoric. That is correct. It is because the media and press have driven me to that decision. If they cannot find something to write about that is news, they just make it up. Trump lies, Trump kidnapped children, Trump colluded with the Russians, Trump is a racist, and Trump is a Narcissist-in-Chief. These comments are not only insulting to a sitting president, but also to those of us who respect our system of government. These are all opinions, not facts.
The Marconi editorial describes our president as being above the law, a racist, has xenophobic and divisive behaviors. Sorry, but those are opinions, not facts. Trump has never put himself above the law, and he is by no means racist or xenophobic. He is only called these names by those who do not agree with his policies, because they are vacuous of rational thought.
The Marconi misinformation article also stated that President Trump colluded with the Russians. Well, I must have missed the Marconi article that said the president is found guilty of collusion with Russia. I thought that in this country, you were presumed innocent until proven guilty. I suppose a bigger discovery is that, unbelievably, collusion is not a crime. Therefore, we as taxpayers have spent tens of millions of dollars chasing something that is not even a crime, if in fact it ever occurred. That is a fact, not opinion.
No one, not even a president is required to release his or her tax returns to the press or public for review. I seriously doubt Marconi has released his tax return for our review. A tax return is a very private document between the IRS and the taxpayer. It is not for the public or the press to scrutinize. That is fact, not opinion. Actually, I think the president’s tax return is in the same drawer as Obama’s college transcripts, entrance papers, his grades and birth certificate.
Kidnapping children is a federal crime, and a bad one at that. President Trump is accused of kidnapping in the Marconi editorial. That is definitely opinion, not fact. You can look on Google all day long and you will not find anything that states our president is kidnapping children.
It is true President Trump initiated a zero tolerance policy at the border for illegals attempting to enter the country. It was long overdue. Defending the “zero tolerance” border policy has caused the separation of families. The Obama and Bush administrations did the same thing, just not to the numbers that the current administration has done. The separations are done because parents must be vetted to ensure they are truly the child’s parent and not just human traffickers or criminals. To do this, ICE has to separate parents from their children, because children cannot be held in detention facilities used for adults.
Serving in the military for 39 years, five in the Pentagon, has taught me one inevitable truth. When a General of Policy maker asks for information on an issue, you give them facts, not opinions. Get the facts straight, and they are the truth. “Telling the truth supported by facts isn’t fake news.” Printing opinions as facts is “fake news”.
I am reminded of a quote from a great Democrat, Daniel Patrick Moynihan. “We are all entitled to our own opinions; we are not entitled to our own facts.”
Christopher A. Acker
Delaware
