Letter to the Editor

“There’s something happening here, what it is ain’t exactly clear; there’s a man with a gun over there, telling me I got to beware.  It’s time we stop, children, what’s that sound, everybody look what’s going down.”  We need to look at what’s really happening throughout our country.  We need to take a hard look at the white-systemic-racism in our society; if we’re ever going to work to change things we can’t keep denying the deep structures that keep us separate & divided.  Most whites have no idea the level of fear that people of color live with everyday, and mainly don’t see the unfair justice delivered; we barely notice those murdered.  We cannot sustain a criminal justice system that unfairly punishes & imprisons blacks over whites.  The disparity is too great, the price too high.   Blacks need full citizenship & access to full opportunity in 21st century America. “Paranoia strikes deep, into your life it will creep; it starts when you’re always afraid, step out of line, the man come & take you away.”   The fear, violation, brutality, murders; It’s gotta stop!   We must find the will.  We must set fair standards for ‘use of force’ for law enforcement.  ALL THE WORLD IS WATCHING!   Right-wing extremist groups infiltrated legitimate protesters to hijack the outrage to serve their own twisted-agenda of starting a race-war, they call Boogaloo.   Yet, Trump threatened Left-wing ‘Antifa’.   Trump stated, “MAGA people love black people & love their country”.

Frank Figliuzzi, former FBI counterintelligence officer, said U.S. State Department, reported in March 2020, a warning — that Russia is attempting to instigate race-based division & chaos in our society; and that there are early indicators on social media of activity to incite and gather groups that oppose each other.   These are the influences & activities behind the scenes of “what’s happening here”.  Some vandalism has been planned & carried out by ‘outside provocateurs’.   We need to educate ourselves about ‘the players’ and their intents.  People in power deny the problem because they benefit from it in many ways, such as cheap labor and private prisons.  We must face the structural underpinning of racism in our society, if we hope to ever change the rules that divide us and harm our fellow Americans.        Joe Biden said, “We are a nation in pain right now, but we must not allow pain to destroy us”.      We must initiate the true Reconstruction!

Trish Forsyth Voss

“STOP KILLING BLACK PEOPLE: George Floyd’s death sparks protests in Minneapolis”, screamed 5/28/20 headline of USA Today.  “Protesters clashed with police in Minneapolis, they chanted for justice in Memphis, they stopped freeway traffic in Los Angeles.  The death of George Floyd continued to ripple across the U.S.”   Multiple fires burn in Minneapolis, police precinct damaged, several businesses looted, violent protests continue, as people across the nation demand the arrest of the police officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck for several minutes, despite the pleas of passersby, murdering him, as several videos definitively show that Floyd did NOT resist the 4 officers who were fired as a result of the 5/25/20 public lynching without a rope.  How many such ‘lynchings’ have occurred across our nation without being videoed?  It’s nearly impossible to get justice even when so documented.  Police were called to a store where Floyd supposedly gave a $20 counterfeit bill for payment; did he even know it was counterfeit?   Talk about priors?  Yes, the police officer had over a dozen complaints filed against him over his tenure, think how many offences probably went unreported.  From all accounts it appears that George Floyd was a decent guy, loved by many, his last cries were for his mother.  STOP KILLING BLACK WOMEN’S CHILDREN!   Police officers must receive more psychological testing & training, learn how to deescalate tensions and apply common-sense.  “The lack of compassion, excessive force or going beyond the scope of the law, doesn’t just tarnish our badge, it tears at the fabric of race-relations in this country”, said L.A. Police Chief, Michel Moore.  Minneapolis Mayor, Jacob Frey, has called for the MN National Guard, “to protect the lives of innocent people.  I’m imploring our city, our community, every one of us to keep the peace; let’s honor George Floyd’s memory.”

An employee’s firing was the correct response in the situation of Amy Cooper, who on 5/25/20, while walking her dog in Central Park, encountered bird-watcher Christian Cooper, no relation.  He asked her to please leash her dog, as the city ordinance requires; she refused and became agitated.  Christian began videoing the encounter.  Amy decided to call 911 and report “an African-American man is threatening myself & my dog, please send the cops immediately!”   Trying to exploit the situation to her advantage was reckless.  Firing the police officer who chose to ‘take a knee’ to George Floyd’s neck for several minutes ‘until dead’ is NOT sufficient justice.

