Letters to the Editor | Jan. 12, 2026

“Might makes right,” “Greed is good,” “omertá,” phrases that offend human decency and American dignity.

The MAGA government and its enablers have embraced these odious concepts. The Republican regime deploys the U.S. military and hooded secret police to terrorize American cities, murders foreign civilian sailors, invades a sovereign nation to capture its leader, schemes to steal a foreign nation’s oil reserves, plots invasion of our ally’s territory in Greenland, and threatens the sovereignty of Canada. Who offers a rationale?

Steven Miller gleefully articulates MAGA principles: We do these things because we can. When MAGA sends military troops to invade our cities, attack foreign nations, steal foreign assets, or kill foreign civilians, corrupt and co-opted MAGA forces simply cannot be stopped.

Is this our new U.S.? A brutish gangster nation? Do threatened civil rights at home, broken alliances abroad, transactional collusion with international criminals, dictators, and despots comport with our heritage?

How can we restore the noble legacy of the Greatest Generation? Make decency at home and abroad our national goal? Prioritize the rule of law and accountability? When will U.S. power again be directed to support democratic ideals, international cooperation, and civil/human rights?

What world will we pass to our progeny?

Mike Shivers, Altoona, Pa.

The attack on Venezuela and the removal of former President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, together with administration statements thereafter, have at least given us a better understanding of what “America First” means and what it does not mean. America First does not mean doing anything for ordinary American people; it means doing everything for President Donald Trump’s family, his cronies, and major corporations.

It does not mean helping Americans who are hungry or have problems accessing medical care.

If it meant that, the administration would not be cutting back on SNAP benefits and acting to take away the health insurance of millions who were on Medicaid or had insurance through the Affordable Care Act. It does not mean helping Americans who have trouble affording high prices. If it meant that, the administration would not have raised prices through tariffs and failed to take any other action to rein them in.

What it does mean is imposing American “rule” and hegemony over any country, at least in the Western Hemisphere, with whose policies we disagree and to whose resources we want access.

So we remove Maduro and not his regime and expect to be able to coerce that regime to allow American energy companies to exploit Venezuelan oil. The administration also seeks to attack or coerce other countries in the region, including Panama, Colombia, and Greenland.

This is not about helping the American people, much less the Venezuelan people. It is about enabling Trump and his henchmen to strut about on the world stage. And it is about making money for Trump’s family, his cronies, and corporations that do his bidding. Trump is making unconstitutional use of the U.S. military to achieve these goals. According to opinion polls, the American people do not support this mob boss-style imperialism. It is time for Congress, especially Republicans in Congress, to stand up and prevent further unauthorized and unconstitutional military ventures.

Matthew Lawry, Elkins Park

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