To the Editor: So Party Pete Hegseth blew up a boat somewhere presumably in the Gulf of Mexico, I mean, Gulf of America. Heck, why not just call it the Trump Sea, make a real break with the Woke past. After all the name 'America' supposedly comes from some old world Italian named Amerigo Vespucci, an explorer who did not really discover anything but somehow edged out Columbus—who did—to have two continents named for him. Sounds pretty Trumpian to me.
Anyway, to hear ol' Party Pete tell it, he took out some Venezuelan invasion flotilla approaching our hallowed shores. While we are on the subject, Pete, too, has been redesignated. No longer Secretary of Defense (and face it, in Pete's world 'secretaries' are coffee fetching girls) but God of War, in bloody service to the verbal-thunderbolthurling Deity in Chief. So the War God took out this boat with 11 people on it. Eleven people? To off-load bales of coke or fentanyl? Seems kind of inefficient. More likely they were smuggling people. (God forbid they were just out trying to spear some yellow- fin tuna!) Though to this maladministration carrying the unwelcome to the shores that used to welcome the downtrodden, would be a terminal offense if they were in our territorial waters. Otherwise it would be like Wal-Mart busting shoplifters before they entered the store. Maybe on the drive over.
But let us not quibble over tedious Woke notions of international law. Once it is branded the Trump Sea—he owns it, to do with as he pleases. Just like the United (?) States of Trump.
Eat your heart out Vespucci.
J S Byram Milan, NM
Semi-Truck Parking at Walmart
Dear editor, Grants, NM, is a small rural community along I-40, which has a Walmart parking lot being taken over by Semi Trucks that block customers' parking and leave trash all over.
People come from all around to use this one Walmart store from Mckinely, Catron Counties, and Native American Reservations. One small no-parking sign for semis at the main entrance has no effect, and staff walking the lot I spoke to on Sunday, 09-07-25, trying to get drivers to move had little effect. Local police refuse to respond, according to the Walmart staff I spoke to. Legally, you could have them towed, but it takes a specially sized two-truck to do that is extremely expensive and would take more than one truck. As a retired police officer of 38+ years in this community, I would suggest Walmart put up more signs for semi-truck drivers who cannot read ENGLISH, with the picture of a semi-truck with the red circle with the red slash across the center. There are two truck stops just down the road, and there is no reason for semi-truck drivers to park at the Grants Walmart. Walmart could allow 30 minutes of parking for large semis, and at worst, report the trucks to the company owners and send them a bill for parking and trash cleaning up; they have cameras outside. Another route that might have an effect is to get the USDOT numbers off the truck and report them. I am sure the owners of some of the truck companies would love that.
I would suggest Walmart partner up with the two truck stops down the road and put signs up at Walmart and the truck stops in Milan. Semidivers can have what they need delivered to them by phone from the Walmart online store, a win for everyone! What amazes me is that you can order anything from Walmart online and have it waiting for you to be brought out to your vehicle, or now delivered to your home locally, even in Grants, NM, with an app on your smartphone.
What will they think of next?
“Beam me up, Scotty, there is NO intelligent life DOWN HERE!”
Signed, Mr. Harry L. Hall USAF Veteran, Retired Police/Sheriff Lt, 38+ years
On Papa Don
To the Editor: This letter is meant for the parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, older siblings, foster parents, teachers, etc., in short, people who provide guidance for kids. Since this 250 year old democracy is being dissembled, disabled and destroyed before our eyes, perhaps it’s time to consider how you want to talk with young people in your charge about that. What will you tell them about what it means to be a citizen in this country or a public servant or even just a decent human being? To whom will you point as a role model? Papa Don and his minions all took an oath to “uphold the constitution.” That promise has clearly gone into the trash bin with all his other promises (ending wars, lowering consumer prices, making us all safe.) The only promises he’s keeping are for revenge. How will you teach your children to tell the differences between truth and lies, between a genuine public servant versus a conman? It’s pretty clear that a sizable portion of the country’s adults can’t tell the difference.
I suggest we teach our children about life under King George III or monarchies and dictatorships in general, how regular people had to live under their reign. They need to know that unquestioning loyalty is the only guarantee for success (until the leader changes his mind about you.) Truth and realty is whatever the leader tells you it is. To get ahead, it is best to jilt and exploit your neighbors whenever possible, and whoever makes the most money for the crown holds highest position. It’s time to tell the truth which has repeated itself throughout human history. 250 years is enough of this democracy nonsense. Now, our condition is special in a way because we have AI and climate chaos as genies that cannot be put back in bottles. Some clear advice is also in order: “Yes, son, the main thing in life is to look good so that people will worship you no matter how badly you treat them. Being a ‘good person’ is for suckers and losers.”
BTW, I challenge any fans of Cheeto Man to publish a link showing any kind of authentic expression of compassion for any other human being. If it exists, you’re going to want to show that to your kids. For history’s sake. BPJohnson