Trish Forsyth Voss

Breaking news on 5/30/20: Far-Right militia groups, anarchists & white supremacists have infiltrated the ‘legitimate protesters of police killings’ in order to hijack the righteous outrage & frustrations to serve their own twisted-agenda of further the confrontation between the police & blacks (& liberal groups), in the provocateur’s calls for ‘Boogaloo’ or the second Civil War, they are hoping to incite.  This will be the subject of my next Letter to the Editor.  To read more on this subject Google: NBC News story by Brandy Zadrozny,  2/19/20:  “What is the Boogaloo; how online calls for a violent uprising are hitting the mainstream”.  In light of this revelation, the recent vandalization of CNN Headquarters in Atlanta, GA, now makes more sense to me.  It was vandalized by protesters, but which ones?  Who has a beef with CNN, who constantly calls them “Fake News”?  Today, President Trump has called for meeting violence with violence, stoking the flames, and convoluting his message with saying that, “MAGA people love blacks, and love their country”.  HELP!  We need Reverend AL & other black leaders NOW to speak with folks and quell the rioting & violence.  There are many actors in today’s passion-play.  Me personally, I’m asking you all: Please, GO HOME!  Don’t play into the hands and plans for more evil-doing!  DON’T BURN OUR COUNTRY DOWN!  EVERYONE, STOP INCITING VIOLENCE!  Find higher ways; VOTE BLUE for Criminal Justice Reform!            TFV

Breonna Taylor, a 26 year-old black, ‘essential’ EMT worker, working for 2 local Kentucky hospitals amid this Coronavirus pandemic, was shot & killed in her own apartment during the early morning hours of March 13, 2020, by 3 LMPD (Louisville Metro Police Department) plainclothes officers, who arrived in unmarked vehicles to execute a ‘no-knock’ search warrant, meaning they did not have to identify themselves as police.  Breonna and her 27 year-old boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were asleep when they heard someone breaking into their home.  They called 911, and Walker, a licensed gunowner, got his gun and shot one ‘intruder’ in the leg, which spurred the officers to spray the apartment with 20 rounds, hitting Breonna 8 times.  Some rounds made their way into the next apartment where a 5 year-old and her pregnant mother were luckily spared being killed in their sleep.  The officers supposedly had a search warrant for Breonna’s address due to an investigation into a ‘drug house’ 10 miles away, for a Jamarcus Glover, who had already been taken into custody the previous day; the warrant didn’t include Taylor or Walker, neither of which had any criminal or drug history.  Taylor had dated Glover a couple years previous to this incident, and there was some allegation in the police report that Glover had intercepted a ‘suspicious’ package delivered by USPS, to Breonna’s address.  (USPS refuted that implication.)  The police report stated that a vehicle registered to Breonna Taylor had been seen in front of the “trap house” for which they had a search warrant.

A petition calling for charges against the 3 officers involved garnered more than 80,000 signatures.  Senator Kamala Harris has called for DOJ to investigate Breonna’s death.  Governor Andy Beshear called for a careful review of the investigation, as had Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, advising the final report be handed over to the commonwealth attorney for further determination of legal recourse.  Others are calling for a complete “truth of facts & circumstances” surrounding this “a very corrupt police department”.  Civil Rights attorney, Benjamin Crump, is part of the legal team representing family members who filed a lawsuit alleging wrongful death, excessive force and gross negligence.  Crump is also attorney for the family of Ahmaud Arbery, murdered 2/23/20 for ‘jogging while black’ in Georgia.    Kenneth Walker was arrested and charged with “Assault & Attempted Murder on a police officer”, for trying to protect himself & Breonna in their home.   The Second Amendment should apply equally to all races & ethnicities.  We need serious criminal justice reform in 21st century America!

