And now, a word in response from a reader

Never let it be said that I don't listen to opposing points of view.

Hell, today I'm even turning over the blog to one.

A reader did not care for my blog item last week in which I actually thanked President Trump for creating a new activism among voters who have too often been sitting out elections.

Patrick Carson thought I was being disrespectful of the president and once again showing my liberal bias.

But I'll let him tell it.

In his July 18th Heron's Nest, editor Phil Heron states, "I come today to do something I never thought I'd do. I want to thank Donald Trump." We can see from his statement Mr. Heron has a closed mind just like the Democrats who have been running around apoplectic since the election. But it is one thing to have endless demonstrations by the left with closed minds, but to have an editor with the same mindset is inexcusable, but that's the way it is and that is why the majority of the media present us with bias or fake news.

Also obvious is Mr. Heron's contempt for the president is that fact that he would not address him as President but rather just Donald Trump. It appears that Mr. Heron continues to exhibit, "He's not my president" syndrome.

Mr. Heron also got it wrong when he remarked, which I find so unbelievable, that Helsinki was the first time that Republicans had abandoned President Trump. He must be kidding, the Republicans have never supported President Trump; they despise him. The press has made such a spectacle out of President Trump's remarks about our intelligence service and that his remark demonstrates how weak the president is with Russia. 

I would like to show that Mr. Heron is totally wrong about the president and I can prove my point by listing some of the president's many positive accomplishments, including his strong leadership with Russia. Because of President Trump, we have a booming economy with unemployment at record lows and black unemployment at its lowest ever. The president pushed for and got the VA Accountability Act, which will help protect our veterans from the poor medical service that they have been getting and without any recourse to fire the offenders. President Obama not only did nothing on this issue but actually lied that he was ever aware of the VA problem. He knew about it for over five years because President Bush left him a detailed dossier on the VA scandal. 

  President Trump brought an end to President Obama's war on fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are not only the lifeblood of our society and economy that are also vital for our national security. The more fossil fuels we have the more we are able to be independent of OPEC and the less money that will end up in the hands of Islamic terrorist organization. Also, fossil fuels can be used to rein in Russia who relies on oil money for 50percent of its economy. His rhetoric against North Korea has paid off. North Korea has stopped setting off atomic bombs and lobbing missiles at our allies. We also got three American prisoners and the remains of some of our fallen Korean War veterans. 

The president promoted tax reform and got a good tax bill which will help our economy grow and encourage more jobs in America. Toyota, Chrysler LG, and Apple are just a few of the companies who will be bringing jobs back. Apple promised to build a $350 billion campus which will create 20,000 jobs just because of the tax reform. 

And then there's the false narrative created by the fake news industry that the president is weak when dealing with Russia. Yet this same fake news never seemed to think that President Obama was weak when dealing with Russia. President Obama drew red lines to warn Syria not to use chemical weapons but Assad ignored President Obama's empty threats and gassed his people at least twice killing many. When that happened with president Trump he bombed them even when warned not to do so by the Russians.

Syria used chemical weapons again and he had Syria bombed again and in the process killed 200 Russian mercenaries. Russia annexed Crimea and part of Eastern Ukraine and shot down a Malaysian airliner killing 298 people, and President Obama did absolutely nothing. President Trump, on the other hand, has armed the Ukraine military.

And President Trump making European countries by for NATO defense which is to protect them from Russian aggression and his urging of Europe to buy American natural gas instead of Russian are all demonstrations of the president being tough on Russia. President Obama whispered into the ear of the out-going  Russian President that he would be more flexible with Russia after the election, and he helped broker a deal which sold twenty percent of our uranium to Russia. Not a very smart move since Russia is our enemy and now we must import uranium. 

Mr. Heron has proven by his own words that he has contempt for President Trump and by doing so has contempt for the welfare of America and its citizens. He is closed minded and quite ignorant about the political world yet he feels that he is qualified to speak about this president. Did Mr. Heron ever call in to question President Obama's kowtowing of Russia? Did he ever refer to President Obama as just Mr. Obama? If Mr. Heron is not patrician than show us articles that you have written criticizing the many instances of President Obama bowing to the demands of Russia.

Patrick G. Carson 

A couple of things. I really try not to be disrespectful. If I forgot to use President before his name, that was a mistake on my part. I always respect the office, that includes when many were blistering former President George W. Bush. I disagree with many of President Trump's policies. I abhor the way he goes about his business. But I respect him as president of the United States.

I have always told people I have "an" opinion, not necessarily "the" opinion.

In this instance, we can disagree.

While I don't agree with Mr. Carson's inferences, I appreciate the fact that he was able to address them in a reasoned, civil manner. That's one of the reasons I decided to run his response verbatim.

As anyone who spends any time on social media knows, that's not always the case.