Letter: Political labels obscure the real issues

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, June 9, 2026

Editor,

Following Mr. Wilferth’s suggestion (“Make arguments, not labels in talking points” – June 3 edition), let’s stop talking about Antifa as though it were an anti-right organization. It isn’t. Antifa is an anti-fascist political position. If it were an actual organization, I would be a card-carrying member. I would hope Mr. Wilferth and his friends would be, too. This county has lost thousands of our finest young men (and women) to protect this country from fascism. We just celebrated the 82nd anniversary of such an event.

There are several groups which have taken on names (labels) as though only their members believe in what the name infers. For instance” Proud Boys” as though only the males in that group are proud of something or have a right to be. Or the “Oath Keepers” as though everyone who takes an oath to the Constitution or to do their assigned duties and responsibilities will actually follow through faithfully. We have had plenty of examples of people who probably never intended to keep the oath they were taking at the time they were raising one hand and placing the other on a Bible.

How about stopping the automatic labeling of people as radical left or extreme right? Some people believe this country’s policies and fiscal expenditures should do more for the people actually paying the taxes used to fund the programs and services needed by the people funding them instead of giving an even freer ride to those who already have significantly more money than they or their families will need for generations to come. Are those beliefs radical or left?

Some people think this country needs to face the reality of a national debt that is making us financially bankrupt because we are constantly having to borrow money from China just to pay the interest on the money we have already borrowed from China. Does that make their position extreme right?

Personally, I think we need to recognize and call out actions that are intended to distract the voters from primary issues needing to be addressed by a Congress that seems more than willing to turn a blind eye to them while protecting the nation’s primary offender. Our totally broken immigration policies and practices for one. The assumption that Wall Street is a meaningful gage of how the people are actually functioning financially (or not) is another. Let’s talk about how failing to address the needs of the homeless is a convenient way to disenfranchise their voting rights – not to mention the voting rights of others simply because their skin isn’t white or because their first language isn’t English. Let’s talk about the ignored debt this country owes its veterans.

Mr. Wilferth says he admires Trump. I don’t know how or why anyone should admire, trust or respect a compulsive liar or egotist who acts like an old dog who needs to pee on every landmark just to be able to say, “I was here.” But Mr. Wilferth has that right. And, if he votes, he has the right to complain about how the elected do (or don’t) do their job.

You see, there are a lot of issues I expect many of us can agree need to be actively addressed. The label Americans works just fine for me.

Rusty Gagnon

Oak Harbor