Trish Forsyth Voss

Is our society unraveling?  Besides suffering under this incredibly-deadly viral-pandemic, with a death toll exceeding 89,000, with nearly one and a half million people infected by Covid-19, and growing exponentially, there’s a hunger crises in America, we’re close to an economic collapse, we’re in despair.  People are fearful, angry, some acting-out badly, refusing to abide by restrictions imposed to protect the public, our neighbors.  As healthcare workers are endangering their own lives to save others, angry, armed-protesters, turned terrorists, are storming Capitol buildings across the country, some carrying Confederate flags, nooses & swastikas.  Michigan Gov. Grethen Whitmer said, “Some of the outrageousness of what’s happened at our Capitol depicted some of the worst racism and awful parts of history in this country”.   In further demonstration of president Trump’s abject failure of leadership, he’s defended these people, who by earlier tweets he’d incited to insurrection, to “liberate” their states.   Trump has completely fallen-down on getting testing & tracing measures underway; he’s disregarded, even fired vaccine-experts & scientists;  he’s invoked the Defense Production Act to order workers (mainly minorities & immigrants) back to jobs at animal-butchering & packing plants, despite increasing infections in those plants, virtually spreading the virus to other community members, causing more deaths.

Reports in several states have people visiting stores, attacking employees who try to enforce mask-requirements; some of those miscreants have spit on employees, licked packages, and spat on police officers called to the scenes.  One woman, upset by a Family Dollar guard’s insistence that her daughter wear a mask, argued and spit on him, returned with her husband, and son, who shot & killed the store-employee.  People who’ve never read any parts of the U.S. Constitution, declare that these measures infringe on their constitutional rights.  Americans murdering fellow-Americans.  Trump IS a war-time president.  The War is ON America, and Trump is presiding and urging it on.  American Carnage!

In 21st century America, an innocent man was murdered in Georgia; his crime: running while being black!  IMAGINE!  The murderers of 25 year-old, Ahmaud Arbery, were known on 2/23/20, when the white, former police detective and his son called 911 to report “a black man running”.   It took 74 days & much pressure for arrests to occur, even though a video had surfaced showing Arbery attacked while jogging.   In Georgia, one cannot claim self-defense if they provoked the altercation.   There is a soul-sickness in our country, and many are terminally-afflicted!

Trish Forsyth Voss

Dr. Rick Bright, a federal vaccine scientist, the former Director of Biomedical Advanced Research & Development Authority, BARDA, was demoted, sidelined, from working on a vaccine for Covid-19, at a time when we need ALL HANDS ON DECK!  Why?  Dr. Bright, one of the nation’s leading vaccine drug & diagnostic experts,  was pushing back against the widespread promotional use of chloroquine and other anti-malarial drugs, which Trump has touted as potential life-savers for Coronavirus patients.  Dr. Bright is filing a whistleblower complaint alleging retaliation for his resistance to promoting a Coronavirus drug treatment that has not undergone sufficient testing for that disease, and has been found to cause deaths.  Bright’s attorney accused president Trump of “making demonstrably false statements about Bright to deflect attention from the reason for his removal as Director of BARDA”, which is purely political.  “Bright said he was instructed to develop a national program geared to expanding access to the drug hydroxychloroquine after Larry Ellison, campaign fundraiser for Trump, and billionaire chairman & cofounder of software-giant, Oracle, spoke with Trump about the drug.”  Bright insisted that “the billions of dollars allocated by Congress to address the Covid-19 pandemic be invested into safe and scientifically-vetted solutions, and not in drugs, vaccines and other technologies that lack scientific merit.   Dr. Bright wants his position back;  he stated, “I am speaking out because to combat this deadly virus, science — not politics or cronyism — has to lead the way”.

