To the Editor:

We The People are being held hostage by President Trump, but not only Trump.

There was a compromise measure crafted in Congress, which Trump at first signified he would sign, but after the screeching criticisms that erupted from the extremist right-wing media, he reneged. However, it was perfectly possible for McConnell and the GOP majority in the Senate to have overridden his threatened veto and saved us all from this continuing government shutdown.

It needs to be made plain that the GOP Senate is as willing as this despotic president to harm and sacrifice the populace of our country. It matters not whether you are a Democrat or Republican: hundreds of thousands of paychecks are being withheld; millions of people are suffering from lack of services now unfunded. This president, unopposed by compliant GOP Senators, is being allowed an autocratic grip on the throats of millions of US citizens.

We elected them to serve us, not decimate us.

Step by step, this administration is undermining the validity of representational government, the impartiality of the courts, and the economic security of our nation. It could not have gone this far without the consent of the GOP majority in Congress, which still holds sway in the all important Senate and refuses to rein in this disaster of a President.

Polly Brody

Heritage Village, Southbury         January 9, 2019