USA is in serious trouble
Not only do we have a president whose flawed character is impervious to change, we have half the voting public enthusiastically supportive of him and the policies that flow from such character flaws. Trump’s MAGA minions are also unable and/or unwilling to change because they would have to admit that they have been tragically wrong for a long time. Add to this is Trump’s support from sycophant Republican politicians who display obsequious loyalty in order to keep their jobs. Statesmanship is nonexistent!
Equally problematic is the reality that no organized political opposition to Trump is offered by either the Democrats or Independents and no opposing political figure with widespread popular support has emerged. In addition, no public policies serving as alternatives to Trump’s policies have been presented by his opponents. Unless and until a charismatic leader emerges with substantive political policies, nothing will change in November.
The USA is serious trouble.
Ed OKeefe, Bonita Springs
Disgraceful treatment of Fauci
It was disgraceful how the Republicans in Congress belittled and harassed Dr. Anthony Fauci, a competent self-effacing man who led this nation through the pandemic.
How quickly we forget!
Adrianne Cady, Naples
McDaigle for Lee School Board
Jenn McDaigle supports bus drivers, route managers, safety and nutrition in Lee Schools.
Before a child can learn they need to get to school, arrive on time and have enough to eat. Lee County has room to improve in all three areas. Late buses mean lost instructional time. Parents across the district have raised concerns for years about routes that leave students waiting at bus stops well past the pick-up time. A child that walks into the first period 15 minutes late begins the day already behind. Transportation is a serious operational issue that requires the same careful oversight the Board applies to every part of the district. Properly trained school resource officers also play an important role in keeping campuses safe, especially as the district prepares for larger class sizes and tighter staff to student ratios. Budget pressures cannot be allowed to weaken safety for educators and students.
Free and reduced price meals matter for the same reason. A child who has not eaten is unlikely to be focused on reading comprehension or long division. Hunger makes learning hard. Every school in the district should provide strong and reliable healthy meal programs.
While these issues don’t generate flashy headlines, they are still the daily conditions that determine whether a school day works for a child. I support Jenn McDaigle because she is focused on these essential responsibilities and understands that a strong school begins with getting the fundamentals right.
Vote, vote by mail and secure Jenn McDaigle a seat on the School Board. Vote August 18th.
Kathleen Callard, North Fort Myers
Regain our democracy
It was evident, watching Trump’s hour and four-minute word salad at the Correspondents Dinner, that he believes that the cult of his MAGA base, who are motivated by faith rather than truth, will believe every word/lie that falls out of his mouth.
Those sycophants in Congress aren’t motivated by faith, or truth, but their fear of losing their do-nothing jobs. We the People are motivated by truth supported by facts, and we need to use it to regain the power in November to regain our democracy.
Roger W. Quagliano, Estero
Trump’s strategy
Less than two weeks after paying E. Jean Carroll $5.6 million tied to a civil sexual abuse and defamation case, Trump’s legal team is seeking an emergency injunction to force Carroll to return the amount she was paid earlier under a judge’s order and following the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the case. In seeking the injunction, Trump continues to deny the sexual abuse saying he doesn’t even know E. Jean Carroll.
Stephanie Grisham served as White House press secretary under Trump from 2019 to 2020. She later broke with Trump and revealed his private communication methods. She shared that Trump would explicitly coach her on using relentless repetition to overpower facts. “He used to tell me, ‘It doesn’t matter what you say, Stephanie — say it enough and people will believe you.’” Grisham explained that Trump used this strategy as a routine business and a political tool. She said that she eventually stopped holding televised White House press briefings altogether because she did not want to stand at the podium and repeat untruths to the public.
Just like he has done with the 2020 election, claiming over and over again that it was stolen, Trump is repeating his E. Jean Carroll lie over and over again. Repeating it now in papers filed with a court. It’s really not about overturning the jury’s verdict, it’s about publicizing the lie so that it will be accepted as the truth by virtue of repetition.
The same is true of winning the war against Iran and inflation being a hoax. Lies over and over.
In “Mein Kampf,” Adolf Hitler recommended repeating lies until they are accepted as the truth. This is Trump’s strategy. And it works for 50% of the folks in America.
Sally Lam, Naples
Democratic Socialists?
