Is Trump’s “Operation Aurora” what we’ve really become?
Re: “Trump rails against migrants, proposes ‘Operation Aurora,’” Oct. 12 news story
In Aurora, candidate for president Donald Trump boasted that if he is re-elected as president he will use the Enemy Aliens Act of 1798 to incarcerate and deport so-called “illegal alien gang member,” and the crowd roared its approval. As former President Barack Obama noted in his superb speech in Pittsburg a few days earlier, “When did that become OK?”
The most recent use of the Enemy Aliens Act of 1798 was the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, “a shameful part of U.S. history for which Congress, presidents, and the courts have apologized,” according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
Really, fellow citizens, is this what we have become? I implore you to cast aside party allegiance and trivial concerns about policy issues and vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.
Antoinette Tadolini, Brighton
Trump’s speech wasn’t anti-immigrant …
Re: “Trump descends on Aurora with visceral contempt for immigrants,” Oct. 11 op-ed
I think Sen. Michael Bennet is digging too deep. Living in Stapleton, I’m happy someone highlights the scary events happening in neighborhoods. Trump is not against illegal immigrants just the criminals let in by the Democrats. Please address these criminal attacks from the citizen’s point of view, not a Democrat who does not walk or drive in these areas. The one building taken over is near a U.S. Post Office on Dallas Street. Our neighborhood post office. So I shortened the B.S. to reality — please deport or jail criminals. Thanks for helping to keep America safe.
Stephanie Weaks, Denver
While I appreciate Sen. Michael Bennet’s take on the Trump immigration campaign visit to Aurora like many politicians he does not speak plainly about Trump’s position. Let me paraphrase Trump from when he was in office in 2018 and asked why we can’t have more immigrants from Norway or countries that help the U.S. economically. ” Trump is not anti-immigration. He’s anti-immigration of people of color from “(expletive)-hole countries” around the world like Haiti. In his column, Bennet substitutes the term “immigrant” for non-white. Tell it like it is if you’re going to tell it!
Bill Starks, Arvada
If Trump says it, Aurora must be dangerous, right?
I have thoroughly enjoyed playing the many golf courses in Aurora and make it a destination at least once a week with three friends. Never again! I did not realize the city is being overrun by Venezuelan gangs and if we set foot in the city we would be putting our lives in danger according to Donald Trump. What a pity because I have always been treated with the utmost respect by all the people we have come in contact with in your fair city.
Bob Sachs, Wiggins
Aurora was taken over by street gangs and squatters! Too many believe this but there is no evidence to support this lie. The late Roger Ailes, who built Fox News, was rumored to create a newsroom that operated under the principle that “People don’t want to be informed, they want to feel informed”. A major news source, Fox News, was built upon this theory. His statement gives license to politicians and others to lie without accountability.
Politician’s lies that address “feelings” and a voter’s prejudices are now canceling out facts. The total acceptance of a candidate’s words without challenge is a dangerous concept that can lead to authoritarian governance, loss of freedoms, and abandonment of the principles of our Constitution. Sadly, winning the vote of nearly half the electorate has come down to lies and feelings and damn the facts.
This view of the voter leads us to the big lie concerning Aurora being taken over by gangs and the inability of Aurora law enforcement and officials to contain gang activity and provide for a safe living environment for the citizens of Aurora. Unfortunately, this lie and smearing of the city of Aurora has gone nationwide. This smear harms the city now and leaves a negative footprint on Aurora for years to come and no one is accountable.
Lies have become standard in this election cycle and too many voters place feelings over facts.
Stanley Hrincevich, Littleton
The poor and migrants continue to suffer at the hands of the wealthy, the politicians, and the courts. They are victimized by the wealthy who can afford to drag them through years of litigation; they are victimized by attorneys who unnecessarily drag out the proceedings; they are victimized by judges who allow this injustice to continue; and they are victimized by politicians who use them as canon fodder for their own political advantage.
When this election is over, no matter who wins, the migrants will lose because nothing, absolutely nothing, will change for them. They will continue to suffer, living in squalid conditions when all they want is to live the American dream.
The courts and politicians need to provide justice and mercy and start being righteously faithful to the people; otherwise, this country will continue to spiral into civil unrest.
Donald Sperry, Steamboat Springs
Media’s poor showing in reporting on Trump’s Aurora visit
While the headline on Page 1 of the Saturday Denver Post was accurate, it would have been more direct and accurate if it had read “Trump gaslights Aurora.”
Dan Krygowski, Golden
When I was a student of journalism in the late 1980s, I could have predicted a failing grade, if I had turned in a news story that included: “Trump’s visit motivated more by the chance to amplify his rhetoric about migrants . . .”
We were taught that opinion, which that quote certainly exhibits, should never taint a story on the news pages, but should be relegated to the Op/Ed pages, and we had to have research to support our opinion.
The current “Watchdogs of Government” have transformed themselves into the “Lapdogs of the Left.” You will soon be at the point where the lede of every story will need to be, “Once upon a time . . .”
Donna Jorgenson Farrell, Broomfield
The front-page article is a classic case of how Trump manipulates the media. The Denver Post dutifully reported his spiel “hook, line, and sinker.” I wholeheartedly agree that a presidential candidate coming to Colorado is front-page news. However, he only came to Colorado to use Aurora as a “prop” for his immigration rant. He ignored the Republican mayor and villainized many hard-working, and law-abiding people in Aurora.
The Denver Post’s reporting failed to mention a single word about Trump’s role earlier this year (along with many Republican legislators such as Lauren Bobert) in killing the largest bipartisan immigration bill since the Reagan administration. Immigration is the centerpiece of the Trump/Vance ticket, they have no positive agenda. When immigration is discussed, Trump’s involvement in killing this bill should also be discussed.
Tom Phillips, Boulder
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