US cities are no training ground for President Trump’s military exercises | Opinion
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Trump urged generals to use U.S. cities as military training grounds.
- Letters warn military deployment against citizens would violate democratic norms.
- Writers demand elected officials oppose militarization and defend free speech.
Trump’s dangerous rhetoric
“Trump tells military leaders that U.S. cities could be used as ‘training grounds’” (fresnobee.com, Sept. 30)
I am seriously disturbed by President Trump’s dangerous rhetoric and message to the top military generals on Tuesday. Particularly, that there is an “enemy from within,” that America is “under invasion from within,” and that “this is a war too.”
Accepting these statements leads to the dangerous conclusion that the military should be used against American citizens. This MUST NEVER HAPPEN. This is no time for the average citizen to stay silent and let such statements go. . The time is NOW to speak out against such an idea and raise a ruckus.
The fact is, there is no invasion.There is no enemy within. There are citizens who exercise their rights to openly protest and resist what they deem unjust. Sometimes citizens go too far and become violent, sometimes they break the law. Crime happens in cities. Then the police are called and the perpetrators are arrested. They are still not an “enemy.” This is not a “war.”
It is not necessary to send in the troops. America is still a democracy with laws and we citizens have rights. Please exercise your right to free speech and voice your outrage at the suggestion that our military be used in such a way..
Donna Dodd, Clovis
More on Trump’s words
I am horrified by the words of President Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and by the silence of Republican Rep. Vince Fong, who sits in tacit support.
Hegseth described our servicemen and women as people who “kill and break things for a living,” who “don’t belong in polite society,” and who “feel comfortable inside the violence.” He called lethality their “calling card.” These are not the words of a leader who respects the dignity and sacrifice of those who serve.
President Trump went further. He called Democratic-run American cities “war zones” and proposed using them as “training grounds” for our military and National Guard. That is the language of occupation, aimed at his fellow Americans.
This is unacceptable. Our military is not a tool for domestic political theater, and our veterans are not disposable instruments of “lethality.” I call on Rep. Fong to break his silence. He represents military communities.
Rep. Fong, do you condone this rhetoric? Do you approve of militarizing our cities? Do you represent your constituents or your GOP leaders? The people you represent deserve answers.
Rebecca B. Camarena, Lemoore
GOP’s free speech
“California Republican gets it right on defending Ilhan Omar’s free speech | Opinion” (fresnobee.com, Sept. 28)
While the Bee editorial on Sept. 29 lauds Rep. Tom McClintock for supporting Ilhan Omar’s freedom of speech, it doesn’t excuse the paper for the silence it has displayed in the past when it comes to conservatives’ free speech rights.
Where was The Bee when federal judge Kyle Duncan was shouted down at Stanford a few years ago? Why didn’t the Bee speak up when Amy Wax was hounded out of UPenn or when Ira Shapiro was forced to resign from Georgetown for their conservative views? For that matter, where was The Bee when the Biden administration threatened to censor social media companies that did not do its bidding during the Covid Pandemic, or when the “Disinformation,” i.e. censorship, committee was revealed? There wasn’t a peep concerning suppression of speech against conservatives.
Yet, The Bee, along with other liberal publications, is suddenly worried and vocal when Democratic and progressive voices are in danger. For The Bee to make light of Omar’s speech rights when in the past it’s said next to nothing about the rights of her opponents is more than hypocrisy; it’s an abdication of its journalistic principle to defend all speech, no matter how disagreeable.
Larry Parmeter, Fresno
ICE facility spending
“ICE awards $130M contract to run Kern County facility amid deportation crackdown” (fresnobee.com, Oct. 2)
The ICE facility in Kern County holds 2,300 prisoners. The contract recently awarded to the private corporation to operate it is for $1,300,000. That means there’s a budget of only $508 per prisoner annually? That includes ICE salaries, food and clothing for prisoners.
Who is on the short end of this deal? Prisoners of course. It’s beyond the 8th Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.
Nancy Schultz, Fresno