The current leadership in the Democratic Party, Chuck Schumer, Elizabeth Warren, AOC, etc. have been out on the campaign trail promoting that the Democrats are the “big tent party.” Shockingly this welcome even includes Democratic Socialists. Even though their platform sounds utterly insane to most Americans they are winning primaries in Democratic strongholds. As hard as it is to fathom, their platform and political aims include eliminating police and prisons, eliminating the Senate and presidency, packing or eliminating the Supreme Court, eliminating border controls and actually opening the borders altogether, (didn’t the Biden administration already try that)?, encouraging men to participate in women’s sports, implement a 32-hour work week but being paid for 40 hours, placing major corporations and essential industries under public democratic control, free college to all, eliminate existing student debt, abolish the Electoral College, extending voting rights and amnesty to noncitizens and people with criminal convictions. They mostly suggest it is racist to ask a voter for an Identification. Furthermore, they want to increase welfare and food stamp programs without regard to legitimate need. They are promoting nationwide reparation programs. This is projected to come mostly from their plans of transferring wealth from American citizens “they deem” are unnecessarily and or “excessively wealthy.“ Apparently they still believe in the tooth fairy. As mayor of New York is promoting, they are recommending rent rates be frozen even if it means landlords go broke because taxes, mortgage payments, repairs etc. exceed rental rates. It’s clear that their predominant sycophants are those who buy into victimhood, division, and hatred of our country. I must add that there are zero known reports of anyone in the United States claiming to be a “Republican socialist.”
John McWilliams, Fort Myers
Flooding the zone
Here we go again. The Trump administration has admitted in a court document that federal funds were allocated to states based on their level of support for the president. In a sane political reality, this would be the kind of thing to kick off a spate of investigations at the very least, but here and now, it will go essentially unnoticed. There will be something as bad or worse tomorrow. It’s known as “flooding the zone.”
OK … We are living in the age of “whataboutism,” and I would be remiss here if I didn’t point out similar outrages on the “other side.” The wife of a former Democrat president had the gall to suggest that kids might benefit from avoiding sugary drinks, and that’s not all! Her husband actually appeared in public in a tan suit! It’s a slippery slope from there to the fall of Western civilization. A pox on both their houses!
Geremy Spampinato, Naples
Congress must step up
This is America’s commander in chief in charge of chaos at home and at war with Iran.
On Monday, July 20, it was reported that: “The U.S. is planning for a wider war,” according to one U.S. official familiar with internal administration discussions, adding that the Pentagon was increasing the number of military aircraft in the region. The official speaking off the record cautioned that the expansion of U.S. operations would be limited by dwindling stockpiles of air defense and long-range missiles and the inability of our military to surge more troops and aircraft into the area because of battle damage.
“We do not have enough to safely sustain operations, and I don’t think the White House is aware of that,” the official added. In addition to the toll taken on U.S. equipment and munitions stocks, the U.S. is not ready for boots on the ground which Trump, a week ago, would not rule out.
As your Commander in Chief, Donald Trump, for almost five months, has bounced from all out attacks to ceasefires to bombing ceasefires to MOUs to name callings to ending ceasefires to calling for negotiations. The is known as the “Art of the Deal” — a negotiation strategy which uses bullying power to elicit an agreement which is impossible after having given the enemy the perpetual leverage of the Strait of Hormuz. This is the president who promised peace, then unprovoked started a war; the president who wants a peace prize but changed the name of our Department of Defense to the Department of War. This is a president who needs to be brought under control by a courageous Congress, not a bunch of inept clowns with no backbone. Give us a Democratic House of Representatives and a Democratic Senate. Save us from WW III.
Joe Haack, Naples
Stop blaming Biden
It’s difficult to fathom when the current administration will stop blaming their predecessors for everything from the economy to munitions shortages. Last time I checked, Joe Biden did not go to war with Iran which undoubtedly was the major cause of the indiscriminate use of war hardware − especially since there was no clear-cut plan with respect to the scope of our involvement. Consequently, our economy is directly proportional to the “skirmish” Kegbreath is directing. Since he fired experienced military leaders, he should own the lion’s share of the blame. The Cabinet is loaded with incompetence, so who are the fall guys − the president who appointed them or the gutless Republiscums who voted them through? Sure, the economy wasn’t the best after Joe left but the bulk of the reason was the recovery from Covid. Then the kumquat took over − installing tariffs and starting an endless war.
