Community Roundtable

I’ve lived in or near the Galesburg area all my life.  I am grateful for all the people who have helped me in any and all ways; the teachers, the nurturers, the instructors — all who gave me a chance, those who hired and trained me, those who trusted me, those who motivated, inspired, and coaxed the best from me, all those who have forgiven me my trespasses, all those in my church, who have gone before me and those who remain, who have held me in loving, healing thoughts and prayers, and who have modeled LOVE well.  Thanks to all who have given me of their time, money, effort, patience, forbearance, trust, love and friendship.  I am grateful for the many blessings and healings bestowed on me and mine — from an all-loving, gracious God, and grateful for the angels and guides sent to “designate, inspire and lead the way”!  I am indeed grateful!

Trish Forsyth Voss

While on Trump’s Asia trip, there was sparse reporting on his comments regarding his trusting Putin while calling our intelligence heads “political hacks”.  He idolizes Putin, Erdogan and Duterte.  Attorney General Jeff Sessions is now being pressured to set up a special counsel to investigate Hillary Clinton for some farcical charges leveled by propaganda media.  All this amidst a steady dismantling of our important agencies and governmental departments.  These events are truly alarming!  Brian Klaas, in his newly available book, Despot’s Apprentice: Donald Trump’s attack on Democracy, points out how Trump’s apprenticeship is “an understudy in authoritarian tactics that threatens to erode American democracy, attacking the press, threatening the rule of law by firing those who investigate his alleged wrongdoing, or using nepotism to staff the White House — that Trump is borrowing tactics from the world’s dictators and despots”.  Our Founding Fathers “foresaw mechanisms to counteract the probable emergence of such a demagogue”.  It is time.

Trish Forsyth Voss

Anyone who thinks there’s little correlation between rampant gun sales and mass murders is brainwashed or obfuscating.  We should be able to vastly restrict the sale of semi-automatic rifles, high-capacity cartridges, bump stocks, etc.  Now the NRA is trying to get Congress to pass the sale of silencers for weapons.  EVERYONE DOESN’T NEED A GUN!  Soon after taking office, DJT revoked the Obama-era regulation that made it harder for mentally-ill people to legally purchase firearms.  THIS IS LUDICROUS!   The nut-case who strolled into the Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church and opened fire on the congregation killing at least 26 people, injuring nearly as many, had escaped from a mental hospital in 2012,  placed there under observation after battering his wife, fracturing his infant step-son’s skull, and threatening his military superiors, earning a “Bad Behavior Discharge” from the U.S. Air Force as opposed to a “Dishonorable Discharge”, which supposedly would have been entered into gun sales database.  I read:  “FBI data indicates military rarely reports domestic violence”.  We need more vigilance in reporting practices and common-sense gun laws NOW!  Our loved ones lives depend upon it!

Trish Forsyth Voss

Brick streets in the older district of Galesburg look nice; they lend an ambiance to the area, but they require expensive upkeep, they tend to be more slippery in wet and icy conditions, and upheaved brick can cause accidents to those riding bikes on those avenues.  After all, the city is creating more bike lanes for riders and promoting bicycle safety measures, and young people are riding their bikes on Prairie Street to and from school.   I’m for having byways that require less tending and are safer year-round.  My hubby says, “You blaspheme!”  He likes the brick streets.   I’m betting more people are for the practical aspects of our corridors.  I’m sure that “our town” has plenty of other good projects to spend our municipal  monies on — that require less upkeep.

Trish Forsyth Voss

Loose lips sink ships, as can loose cannons.  Vindictive, narcissistic, immature, desperately-flawed people in power can cause holocaust-size damage!  What a president says should matter!  Unstable and uniformed, Trump needs more micro-managing than most poor leaders, but he’s ODD; he has “oppositional-defiant disorder”, and refuses to be reined-in much.  He bullies whomever he disagrees with, he rants at and insults Senators and others OF HIS OWN PARTY, he attacks Americans’ First Amendment rights, wants peaceful protestors jailed, genuflecting NFL players fired, and a free press dismantled!  (His monetary losses and hubris form the basis of his vendettas against Puerto Rico and the NFL.)  Calling out world leaders, taunting “Little Rocket-man”, threatening Fire and Fury to be rained-down — not an appropriate way to reign!  Spree-shooters, terrible earthquakes, uncontrollable wild-fires, devastating hurricanes and unrelenting tweet-storms are taking their toll on us!               DJT is like a cross between Richie Rich and Dennis the Menace’s evil twin.  BAD & SAD!

