In his letter to the SNAP of Aug. 30, Mr. Abernathy lays out what he thinks Republicans believe in, and then invites letters of disagreement.

I am taking up Mr. Abernathy’s offer with the following comments:

• Mr. Abernathy claims that Republicans believe in the Constitution, but polls show that many, and perhaps a majority, of Republicans incorrectly believe that the Constitution grants the vice president the power to overturn elections.

• Mr. Abernathy claims that Republicans believe in law and order, but multiple Republican politicians are calling for defunding the FBI.

• Mr. Abernathy claims that Republicans believe in fixing the economy, but I would argue that the economy that we are experiencing now, along with inflation, is largely due to the Trump Administration’s inept handling of the COVID pandemic.

• Mr. Abernathy claims that Republicans believe in freedom of speech and less censorship, but Republican governors and school boards are banning books from libraries, and censoring the material teachers can present to their students because this material may make students “uncomfortable.”

• Mr. Abernathy claims that Republicans believe in taking down multimedia oligarchs. Fox News is the most-watched news outlet in the U.S. (and, in fact, Mr. Abernathy’s unsubstantiated claim that 87,000 armed IRS agents will soon be roaming our nation seems to have originated on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show). I assume Mr. Abernathy wants to break up Fox and “take down” Rupert Murdoch.

• Mr. Abernathy claims that Republicans believe in less government control, but state legislatures, aided by an activist Supreme Court, are inserting themselves into abortion rights, elections, company policies on diversity and citizens’ rights to privacy and travel.

As an aside, I find it beyond ironic that the same people who complained loudest about the Affordable Care Act putting government between people and their doctors are cheering the state legislatures and governors that are putting government between women and their health care providers.

• Mr. Abernathy disapproves of “working people” paying for student loan forgiveness. Does that mean that he is fine with billionaires getting large tax breaks that don’t benefit the “working people,” but not with these very same people escaping crushing debt that prevents them from contributing to the economy?

Mr. Abernathy may also like to consider that if he receives Social Security and Medicare benefits, it is those same “working people” that are paying for them.

• Mr. Abernathy claims that Republicans want their elected representatives to do what they promised during election cycles.

Mr. Abernathy might reflect that, although not elected officials, both Justice Kavanaugh and Justice Coney Barrett essentially lied in their Senate hearings when asked (by Republican Susan Collins) about Roe v. Wade. Both nominees stated that Roe v. Wade was settled law. I guess it was until the Supreme Court term started.

• Finally, on a lighter note, Mr. Abernathy was correct that “You can’t fix stupid, but you can vote them out of office.”

Seems to me that’s exactly what happened on Nov. 3, 2020.

Thomas Lipe
Richfield