To The Editor:

I’m absolutely disgusted by some of the stories I’ve been hearing from people in this town. Some small business owners have been threatened with violence for putting up Republican yard signs in front of their stores.

I know owners who have quietly supported Republican candidates for years without incident. More than one of them has told me directly recently that they've received threats of violence over it this year. Actual threats for simply saying who they support representing them in their own town.

Meanwhile, walk down the same street and look at which signs get treated as a point of pride. Never once have I heard of any Republican in town threatening a Democrat store owner, let alone even talk of boycotting them which also goes on frequently and has been happening for years. Nobody's whispering about those stores. No Democrat owner is afraid to answer their own phone.

I understand why these business owners don't want their names in this paper. If you'd been threatened over a campaign sign, you might feel the same way. But their fear shouldn't be treated as if it doesn't exist just because they're too afraid to put their name on it publicly.

This is the same political movement that lectures the rest of us about “defending democracy” and always having “overwhelming tolerance”. Apparently that only applies when the disagreement points in one direction. If you have to threaten someone to keep them quiet, you don't believe in democracy. You believe in winning, by whatever means people will let you get away with.

A shop owner should be able to hang a sign in their own window without fearing for their safety. That should not be a controversial thing to ask for in this town. The fact that apparently it is right now says everything about what the Democrat Party is becoming; ridiculously woke, borderline militant, and increasingly out of touch with everyday Americans.

Civility matters! Common sense matters!

Please vote Republican.

Antonio Formica

Sandy Hook