Dear Editor,

As the Star Wars dirge plays (in my mind anyway) in the background and Philadelphia’s Independence Hall – the birthplace of America’s Constitution no less – colored in the Black and Red of the Empire and our government’s Storm Troopers in their dress blues (I felt embarrassed for these two Marines) rather than their battle armor – Darth Sidious made his way to the podium. Leader of the Sith, we were treated to a 26-minute and 34-second speech on the “extremist threat to Democracy” – the MAGA Republicans. Honestly, I was fully expecting lightning bolts to shoot from his fingers frying any MAGA-ians within range.

It seems that THEY are a “Clear and Present Danger” to our country . . . all 74 MILLION of them – myself included I suppose. It was a demented speech by a brain-addled president just 60-ish days from an election that looks to pretty much wipe the Sith – sorry – Democrat Party from control of Congress. Who knows. There will undoubtedly be another outbreak of covid-monkey-chicken flu-pox just prior to the election so with mail-in ballots, ballot drops, and changes to the voting rules on the fly in the days prior to the election – it is certainly well within the possibility that the Sith – sorry, Democrats – will mount yet another “convincing” win. Time will tell.

We had also been told just days before that the MAGA-ians shouldn’t mess with the Government ‘cause they’d need a heck of a lot more than an AR-15 against an F-15. This seems kinda a strange statement since folks that live in the 7th Century handed Darth Sidious his butt just months after he took over the big chair of the empire using only AKs and raw, pure grit and determination. In addition, after nearly 18 months causality free, they left a parting present – 11 dead Marines, 1 dead soldier and 1 dead sailor while forcing us to leave an estimated 15,000 US Citizens behind. To top it all off, they are now the best-equipped terrorist organization on the face of the earth – good job there Darth!! Based on that performance, the current command staff installed by Darth Sidious shouldn’t pose much of a threat to a weekend squad of paintballers – let alone 74 MILLION MAGA-ians. Just sayin’.

America has arrived at a very dark place. Rhetoric such as Darth’s speech, the weaponization of the Justice Department, the IRS, the FBI, the CIA to handle dissenters to Darth Sidious and the Sith party leads down some very dark trails – including a repeat of the 1860s. I suggest that those in the Sith party that still can view things with both an eye to history and a desire for America’s best possible future, that they encourage Darth Sidious to change his path and put the nation ahead of his base desires to simply RULE THE EMPIRE . . . that’s not how our country was founded nor is it how hour country works.

Bill Keller