Morley Musick’s story about the Border Patrol’s youth program [“Meet the Boy Scouts of the Border Patrol,” February 3] was the scariest article I have ever read in The Nation. The attempt to tie the training and mentoring of young people to catching undocumented immigrants, along with the brainwashing of these youths in Trumpian ideology, sends up red flags for anyone who knows history. It has the smell of the Hitler Youth program from the 1930s. Is that where this is headed?
If anyone is not aware of how dangerous Donald Trump, his administration, and his cult followers are, this should convince them. This effort to create an indoctrinated Trump Youth Scouts is reason enough to make sure we elect a Democratic Senate and a new president.
Mike Boland fishers, ind.
I was disturbed by your article “Meet the Boy Scouts of the Border Patrol.” First off, the lovely cover illustration of the young Border Patrol Explorers poses them as little Nazis; please do not try to tell me that was not what you wished to imply.
Perhaps you would rather these kids get into drugs, smuggling, or other sorts of mischief. Instead, they are learning discipline, law enforcement, first aid, and other useful skills. The slant of your article is obvious and disgusting. You should be praising these kids as good examples, but your liberal agenda is to drag them down and make them look like they are minions of the Border Patrol.
Go ahead and laugh at them in a few years when they are making more than $125,000 a year.
Ray Harris las vegas
Love Supreme
I enjoyed Connie Schultz’s piece ”Love and Rockets” [February 3]. I so wish her husband, Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, had run for president. He could have stood up to Donald Trump’s lies, bullying, and lack of knowledge. I fear the current leaders in the race for the Democratic nomination do not have the stamina, determination, or ability to confront Trump or to appeal to a broad group of people. Debbie Cassetari chino hills, calif.
No More War
Kudos for your editorial “Stop This War” [January 27]. The murder of Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani was indeed a useless and dangerous escalation of our needless ongoing war with Iran. All the reasons given to support the attack are only the usual claptrap from jingoistic flag-wavers. George Batts jacksonville, fla.
Even before February 28, the reasons for Donald Trump’s imploding approval rating were abundantly clear: untrammeled corruption and personal enrichment to the tune of billions of dollars during an affordability crisis, a foreign policy guided only by his own derelict sense of morality, and the deployment of a murderous campaign of occupation, detention, and deportation on American streets.
Now an undeclared, unauthorized, unpopular, and unconstitutional war of aggression against Iran has spread like wildfire through the region and into Europe. A new “forever war”—with an ever-increasing likelihood of American troops on the ground—may very well be upon us.
As we’ve seen over and over, this administration uses lies, misdirection, and attempts to flood the zone to justify its abuses of power at home and abroad. Just as Trump, Marco Rubio, and Pete Hegseth offer erratic and contradictory rationales for the attacks on Iran, the administration is also spreading the lie that the upcoming midterm elections are under threat from noncitizens on voter rolls. When these lies go unchecked, they become the basis for further authoritarian encroachment and war.
In these dark times, independent journalism is uniquely able to uncover the falsehoods that threaten our republic—and civilians around the world—and shine a bright light on the truth.
The Nation’s experienced team of writers, editors, and fact-checkers understands the scale of what we’re up against and the urgency with which we have to act. That’s why we’re publishing critical reporting and analysis of the war on Iran, ICE violence at home, new forms of voter suppression emerging in the courts, and much more.
But this journalism is possible only with your support.
This March, The Nation needs to raise $50,000 to ensure that we have the resources for reporting and analysis that sets the record straight and empowers people of conscience to organize. Will you donate today?
Street Smarts
I want to express support for Jeet Heer’s view that activism is essential to getting Congress and our other leaders to act [“Impeachment Needs to Move to the Streets,” December 30/January 6]. Without it, there would have been no civil rights legislation. If not for three years of activism against the depredations of the Trump presidency, there would have been no impeachment effort. Yes, there is the rule of law, but it is only the action of citizens that prompts its enforcement, by informing elected representatives of their demands. Henry Steen austin, tex.
Correction
“Australia Is Burning” by Daniel Judt [February 10] incorrectly states that the Australian Labor Party formed a coalition government with the Green Party after the 2007 elections. There was no coalition government under Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
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