The New York Times recently reported, “If hydroxychloroquine becomes an accepted treatment, several pharmaceutical companies stand to profit, including shareholders and senior executives with connections to the president.  Trump himself has financial interests in Sanofi, the French drug-maker that makes Plaquenil, the brand-name version of hydroxychloroquine.  Trump’s three family trusts have investments in a Dodge & Cox mutual fund, whose largest holding was in Sanofi.”  Does impeached-Trump use his position to financially benefit himself ?  Constantly!  And I’ve viewed  clips from several Fox & Friends hosts strongly promoting the use of hydroxychloroquine as a miracle-cure for  Coronavirus.  Trump has aggressively pushed the drug, as well as Trump’s inner circle, including Peter Navarro & Rudy Giuliani, obviously attempting to increase the demand for the relatively-inexpensive drug, but we all know that drug companies can ramp-up prices based on demand.  Dodge & Cox international stock fund, besides Sanofi, also includes Astra-Zeneca, Novartis, Bayer, and GlaxoSmithKline.  Some of Sanofi’s largest shareholders are major donors to Donald Trump.

Trish Forsyth Voss

Veterans’ and nursing homes are experiencing many deaths among residents; and healthcare workers represent 20 percent of the Coronavirus-cases.  Deaths in long-term care-facilities are estimated, as of 4/18/20, at about 6,000 across the nation, but many states are not providing information, citing privacy concerns.  Most nursing homes did not start barring visitors until mid-March; most have now ceased all group-activities; some are trying to screen their workers for fevers or respiratory-symptoms at every shift.  The federal government isn’t really tracking these deaths, even though the Federal Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the oversight-agency for regulating nursing homes, declares states must comply with state & local reporting requirements for Coronavirus-cases.  The agency recommends that homes use separate staffing-teams for residents, keeping the infected patients separate from those that test negative.  There’s still a huge gulf between the number of tests needed and those available, and we need more sophisticated testing.  The U.S. has just announced a test that only takes five minutes to determine if one is positive, about nine minutes for a negative reading.  It’s estimated that at least 25 percent of all people infected show no symptoms, so it seems unavoidable to keep residents from contracting this highly-contagious, deadly-disease.  Despite staff-members energetically sanitizing and trying to social-distance as much as possible, many workers are out-sick; with missing staff and makeshift or no personal protective equipment, it’s really no wonder that bodies are piling-up.  How are our morgues dealing with all these corpses, and in this time of great financial need?   Where will the Midwest’s ‘Hart Island’ be?   Our elderly, our parents and grandparents deserve compassionate-care, dignity and respect.  And the public deserves to know the extent of these cases & deaths.

These facilities need more state & federal oversight.  Other hot-spots across the states are correctional institutions and meat-packing plants; these are two places in our area of Illinois that are showing higher incidents of contagion.  Florida reopened beaches on day of biggest Coronavirus-case increase, and they were packed!  Republican governors are rushing to cooperate with president Trump’s demands to reopen our economy by May 1st.   April 17, 2020, brought armed-protestors out in several states, responding to Trump’s tweets to “LIBERATE MICHIGAN.  LIBERATE MINNESOTA.   LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege!”   That date was the 159th year-anniversary of Virginia seceding from the union, following the attack on Fort Sumter.  Is insurrection really what Trump is seeking to incite?  INCREDIBLE!

Trish Forsyth Voss

Is there a doctor in the house?  Yes, a spin-doctor!  As we’ve nervously watched the White House press conferences for current pandemic revelations,  we’ve heard Trump spinning wildly: on how awesomely he’s handled the crises, his hunches for wonder-drugs, his enviable Facebook numbers, and his rants against Democrat governors, Impeachment, whistle-blowers, even a Navy Captain who wrote a letter endeavoring to save his sailors.  As most of the states have put closures in place, Trump is daily unraveling, chanting, “We MUST get everyone back to work!  America wasn’t made for this!”  Even as the Surgeon General solemnly warned “this next week may be our Pearl Harbor moment, our 9/11 moment, our hardest, saddest week!”  What causes this inconceivable disconnect?   Self-interest?