So, don’t you think it’s about time to stop accusing Biden and put the onus on the great pumpkin where it belongs.
Glenn Chenot, Cape Coral
Damage to our country
The damage done to our country by Donald Trump cannot be overstated. He has wasted billions of dollars and, even more sadly, sacrificed American lives in a foolhardy, ill-conceived war in Iran. I say “ill-conceived” because the objectives of this adventure were never clearly defined. Other than preventing Iran’s development of nuclear weapons, I have heard no one clearly state what Trump hoped to accomplish, but the closest he came to concluding the “incursion” was with a Memorandum of Understanding that did not address such development.
And what has he accomplished? Inflation is the highest in years, gasoline is costing over $4 per gallon, Iran has demonstrated to the world that it can control a vital oil shipping route and that it can successfully resist American attempts at regime change. China has stepped in to provide military aid to Iran gaining a foothold in the Middle East that might have taken years to achieve if not for Trump’s blunder.
This embarrassing display of our country’s “strength” coupled with the well-reported depletion of our weaponry makes it difficult to imagine us resisting China’s annexation of Taiwan. The global power structure has shifted dramatically and not in favor of the United States. Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian countries are now making deals directly with Iran to preserve their oil supplies. Canada entered into a trade agreement with China to mutually cut tariffs. The EU is negotiating free-trade agreements with India and Mexico.
Trump’s policy of bullying and isolationism is likely to end up with America bereft of allies.
Daniel Graziano, Naples
Campaign ads
We’re in the throes of selecting our candidates who will do battle come November. Promises, Promises, not the musical but the cacophony of television and media ads telling the public what they promise but can’t and won’t do. There’s one rugged guy pumping gas into his pickup truck, think he spent over à hundred bucks. And he says, wait for it, “thanks Biden” like Biden started a war and closed Hormuz. It gets better, another supplicant claims to drink Diet Coke and eat his steaks well done just like his hero. I’m not making this up. Another fella from New York is a hard nose conservative whose family received public assistance, you know, welfare, but wants to deny it to the next family. And just to soften the fact that he’s from New York City he said he found Jesus in the parking lot at Waffle House. If that’s not Southern, I don’t know what is. The next four months will seem like from here to eternity, grin and bear it. Our future depends on it with your vote and vigilance.
Laurence Jacks, Estero
Reject socialist influence
Having two political parties has been one of the great strengths of our country. As a Republican, I wish for a solid Democratic Party, not one which acquiesces to socialists such as Zohran Mamdani. And he has been an American citizen for only eight short years! With primaries and mid-terms coming up, we still have the ability to set aside any anti feelings for Trump and instead vote for a future of a government by the people or a government-only socialist rule.
Marian Lauck, Naples
Antismoking initiatives curtailed
Recent actions by the Trump administration have effectively replaced the “Great American Smokeout” with the “Make America Smokers Again.” CDC’s antismoking initiatives have been severely curtailed, e.g., Tips from Former Smokers ads, while the Office on Smoking and Health has been shuttered. Federal funds to states for airing archival antismoking ads have been diminished and state quit lines for help on how to stop smoking have experienced far fewer calls since the antismoking ads went off the air. Smoking cessation programs remain front and center as the singular most effective means to improve public health, yet the current administration seems adamant in weakening/removing these proven preventable death measures. Coincidentally, the tobacco industry is a large contributor to the Trump war chest. Critics would suggest that, in this case, correlation and causation coincide. When Big Business has the ear of the sitting president and corporate profits supersede public health, future downgrades in health promotion will ensue. Will we see the reintroduction of lead in paint, a return of trans fat in food, the reappearance of alcohol ads on TV, the restoration of cocaine in Coca-Cola and increased federal subsidies for tobacco growers? Federal campaign finance reports may well be the harbinger of our country’s health report card.
James L. DeBoy, Fort Myers
Republican vs. Democrat beliefs
Recently a staunch Democrat stated, “Our differences are profound and in many cases irreconcilable — racism, nationalism, women’s rights, voting rights, climate, ICE overreach and political vengeance.” But he missed a few including mutilation of children, violent crime, collectivism and socialism. And yes, he is right.
