YP Letters: My Donald Trump support is not a sign of stupidity, but of desperation

I am a proud native of Leeds and I have lived in the US for 30+ years. I understand that many Britons think that Americans are stupid because they are entertaining the idea of Donald Trump becoming President.

Sure he is a braggart, in a way that is less subtle, but not significantly more offensive than the other candidates telling how well they ran their State, company or whatever.

He paints people and situations in black and white; this is many times simplistic and not realistic, but some issues are so egregious (to a reasonable conservative) that they must be called out forcefully.

Just a few items – the $19 trillion national debt (almost doubled by Obama), the treatment of the only democracy in the Middle East vis-á-vis Iran, the invitation to Muslim refugees with no screening, the ballooning of crony capitalism, the encouragement of illegal immigration, the subsidisation of the lazy and of partial birth abortions. Success is vilified; victimhood and failure are glorified.

Of course a more thoughtful message and a more reasonable tone would be more appealing, but we have tried that; Republicans won majorities in the House and Senate but nothing has changed. The direction of the country is more regulation, more freebies. So what to do? Support another mild mannered candidate who will be eviscerated by the Clinton machine and the press?

One alternative is to back someone who will attack Clinton’s corruption like a Staffordshire terrier and will not back down. OK, so if he gets into the White House he will be too authoritarian and protectionist for many, but if he can stop the incessant leftward swing from an enterprise society to an entitlement society, a vote for Trump will prove to be a good vote. The authoritarianism of the left is more to be feared than any that Trump might try.

A significant side benefit of the Trump campaign is the push back against political correctness; if he wants to say a woman is ugly (as Churchill once memorably did) he says it and the sky does not fall in.

If he is nominated by the Republican Party, many Republicans will not support him, but I suspect that a great many Democrats will.

Please don’t see Trump’s support as a sign of stupidity, but of desperation or frustration.

Devil in detail on expenses

From: ME Wright, Harrogate.

WE can’t expect Parliamentary hospitality to be reduced to McDonalds (The Yorkshire Post, Feb 13), but piano tuning? Do they and their visiting dignitaries play musical chairs perhaps? Bearing in mind duck houses and moat cleaning, I suppose this is rather tame.

As ever, the real devil is in the detail, not least the convenient destruction of pre-2012 records of publicly-funded junketings. And remember; the cynical emasculation of the Freedom of Information Act is still very much on the cards. I’m sure we can rely on The Yorkshire Post not to let that go by default.

Flooding aid takes priority

From: Martin Fletcher, Flanders Court, Thorpe Hesley.

IT’S about time Elizabeth Truss and company (Tom Richmond, The Yorkshire Post, February 13) used the international development funds wasted on corrupt countries’ leaders and put it to our householders in flooded towns and villages.

Happy with crime drama

From: Mick Hurstwood, Gomersal.

I HAVE to disagree with Tom Richmond’s comments about Happy Valley (The Yorkshire Post, February 13). The first series was superb and the new one promises to be just as good. Surely the fact that it’s filmed in the Calder Valley is a positive thing? If the occasional accent slip up is the only negative, then so be it. In my opinion the cast, in particular Sarah Lancashire, is outstanding, but each to their own, I suppose.

Why alter junction?

From: H. Marjorie Gill, Clarence Drive, Menston.

AS I was travelling through Guiseley towards White Cross, I watched a very large lorry try to turn left from Otley Road into Oxford Road, but it was thwarted by the bollards/traffic lights which have newly been placed in the centre of Oxford Road.

Why these traffic lights should have been altered at this junction beats me because they worked perfectly well before.

No doubt the councillor in charge will have a perfectly reasonable explanation about the cost of the operation –which can’t have been cheap as it has taken several weeks to complete.

Contract win

From: Hugh Rogers, Ashby.

IF there are junior doctors who previously sought Saturday work in order to earn more, then I suppose it is understandable that they regard the new contract (which basically treats a Saturday as just another day) as unacceptable. But for the majority the new contract offers more money and a better service for patients – something closer to the 24/7 ideal. For most, doctors and patients alike, it is a win-win situation.