As workers have been let-go amid this horrendous plague, many businesses that specialize in tourism are floundering.  Trump has been hard-hit as his hotels and golf resorts have shuttered; lost revenues approximated at $650,000 daily.  “The Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, FL, is on nearly 300 acres that Trump Organization leases from Palm Beach county.”  Trump Org. is seeking to delay those payments, and is also reportedly seeking debt relief, possibly restructured loans, on his currently estimated outstanding $350 million, from Deutsche Bank, Trump’s largest creditor. Deutsche has reportedly been used for Trump’s Chicago Tower,  Trump International Golf Course, and his Washington D.C. hotel; reportedly lending him some $2 billion since 1998.  Trump was basically forced to personally guarantee these loans, meaning the bank has recourse to seize his personal assets.  To complicate the situation further, Deutsche Bank is supposedly being investigated by DOJ, over its failure to report suspicious activities involving Jared Kushner’s family business and Trump’s former charitable foundation (closed due to ethics violations).  Deutsche officials have worried about just such a scenario, and is torn amongst a few negative options:  the bank can do what’s right by itself and its regulators, or protect someone who has the ability to inflict enormous damage on the institution; opting not to seize assets would essentially be a huge financial gift to Trump.  Bank operations in the U.S. are supervised by federal regulators.  This is the “absolute nightmare” that was warned about by former ethics officials.   “This highlights the perils of having someone in the Oval office who owns huge swaths of businesses and has refused to divest from them.”   Will he get a bail-out?    Read DARK TOWERS, book authored by David Enrich on Deutsche Bank.

Trish Forsyth Voss

“America’s governor”, Andrew Cuomo, NY, has been a reassuring voice for many of us, as he speaks truth & facts with a calm voice and forthright demeanor.  In his daily press-conferences he explains all that his team’s doing to protect New Yorkers and those close-by.  His folksy, Italian, ‘family-man style’ is positive, not so political.  He has declared this crises an issue of: red, white & blue.  Suddenly Trump has turned an about-face, saying he’s “relying on the advice of experts”, extending his social-distancing plan through the end of April.  Joe Biden on MSNBC 3/30/20  said, “Trump must move rapidly to get more equipment to N.Y. and other places in immediate distress: ventilators, respirators, face-shields, masks, gowns, testing apparatus, more front-line healthcare workers.”  In this war against Covid-19, a rapid response is crucial to save lives; Biden urges, “Trump should invoke the Defense Production Act, compelling companies to produce needed equipment NOW!  Use your office to get the constructive things done that America needs from a president.  Stop name-calling and picking fights with Democrat governors, stop making foolish accusations.  Let Dr. Fauci speak more often, listen to the experts, don’t mislead!”   President Trump had a conference-call with the nation’s governors today; most are calling for Stay-at-Home orders or extended orders, and increased social-distancing measures.  Many southern states, slow to affect such measures, are now seeing their numbers explode and grow exponentially.  Mardi-gras, Spring-Break festivities, and unimpeded travel have all contributed to the rapid spread of pandemic.   Many states are still not getting the testing they needed weeks and months ago.

Our IL governor, J.B. Pritzker, has been proactive about this crises, putting stringent measures in place early to save lives, ordering schools and nonessential businesses closed, and directing Illinoisans to Stay-at-Home, unless they’re participating in essential activities (extended through 4/30/20).  Pritzker gave a press-briefing 3/30/20; dispensing new information, and he will update us on any further directives & extensions.   (Critical thinking is always imperative; be aware that scam-artists flourish in any crises-situation.)

Governor Cuomo stated, “Everyone is afraid, including doctors, nurses, first-responders; we need to manage the fear and the virus.  Look for the silver-lining in every situation; enjoy your time with your loved ones, and save lives by social distancing.”  Cuomo seeks to reassure, “We will get through this!”

We must all pull-together to do so, and let’s keep checking on our loved ones & neighbors…. by phone, texts, Skype, virtual-visits, however.   Yes, we can!

