Dear editor:
Not long ago, illuminating someone’s hypocrisy was meaningful. There was honor in living up to one’s word and conceding when one was wrong.
In today’s America, where hypocrisies abound with impunity, I have wondered whether pointing out the glaring hypocrisies of the moment might make a difference. Here’s to hoping:
When Trump took office in February 2025, he enlisted Elon Musk to gut our federal workforce (better to layoff hard-working federal employees than tax the richest people in the world).
Cuts to USAID that made up less than 1% of the federal budget were celebrated by the far-right who claim to be pro-life, despite the fact that researchers estimate that the cuts to humanitarian aid could lead to more than 14 million avoidable deaths by 2030, including more than 4.5 million children under five.
And yet, despite these draconian cuts to our institutions, DOGE did not reduce the federal deficit, indeed government spending increased.
Just last month, an analysis published by a government watchdog found that in September of 2025 alone, the defense department, run by Pete Hegseth, spent a historic $93 billion, including $9 million on crab and lobster dinners and over $15 million on ribeye steak.
Alarm bells ring when Democrats want to provide universal healthcare to the 82 million Americans who can’t afford it, while the party of fiscal conservativism uses taxpayer dollars to dine on seafood.
Furthermore, it is unclear why it was necessary to take a hacksaw to our federal workforce when we are hemorrhaging taxpayer dollars to start wars abroad.
On the campaign trail, Trump and Vance told voters that they were not going to enter anymore wars.
However, since taking office, Trump has bombed seven countries, attacked Venezuela, and started an inexplicable war in Iran that has no clear plan or exit strategy. The first week of the war in Iran cost the US $11 billion and is costing over $1 billion dollars for every day it continues.
And the list continues:
If Trump did not do anything wrong, why is the administration working every angle to withhold Epstein files that mention him?
The Trump Administration delayed the release of many Epstein Files in violation of federal law. It is further guilty of withholding documents that mention Trump, including an interview with a woman who told the FBI she was sexually abused by Trump as a minor.
Republicans weary of “wokeism” claimed that Democrats were stifling freedom of speech.
Meanwhile, Trump’s ICE agents recently shot and killed two US citizens while they were exercising their constitutional right to protest the brutality of the recent immigrant deportations.
Let me repeat: federal agents shot two US citizens in the head, on the street, in broad daylight.
Despite promising to remove “the worst of the worst” from our country, reports confirm that only 5% of ICE detainees have violent criminal convictions.
Trump pontificates about freedom and patriotism while simultaneously sewing distrust in our democracy and attempting to take local control away from our elections.
Trump claims to care for the working class, but his tax reforms continue to favor the richest 1% of earners in the country.
Trump maintains that grocery prices have gone down since he took office. They have gone up.
To my Republican neighbors and friends: I’m not asking you to become a Democrat, and I’m not saying that Democrats have not made many mistakes.
But don’t these profound hypocrisies bother you too? When is enough, enough? Let’s find a way back to each other and a shared reality.
Sincerely,
Martha Tate Jenkins, Laramie
