I’ve lived through 22 presidential elections and I have never been as scared as I am now. I thought Jan. 6 was the worst thing I had seen in my lifetime. People viciously attacking police and causing millions of dollars in damage to the building that houses the legislative branch of our democracy. Several years later, I see these same people pardoned.

What happened to law and order? Something is very wrong here.

Finally, our president humiliates Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in front of the entire world and blames Zelenskyy. I saw a bully, who continually kowtows to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Those who know about World War II know there is a reason for NATO. Small countries can’t defend themselves.

Our foundations are being destroyed one by one. Where are the checks and balances? The only check left by our constitution is the judicial branch.

Social media has also become a huge problem. There are so many stories on the internet that end up being false. We all want to end fraud in government spending, but we need to know if it really is fraud. Show me a check that was cashed for a 150-year-old person. They may be on the Social Security rolls, but show me we actually gave them a check. Show the proof. We are starting to see  some of the results of all of these haphazard cuts to our institutions. Something needs to change before we lose our democracy. I believe this is the crisis of my lifetime.

Chuck Peterson

Baker City