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Letter: Running for county board to say ‘Enough’
Op-Ed · July 21, 2016


Good Germans. Only following orders.
Defense of the Fatherland. Scapegoats and demons. Mass rallies. Kristallnacht. We’ve seen it before; will it happen again? I wonder, who is watching out, who will sound the alarm?

Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for President of the United States, does not represent American values. He is a spoiled, rich, schoolyard bully who doesn’t care whom he hurts or what it takes to get what he wants. Trump would shred the Constitution and become an American dictator given the chance to do so. He represents the worst kind of demagogue, a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

I entered the race for a seat on the Cedar County Board of Supervisors because I thought it was just plain unfair to have only Republicans sitting on that board; to have no representation from west of the Cedar River; to have the State Republican Party Boss lead the county ensconced among acolytes who are unwilling or unable to dissent.

I thought, surely, the American value of fair play and the principles of American democracy could only be better served through diverse interaction.

But I’ve since come to realize that I’m really running for office because it’s time to stand up and say, “Enough.”

It’s time to say that pandering to base fear is just not the American Way. It’s time to recognize that Cedar County deserves more than support and encouragement of viciousness and hate from its elected leaders. The Cedar County Board of Supervisors needs a watchdog to help us face down our fears and resolve our problems, together.

Douglas I. Klein

West Branch