Dear Editor,
[Re: LETTER: Canadian border closure no different than Trump’s southern border closure, Sept. 13, The News online]
What a bunch of rot and disinformation that Mike Boileau filled his apples-and-oranges letter about, what is the difference between Trump’s wall with Mexico and our keeping the border closed.
Trump’s wall is illogical; it is based on bigotry and racism which not unexpectedly defines his repugnant base.
It is anti-immigrants, whether they be Mexican or Muslim for that matter.
Repeating the false claims that there is empirical evidence how bad those immigrants are to the U.S. is the fake news that people supporting right-wing conspiracy theories thrive on.
RELATED: U.S.-Canadian border closure reportedly could extend through November
Our closing the border is based on science and the need to stop the spread of the virus.
It is a matter of public health, not xenophobic white nationalism – which Trump has championed even before he was elected by a minority of voters in the U.S. (just in case Mr. Boileau has forgotten that detail).
See the difference, Mr. Boileau?
It is bad enough seeing the kind of tripe that Mr. Boileau has written repeated ad nauseum on social media by others who have gone down the rabbit hole filled with QAnon theorists who live in their alternative realities and alternative facts.
But, sad to see such rot in a community paper.
Yet I passionately believe in freedom of speech even when the exercise of that freedom sometimes comes with seeing things, which I might find repugnant or downright false to the point of dangerous.
Better to have such ideas out in the open so they can be soundly debunked.
Lastly, the science fiction writer Isaac Asimov wrote 40 years ago about the anti-intellectualism and denial of fact-based evidence threading its way through society.
That aversion towards facts and evidence-based truth has distorted society to the point where democracy means that, in Mr. Asimov’s words, that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”
What he said four decades ago is even more relevant today.
Trump’s MAGA [Make America Great Again] hat is the 21st century version of the white hood.
The only walls he deserves after the November election are either prison walls or those of a mental asylum to treat his obvious multiple personality disorders.
But I digress.
Robert T. Rock, Mission
.
________________________________
• If there is more to this issue, please let us know about it. Email us at editor@mapleridgenews.com. We look forward to hearing from you. In the meantime, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
