To the Editor:

Here’s the link to the article about the 29 orders for the National Guard (https://www.rawstory.com/trump-infuriating-29-day-orders/). I also checked it on Snopes, which has no information on it.

Digging a little deeper, I found an interesting thread on Reddit. A writer from Snopes was looking for collaboration of the story. In the replies that follow, no one refutes that Trump is doing this. They do say that, in their experience, this is a common practice, done during all administrations. Frankly, they all should be condemned for it.

I personally am not inclined to assume that the author of the article was lying. He’s got decent credentials. I suspect instead that the grumbling was coming from new National Guard members who had no experience with other administrations. It’s undeniable. The National Guard has never been used the way Trump is using it, and there is clearly some discomfort among many troops deployed against their own cities.

It is certainly in line with Trump’s well-known modus operandi when it comes to paying the people who have worked for him over the years. How anyone can believe he has the American worker at heart is beyond me. How’s he been for the farmers around here?

There is huge threat to the American worker that’s already growing—and that is what AI is going to do to the labor market. It’s already impacting people who write and do artwork for things like store circulars and catalogs. Those jobs are disappearing fast. As are many clerical and entry level jobs. What’s the plan for that? All I see is programs like SNAP, Medicaid and other health programs being destroyed. What are we going to do about all the people who will be out of work as AI creeps into the economy? Surely, if he’s the friend of the worker, he’s got a plan for that?

Or, maybe, when Joni Ernst said, “Well, we all are going to die!” Maybe she was articulating the Republican plan.

Pat Collins,
Fillmore, Ca