Our Opinion: Wilkes-Barre overdue to provide paid holiday on Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Letter to the Editor: Put foods on your dinner plate that aren’t reliant on animal cruelty

As a veteran I thought I placed my life on the line to assure our rights and way of life were secured for everyone. I was led to believe that our democratic system gave us the right to elect our politicians to run the country according to the way the majority wish and feel it should be run according to the plans put forth by those who ran.In that lies the notion that if a man puts forth his ideas and gets elected, it is his job to lead the country and advance those plans and ideas irregardless of which party got elected.Now we have seen the system turned on its head. I dare to say that in the past seven years the Republicans have taken the country in the wrong direction. They have opposed everything the elected president of the United States has attempted to do, and that includes some ideas they supported prior to his election. They have and are now using the same tactics in the state political arena.The fact is if the plan put forth by the elected politician was so wrong-minded, they should be eager to pass and enact it so in short order they could say to those who voted him in, &#8220;See, your man&#8217;s ideas do not work, &#8221; and thereby make the next election a shoo-in for their party. That seems to suggest, by their blocking his plans, they are fearful those plans will work, ensuring his party as the party that has the better plan and will lead the best.The real fear seems to be the Republican Party fears the wealthy paying their fair share and will do everything to put the burden on the poor and the working class, even at the cost of losing the country as we have grown to know it. Now, with them facing another four years of Democratic leadership, they are playing on people&#8217;s fears and ignorance to steer the election. The past shows the results of such tactics; no one felt a short man with little more than aspirations would lead to the Holocaust.I have heard it said that history has a way of repeating itself for those who do not remember and learn from it. I hope we have!John T. BanksWilkes-Barre

Letter to the Editor: Veteran dismayed at way Republicans stonewalling