LETTER: Political distraction

By Gale A. Richards, Charles City

You may have seen a magician lift one arm and tell you to watch his hand, which distracts you so he can do something with the other hand to make a trick happen.

Distraction might make a fun magic show but it doesn’t make good politics.

Distraction is happening in the current political campaign. The ultimate prize in this year’s presidential election is the Supreme Court and the power to nominate judges for that court. The Democrat Party doesn’t want you to know that. Most Republicans and many Independents get uncontrollable shakes at the thought of another Clinton in the White House. These same voters worry what a Trump White House might look like and the Democrats are playing to that fear big time. The Democrat Party talks about issues like immigration, the economy, abortion and so on. They don’t say much of substance because these are all distractions. What they don’t want you to know are the plans they have for the Supreme Court.

The social issues the Democrats hope to force on America under a Clinton White House would be found unconstitutional under almost any previous Supreme Court. The only way the Democrats can force their social agenda on America is by getting enough Supreme Court nominations to make the Supreme Court a rubber stamp for whatever their president wants. This is the most dangerous thing that could happen in our history.

The Founding Fathers designed the Supreme Court as a line of defense for everyday American citizens and opposed to political figures trying to acquire great personal power. The Supreme Court was designed to protect us from power-hungry politicians who think they know better than us how we ought to live and so try to force their lifestyle decisions upon us. The founders knew that many representatives, once elected, would forget the voices back home and do whatever they liked. The Supreme Court was to be a source of protective common sense injected into the lawmaking process. While this has happened in the past, it cannot happen if the Supreme Court becomes a rubber stamp for any president.

In this year’s election, one candidate is distracting the voters by talking about other things while hoping to force her social agenda on America through a packed Supreme Court with rubber stamp judges. If this happens, America will be pushed over the edge of a cultural cliff from which it may never recover. Historically, this has happened to other cultures. Let us not let it happen here.

The other candidate has pledged to appoint judges which will keep the Supreme Court independent of the other branches of government. This is the way it should be.

The single most important issue in this year’s election is the United States Supreme Court! I urge you, vote for Mr. Trump. Help keep the constitutionally established separation of powers in our federal government.

— 20161101 — op —