Re: Letter to the Editor: Be Glad You Have the Freedom to Choose — Use It or Lose It.
Ms. Kim Rosenfield seems to have interpreted my recent piece on voting to mean that I am opposed to voting in all its forms. This is not the case, and I write to provide this clarification.
My primary grievance is with a Democratic Party establishment that has covertly enabled tyranny, consolidation of power, gerrymandering and racism through its acquiescence to the corruption and open fascism of the Republicans.
The Democrats should have begun organizing a national general strike against the Trump administration when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents began gunning down American citizens in the streets of Minneapolis. But they did not, and it is because they too are funded by the corrupt money that fuels the Republican political machine. Consider the member of Congress that represents our district, Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H. In 2024, her biggest campaign contributors were the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the Blackstone Group and Bain Capital. The greatest number of contributions to her campaign came not from New Hampshire, but New York. This is but one of many examples of the Democrats taking money from those whom they claim to oppose.
Geddy Lee once sang “If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.” That may be true, and I have not chosen to stop voting for the rest of my life, nor do I discourage others from voting if they feel passionate about their candidate of choice. Note I did write that “should a candidate who speaks to my concerns emerge, I will consider voting for them.” Had I lived in New York City, I would have seriously considered casting a ballot for Zohran Mamdani. However, I am a voter in New Hampshire, and this Democratic establishment is the only viable voting option I have, apart from the Republican establishment. But to me, a choice between a corrupt Republican and a corrupt Democrat is hardly a choice at all.
W. Richard Benash is a motion picture historian, writer and an information access assistant at Baker-Berry Library. Guest columns represent the views of their author(s), which are not necessarily those of The Dartmouth.