Republicans believe in a color-blind society, controlled borders, state’s rights on abortions, citizen only voting with an ID, stopping trillions of dollars spent on debunked climate models, deporting criminal illegals, children must be mature before they can decide to trans, waste, fraud and abuse should be prosecuted, support individualism, success and freedom of choice, and capitalism.
Social Democrats (where the party is at) believe in segregation of white, black and brown in classes and special rights for some, open borders to pump up the census to have congressional power, on demand end of term abortions, no limits to harvesting of no chain of custody mail-out ballots, wasting money on climate controls that cannot affect the global temperature, thwarting removal of illegal murders, rapists and other felons allowing them to be free to roam, allow unscrupulous doctors to decide that under 16 children should be mutilated, have the state make decision on your future, and socialism.
Socialism by itself as a nonprofit ideology cannot support the formation of capital to facilitate the collective production of goods and provide services. Socialism must confiscate from capitalist to fund their equitable distribution of wealth and resources.
Jerry Boldt, Naples
Trump’s values questioned
Recently I have received a lot of political mail. Most of the candidates running for office indicate that they wholeheartedly support President Trump’s values and actions. I would appreciate knowing their response to my questions.1. Do you believe that the court rulings for the 2020 election were incorrect and Trump won?2. Do you believe the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and the police was acceptable behavior?3. Do you believe that it was right to pardon the individuals who attacked the Capitol police?4. Do you believe that when appointing staff the main prerequisite should be loyalty and not competency?5. Do you believe that in an elected position that one of the priorities is to seek vengeance against anyone who speaks out against you?6. Do you believe that you should use your elected position to financially improve your personal wealth along with members of your family?7. Do you believe there is no problem with a person breaking their marriage vows to two of the three women that they married?8. Do you believe more in bullying than negotiating?9. Do you believe that a friend is only a friend as long as they agree with you?10. Do you believe that there is nothing wrong with continually making promises that you know you cannot keep?11. Do you believe that you must always follow the party line?12. Do you believe in the glorification of your name?13. Do you believe that you could go into a crowd and shoot someone and none of your supporters would care.Looking forward to having your answers printed so that informed voters can cast an intelligent vote. Thank you.
Warren White, Estero
Trump and election fraud
What’s really interesting is that when Trump won the 2016 election, a Democratic administration was in charge (Obama), and when Trump won in 2024, a Democratic administration (Biden) was in charge as well. However, when Trump lost in 2020, it was Trump’s administration in charge! He’s not going to make that same mistake twice. He’s now promoting his Save America Act, which would put the federal government in charge of elections, even though the U.S. Constitution says that’s the job of the states. Why would he want that? Why do you think? It’s so he can control the results!
Why do I say that? Well, you’ve heard of the Heritage Foundation, right? They’re the right-wing organization that wrote Project 2025, so hardly a progressive, “lefty” outfit. They’ve done studies of election fraud over the past 30+ years across several states with over one billion votes cast, and the number of fraudulent votes was a minuscule .0000845%, nowhere close to affecting an election outcome.
These fraudulent votes were all cast by unorganized individuals for whatever reason. What we really need to be concerned about is organized election fraud… because that’s already happened! That’s the bad news; the good news is that it wasn’t successful. It was the “fake electors scheme” by Trump and his cronies after the 2020 election that ended with the Jan 6th insurrection. (If you don’t remember the details, Google “what was the fake electors scheme?”) If the MAGA/RINO/CINO/FASCISTS get control of the elections, it will be game over.
As I’ve said here before, anytime Trump is accusing others of something nefarious, you can bet the rent money that it’s something he’s done, is doing, or is planning to do. To give him the Save America Act is to put the fox in the henhouse!
Ken Brindle, Cape Coral
Florida politicians on Epstein
Jeffrey Epstein’s lenient treatment in Florida wasn’t inevitable — it was the product of officials repeatedly choosing caution and reputation management over accountability.
The origins of leniency: Palm Beach police built a strong case, but County State Attorney Barry Krischer’s office moved toward a strikingly soft resolution — so soft that police went to the FBI. By 2007, federal prosecutors had drafted a sweeping indictment covering trafficking-style charges involving numerous underage girls, plus forfeiture of Epstein’s mansion. Then-U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta scrapped that case for a secret non-prosecution agreement that also shielded unnamed co-conspirators — a decision the DOJ’s own ethics office later called poor judgment. Krischer stayed involved in shaping the substitute state deal, meaning Florida officials didn’t just fail to stop the leniency — they helped build it.
