I've Always Used the Free Press to Vent my Concerns and Feelings

Letter to the Editor, Marquette Journal, c. Sept. 1944

Letter to the Editor, Terre Haute Tribune Star, July 29, 2019

Byron York is trying hard to be the conservative mouthpiece for the genteel side of Republican Trump supporters. He finds himself faced with the ugly duty of getting Trump re-elected. This is tricky given the behavior and the daily ravings of the maestro of the mindless tweet. But as I point out below, similar ravings are not new to York. Far from it. 

For the present, York is a member of the shape-shifting slice of the Republican pie. This group is all in with Jeff Sessions — “Never Trump” one day and bowing and scraping meekly to His Master’s jabbering the next. So now we get York choosing to address Democrats rather than Trump and his base. That baseincludes, but is not limited to, the birthers (Obama is an African and a closet Muslim), the xenophobes (“Send Her Back”), and the racists (“Very fine people on both sides” over there in Charlottesville, Virginia). Charlottesville! Where one of those sides included neo-Nazis who marched, maimed and killed.

But for now York is busy instructing Democrats — “Dems must convince voters to overlook economy,” Tribune-Star, July 13, 2019.

He points out that unemployment is down. But he fails to mention that this count has been falling steadily since 2010. He also disappears the many potential workers who remain on the sidelines in significant pockets around America. Hello, Vigo County!

York wants Dems to wake up and enjoy the growth rate, the low interest rates, and wage growth in the nation’s economy. And statistics never lie, right?

But sanity is not statistical. Democrats and honest Republicans would most likely stand with Elizabeth Warren when she asks: “Who is this economy really working for?” And her answer is a truth most Americans feel in their bones and wrestle with in their minds: “It’s doing great for a thinner and thinner slice at the top.”

So Byron York’s hold-your-nose, cross your fingers, and re-elect Trump project is designed to peel off some economically secure Democrats. This would mean that Trump in 2020 will not have to rely entirely on his fear and hate-directed base and programmed-since-birth, robot-voting Republicans.

York appears to have moved on to a higher level, kinder and gentler, con-game than that played by his master, Donald Trump. But I wouldn’t be too quick here.

You might recall the stance he took in his 2005 book. York titled his book (take a deep, deep breath everyone): “The Vast Left Wing Conspiracy: The Untold Story of How Democratic Operatives, Eccentric Billionaires, Liberal Activists, and Assorted Celebrities Tried to Bring Down a President — and Why They’ll Try Even Harder Next Time.”

Well, that “Next Time” is here and it’s my guess that York sees all those “Eccentric Billionaires” and“Assorted Celebrities” conspiring to “Bring Down” Trump. I’m guessing we haven’t heard the last from York in this regard. His preferences for exaggeration, half-truths, and conspiracy theories are as deep as the hip pocket Trump keeps his hot and angry MAGA dupes tucked away in.

— Gary W. Daily, Terre Haute