Americans must embrace diversity, work together

Dear Editor,

“These are the times that try men’s souls,” Thomas Paine, December 1776 Yesterday, in Minneapolis, Alex Pretti, a 37-yearold ICU nurse at a VA hospital was murdered on the street. He was face down and pinned with his hands showing when he was shot in the back by a government officer. He had been stripped of a legally carried handgun for which he had a permit and which he never touched. This is all on multiple videos which are difficult to watch.

Prior to his assassination, he had tried to help a woman who had been pushed down by masked, unidentified agents and was only holding his cellphone in his right hand when this all began.

The evidence is clear. He had his First and Second Amendment rights violated in front of the entire nation in real time.

The Administration immediately labeled him a “domestic terrorist.” They stated this before any investigation and without evidence.

Thomas Paine issued the call quoted above to Americans 250 years ago last month. It was a call to gather around a principle that we are a nation of laws and not of men. That “We the People” are in control of our destiny and that we needed to sacrifice to bring freedom to what was not yet then the United States.

The murder in Minneapolis is a renewal of that call for sacrifice which will be necessary in order for the rule of law to again become the norm. We are a country of immigrants from all over the world and, because of that, we became the richest country in the history of the world. All of that is now at risk. We need to remember that we got where we are by embracing diversity and working together. This Administration has done the opposite. It is stating that we are two countries — ”real Americans” and everyone else. We are not. We all strive to make a better life for ourselves and our children. United We Stand …

Here is what I am doing:

• 1. Call congress and demand that laws be followed.

• 2. Boycott social media platforms that promote hate and division and the businesses that advertise on them.

• 3. Join others in protests that promote the principles of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

• 4. Do so peacefully but at the same time disrupt “business as usual.”

This will not be easy but it must be done.

“Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered” Thomas Paine, December 1776

Dr. Paul A. Haupt

Menominee

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