Trish Forsyth Voss

Not entirely true, since before Trump’s inauguration, his incoming-team received a half-day, legally-required transition-exercise, by an outgoing Obama-team.  The preparedness-session presented several scenarios focused on the threats of hurricanes, cyber-attacks, and a potential pandemic.  The Trump-team were told it “could face specific challenges such as a shortage of ventilators, anti-viral drugs and other essential medical equipment — that having a coordinated, unified response was paramount to any president’s responsibility to protect Americans amid a crises”.  So, in light of that information, how was it possible that the Trump administration, in 2018, dismantled  the Executive-branch team responsible for coordinating a response to a pandemic and did not replace it?  And why did the Trump-budget propose less and less money each year (even though Congress didn’t follow those proposals) for Centers of Disease Control?  Under Trump, in 2019, the National Security Council’s global health security office was dismantled.  How can president Trump claim to have no knowledge of that?    Remember when Trump fired hundreds of U.S. scientists last year and decimated USDA research?  Then there was Trump’s unnecessary trade-wars, which shut our farmers out of markets, and slowed or stopped our receiving crucial medical supplies and other necessities manufactured in China?

Trump declared Coronavirus a hoax; as his friends at Fox GOP-TV repeated that lie.  Now Trump has said he, “always knew the Coronavirus was a pandemic long before it was declared”.   Trump seldom trusts the truth, being largely unacquainted with it; he “had decided that pandemics don’t occur often, so why keep many expensive employees on the government payroll”, when he had better designs on that money.  One reason for the failure of the Trump-team to take that 1/13/17 preparedness-briefing seriously is that “two-thirds of the Trump representatives involved in that presentation are no longer serving — extraordinary turnovers in the months and years that followed” has hollowed-out essential staff at the White House.  John Bolton, Trump’s third (having fired the two previous) National Security Advisor, “oversaw the dissolution of the National Security Council’s global health security & biodefense section”.  Continuity and competence matters in government!  We build on successes.  The Trump-team struggles to adequately handle the very real pandemic it faces now, and we, Americans, face an unnecessarily botched response to this crises: no testing, no vaccines, no scientists.   American Carnage!   America is shutting down, our economy is crashing around us.          Who’s winning now?     “Nero fiddled while Rome burned.”    Or did he golf?

Trish Forsyth Voss

Dear Thomas, we get it already!  You are against abortion, homosexuals, against calling them: LGBTQ, against them being accepted in society and in churches, against atheists, against liberals and progressives, against today’s Democratic party, against modernity, against most public schools, especially if they are for excluding your specific-sanctioned kind of prayer in their classrooms.  What specifically is the prayer that you feel should be instilled in the curriculum of our public schools, in which people of all races and religions attend?  What sect of religion do you feel should be crammed down everyone’s throats, as you assail others for somehow hindering your expression of faith?  I’ve read that you attend a Methodist church, but also that you’ve been railing against other Methodists who are more tolerant.  There are many sects of Christian religion in our country, and also many other religions.  Some of us, in America, are Christian, some are Buddhist, Hindu, Moslem, Jewish, Native American, Spiritualists, Zoroastrians, Wiccan, Pagan, Atheists, Rock & Rollers, etc.   Why is what you believe so important that the rest of us must bow to your dwarfed-understanding of Deity?  Why do you NOT understand that in America WE ALL HAVE FREEDOM ‘OF AND FROM’ RELIGION?  Our Founders specifically set forth that we should have “no declared” religion for this very purpose, the purpose of FREEDOM!   Yes, many of the founding fathers may have been Christian or Masonic, (even as they immorally held slaves) but they did NOT establish Christianity as our national religion.  You feel that your expression of faith is hampered by atheists?  No one is stopping your free-expression of bigotry.  Your beliefs seem more aligned with the Taliban than with Jesus.  I’m sure you were offended by the football players who “took a knee” to draw attention to the honored cause of ALL LIVES SHOULD MATTER!  And we can argue about when LIFE begins, which brings me to my next harangue.  The Democratic platform is NOT pro-abortion!  And abortions are NOT performed up until the ninth month as fundamentalists like to claim!  Many democrats are ‘Pro-reproductive-freedom’.  And since men can’t get pregnant, they really shouldn’t even have a vote on that issue.  If men could get pregnant, abortion would have been sanctioned since the beginning of time, without question, and today could be obtained at any drive-through Jiffy-abortion-service.  You stated that, “Christians support religious liberty and free political expression”.   Hardly!   Americans really should ‘more-fully’ support it.

Trish Forsyth Voss