Dear Editor

This is in response to the article and editorial on Sen. McConnell’s visit to Danville. I was one of the protestors outside and not being invited inside, will trust the paper’s recounting of that meeting.

Sen. McConnell has repeatedly demonstrated that he does not represent all of Kentucky. The Senator has actually been to Danville three times in the last two years. The one time not mentioned was his attendance at a private fundraiser the same night he had been invited to hold a town hall. He could not meet with constituents at a town hall but he could meet with wealthy donors.

The statement that “there has always been division and vehement disagreement among those running the country…” but we, the public, have not always paid such close attention is a false equivalency. We have never had someone like Donald Trump in the White House. This president has repeatedly called for violence against protesters, journalists, anyone that does not agree with him. McConnell’s comments about our protest shows his choice to be deaf to his less affluent, less powerful constituents. When he repeatedly ignores requests to meet, what recourse does he leave us but to protest? Still he will not listen.  

Does the Senator really believe the country “isn’t broken?” As the Senate majority leader, he could have been the consummate statesman, putting the best interests of the country above all else. Instead, he has chosen to put party above country and power above anything else. The fact that he was bragging about the unprecedented step of blocking Merrick Garland’s nomination shows his hubris.

I appreciate the sentiment behind the editorial statement that what is happening in DC does not have to “stop us from improving our local unity and rebuilding bridges.” However, what is happening in DC has a direct impact on our community. How do we build bridges when segments of our local population are constantly under attack by this administration? These include attempts to overturn the Affordable Care Act, a tax cut that increases the burden on low and middle class families while giving tax breaks to the wealthy and corporations, scapegoating our immigrant neighbors, and a Farm Bill that puts big agriculture over family farms.  

There is a lot that is broken and I will continue to stand with those that seek to raise the issues that our senior senator does not want to hear.

 

Julie Pease

Danville