Trish Forsyth Voss

Americans have rights: freedom of speech, assembly and nonviolent protest.  The black NFL players “taking a knee” to the National Anthem is their peaceful protest of racial inequality in this country.  DJT called those players “sons of bitches”, yet he hailed the KKK and neo-Nazis in Charlottesville as “fine people”.  DJT pardoned Sheriff Arpaio, who violated the civil rights of many, contributing to some deaths.  Every U.S. president takes an oath to uphold our constitution, the laws and liberties inherent therein; his role should be uniting our citizenry, yet he is extremely divisive in all his words and actions.  Calling for the firing of those players (who  have contracts), and his minions calling for the firing of ESPN anchor, Jemele Hill,  for stating that “Donald Trump is a white supremacist, who has largely surrounded himself with other white supremacists”, is totally inappropriate!   He is worried about people disrespecting our flag and anthem; he is an ABSOLUTE DISGRACE TO OUR DEMOCRACY!

Trish Forsyth Voss

Republicans gave DJT the message that the legislative calendar was too packed to pass any tax-reform bill before late fall; the next day  DJT blindsided those GOP leaders by inviting Schumer and Pelosi to join their meeting, spurned the propositions of McConnell, Ryan and Mnuchin by readily agreeing to a deal proposed by “Chuck and Nancy”, who stood firm on a three-month extension of the debt ceiling and current spending plan and a relief bill for victims of Hurricane Harvey.   Trump pledged to work with Dems on DACA, declaring the wall could wait.  The GOP was shocked and angered.  Trump ran an end-run around them to “clear the deck” for his primary legislative priority: “tax reform for the American people”, which is code for huge tax-cuts for billionaire political donors.  This week the GOP is falling in line trying to Repeal and Replace ACA.                  Chuck and Nancy know the Art of the Deal.

Trish Forsyth Voss

Great people!  Galesburg, is just the right size city for me; a good place to raise kids among a somewhat diverse population, good schools, teachers, sports teams, and many churches, a community college and historic Knox college, around which Galesburg was planned and built; people who care enough to renovate and restore the great old homes — a treasure  of architectural styles; a variety of annual activities to participate in, Railroad Days festivities, Taste of Galesburg, the Big Bang Boom, Heritage Days, the Stearman Fly-in; the Civic Arts center, art shows, theatres, plays, shopping, unique shops, massage therapists, yoga, spiritual study groups, several high-quality restaurants to enjoy, parks, gyms, a soon-to-be new library,  a hometown daily newspaper — complete with lively debates, the Unify Galesburg forum,an interesting and storied history, public services, good people involved in local public service, politics and community affairs, not too much vehicle traffic, and many awesome, new improvements in and around our burg!   I love “our town”!

Trish Forsyth Voss

On Google, I looked up “Fox news polls”; it showed: “Online Poll Maker – make your own Free poll today – instant results – live interactive audience participation”.  Who answers Fox polls?  I don’t.  Most liberals probably don’t.  I doubt their polling would be a fair representation of the majority of Americans.  See Tuesday’s Register-Mail archive article: “1938 saw the Rise of Adolf Hitler”.  Hitler, who at the outset of his takeover gave this speech to the Reichstag:  “We have seen that a certain portion of the foreign press inundated the new Reich with a virtual flood of lies and calumnies.  Whoever disturbs this mission is the enemy of the people, whether he pursues his aim as a Bolshevist democrat, a revolutionary terrorist, or a reactionary dreamer.”  Trump hasn’t studied much, but he has studied Hitler, who seduced the German people with his mesmerizing rants and ideology for a pure Germanic race.   Turning gullible subjects against a free, independent press is the first step in the Tryanny 101 handbook.

Trish Forsyth Voss

While campaigning for the presidency, Trump declared that he would end our stupid and wasteful participation immediately upon taking office; he blasted Obama for not getting out earlier, then later criticized him for a hasty and unwise withdrawal of troops.  I guess he found the issues were more complicated than he realized.  In December 2014 NATO formally ended the combat operations in Afghanistan, but subsequently that country and the U.S. signed a bilateral security agreement to allow NATO troops to provide an “advisory and counterterrorism” role there.  Why do Afghan forces still lack the “manpower, equipment and training” needed to take back large areas of their territory,  that al-Qaeda, Taliban, and ISIS have reoccupied?  I do agree that we need to end our silence about Pakistan’s continual sheltering of terrorists, who launch attacks, then retreat to that safe haven.  We need to somehow force more commitment from our “supposed ally”, Pakistan.  And we have pledged an “enduring outcome” to Afghanistan; do you agree with it now, and were you against it under President Obama?  Trump needs to stop being Divider-in-Chief, stop waging war against Congress, the media and the majority of our citizens, and start contemplating diplomacy!

Trish Forsyth Voss