None of this proves bribery, but it shows a justice system that consistently bent toward wealth and status. Political responsibility doesn’t require personally engineering the deal — it attaches to officials who oversee institutions that repeatedly favor the powerful and decline to expose or fix it once the failure is undeniable.
Ashley Moody: the clearest case of continued avoidance. Moody is the figure with the most unfinished business. As Florida Attorney General from 2019 to 2025, she held office through Epstein’s federal re-arrest, the fresh document releases that exposed how organized his network was, and Ghislaine Maxwell’s conviction — which proved the abuse depended on a system of recruiters and facilitators, not one man acting alone. That was Florida’s clearest opening in over a decade to force a real accounting: to identify which enablers had escaped scrutiny, to push legislation banning secret non-prosecution deals, to strengthen victim-notification law. None of that happened under her watch.
Now Moody sits in the U.S. Senate, appointed by Ron DeSantis to fill Marco Rubio’s seat — a national platform far bigger than the one she had as AG. She has direct standing to push federal reforms: legislation restricting secret non-prosecution agreements, stronger victims’ rights protections, and pressure for fuller disclosure of Epstein-related records. As of now, she has not made this a defining part of her Senate agenda. That is not a passive detail — it is the continuation of the same pattern she oversaw in Tallahassee. Having occupied two of the most powerful legal and political offices in Florida during the years the Epstein story kept resurfacing, her silence now carries more weight, not less. A senator who lived through the AG years has fewer excuses than most for inaction.
Ron DeSantis signed 2024 legislation releasing the 2006 grand jury records, but only after years of outside pressure — a narrow transparency fix, not a broader institutional reckoning. Rick Scott, governor for most of the scandal’s public unraveling (2011–2019), presided without launching reform and, as a sitting senator, has built no visible reform agenda either. The Legislature passed the 2024 records bill unanimously, but only after nearly two decades of pressure — reactive, not proactive.
Florida’s political class has consistently treated Epstein as a reputational hazard to manage rather than a governance failure to fix. Moody embodies that pattern most directly: she has now held power at two different levels of government spanning the entire post-2019 reckoning, and at neither level has she made accountability her fight.
Paul Howard, Naples
Trump’s lapdogs
The bombardment of political ads has begun and one pattern is emerging − all Republican candidates either display a picture of them with President Trump or assert their goal as helping Trump “make America Great again”. Rather than hear how they are going to continue his policies, I would rather hear their replies to several simple questions.
Let’s start with “Do you believe the January 6 rioters at the Capitol should be pardoned?” “Do you believe the idea of reparations should have been considered for them?” How about “Is it appropriate for a sitting president to increase his wealth by 2.2 billion dollars, his wife’s by 7 million dollars and his children by hundreds of million dollars as a result of his position?” How about answering the simplest of questions: “Do you believe he won the 2022 election for president in spite of several courts throwing out his objections to the results?”
It appears that, rather than acknowledging the corruption manifested through this administration, local Republicans seem more interested in joining the parade. The worst of the offenders is Chris Collins who incessantly brags that he is “the original Trump supporter and has voted with Trump 100% of the time.” If he has actually done so, shouldn’t voters wake up and realize Donald Trump is interested only in Donald Trump and question lapdogs who simply follow him blindly? Come on Chris. Bragging that you’re just like him in order to get re-elected kinda indicates you are incapable of individual thought and would do little for the working family. We can do better!
Robert F. Tate, Naples
Dealing with Iranians
I must be missing something. The Iranian regime has put a $100 million bounty on our president’s head. This same regime constantly chants “death to America” as well as vowing to eliminate Israel. How can you possibly negotiate with idiots like this? You could never trust them. There appear to me to be only two answers. The first is just ignore them, build our defenses and hope that their threats are not realized. It seems that we have spent years building our defenses and even with that, the Iranians and their proxies have been able to attack us occasionally. It is hard to live a normal life when you are under constant threat. The other option is to take the fight directly to them and try to eliminate them.
Ron Wobbeking, Naples
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: USA in serious trouble with Trump’s character flaws | Opinion letters
Reporting by Letter writers / Fort Myers News-Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Letter writers | USA TODAY Network
