In this spot, May 19, I made an offer to readers of this column (https://wtvbam.com/2025/05/19/800172/). I offered this:
For a reader who would like to refute the criticisms I’ve made of the Trump administration over the past few months, or who simply wants to present “the other side,” email me and let me know. I will reserve a column in the next 30 days where I will print your opinion, un-edited, and without judgment. If more than one reader steps up, we’ll figure out a solution.
I asked that you express yourself in 600-900 words without vulgarity, support facts quoted with verifiable sources, and allow your name to be attributed to your work.
Ten days have passed, and while many readers asked about the offer, no one has stepped up.
Seeing this exercise as a vehicle to get more communication going, I want to try one more time. Same rules, same offer – I will print your opinion, unedited and without any evaluation from me. And to help, here are a few ideas you might look at for topics:
· April 7 — I predicted that Donald Trump’s main goal is to use the presidency to become the richest person in the world (https://wtvbam.com/2025/04/07/782235/). Since then, he’s acquired a $400 million jet (OK, it’s for his “library”) and he had a private, personal dinner with his crypto-bros that brought in millions more to Trump and his family.
· January 22 — I criticized mass pardons for every participant in the January 6 riot (every ONE, even though we were told they’d be reviewed individually — watch the videos; it was a riot) (https://wtvbam.com/2025/01/22/745194/). Since then, Trump has decided that any court decision that he disagrees with is wrong and the judge is corrupt. He knows better than courts and juries and has issued full pardons to:
o Ross Ulbricht, founder of Silk Road dark web marketplace, an online platform that facilitated the sale of illegal drugs and other illicit goods using cryptocurrency. Ulbricht’s pardon came in spite of Trump’s calls for drug dealers to be executed.
o Michele Fiore, who had been convicted of stealing $70,000 she had collected for a memorial to fallen police officers, which she used for personal expenses.
o Paul Walczak, a former nursing home executive convicted of misappropriating more than $10 million of employment taxes for personal spending. The pardon came three weeks after Walczak’s mother attended a $1 million-per-person fundraising dinner at Mar-a-Lago.
o Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, convicted on multiple corruption charges, including attempting to sell Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat, and sentenced to 14 years in prison.
o Scott Jenkins, former sheriff of Culpeper County, Virginia, convicted of accepting more than $75,000 in bribes in exchange for auxiliary deputy appointments.
o Todd and Julie Chrisley, reality TV stars, who were convicted and sentenced to 19 years for fraud and tax evasion involving over $30 million. The Chrisleys’ daughter spoke at Trump’s Republican National Convention, has a podcast supporting Trump, and has been to Mar-a-Lago multiple times.
o And yesterday, Trump floated the pardon idea for the conspirators who have been convicted of the planned kidnap and murder of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
· March 9 — we discussed free speech and the impact Trump was having on suppressing it (https://wtvbam.com/2025/03/09/768061/), Since then, the Pentagon took down Jackie Robinson tributes (he was black), and Trump is demanding that colleges teach only what he deems appropriate and only to people he decides are deserving. Harvard has been teaching since 1636, but Trump knows best, while he drives brilliant scholars to other countries, where they are already being recruited.
· Tariffs have been discussed in multiple columns, along with Trump’s demands for corporations to build U.S. plants to produce U.S. products. It is difficult to commit to hundreds of millions of dollars to build U.S. plants when the tariffs are on, then off, then up, then down, then on, then what??
· Soon after Trump’s election — I was critical of his Cabinet picks (https://wtvbam.com/2024/11/16/rants-by-mac-lets-do-recess/). Since then, we’ve seen:
o Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth share attack plans on a non-secure text-chat that included his wife and brother.
o Health Secretary RFK Jr has downplayed the measles vaccine and recommended more vitamins, as measles makes a comeback after being eradicated in the U.S. decades ago. This week he just discontinued COVID-19 vaccinations for pregnant women, which contradicts the FDA and CDC’s own current guidance as of last week.
o Attorney General Pam Bondi, who said she would de-weaponize the department of justice is investigating anyone who ever upset the president.
There are other topics you might pick; it is your choice, but I wanted to give suggestions. Let’s communicate; it’s time to find out what you think. I still want to know. And readers here have certainly been curious. The offer is still good. Let me know if you want to write, and I’ll give you a couple of weeks to put it together.
Email me at rantsbymac@gmail.com.
Curt MacRae, a resident of Coldwater, MI, publishes regular opinion columns
To be notified by email when a column is published, or to offer feedback email rantsbymac@gmail.com
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