Letter: Beyond quiet complicity

Published 12:15 am Tuesday, June 25, 2024

Dick Hughes’ guest column on June 18, regarding the sexual misconduct of several politicians, referenced that political era’s “culture of complicity.”

When I see Trump flags flying in Astoria, it tells me we’ve moved beyond quiet complicity, and now live in an era where some households proudly embrace a candidate who has been convicted by a jury of multiple felonies and held liable for sexual abuse.

Former President Donald Trump lies continually, bragged about his ability to assault women and get away with it, has been credibly accused of abuse by two dozen women and has supporters wearing apparel that is vulgar, racist and misogynist.

Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, Roger Stone, Peter Navarro, George Papadopoulos, Allen Weisselberg, Michael Flynn, Steve Bannon, Michael Cohen, Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell played key roles in his business, campaign and administration. Do you find this inappropriate and criminal behavior acceptable?

Do you think Trump is innocent? I have worked in a prison. Prisons are full of people who believe “the rules don’t apply to me,” who are furious at being held accountable, and blame everything but themselves for their criminal convictions. Prisons are full of bullies denying, minimizing and rationalizing criminal behavior, claiming they are the victim.

The ex-president’s words often mirror the whining and complaining heard in prisons: Poor me, I was persecuted, I did nothing wrong. There are wrongful convictions, but the wrongfully convicted don’t tend to be wealthy, educated, privileged, politically powerful white men seeking immunity from the Supreme Court to commit criminal acts with impunity.

CAROL MERWIN

Astoria