If people would like our democracy to survive, we must again go back to teaching our children Civics. There are no schools in Pennsylvania teaching a year-long course in real Civics. And no, I'm not talking US. Government, that is a completely different course of study.

Does your school teach Civics? I doubt it, I know of none in the state that does. The result is we produce generations of people who know nothing about how our government is supposed to work. If you take any student from any of the schools in northeastern Pennsylvania, many would not abe able to pass the same exam new immigrants must pass to become American citizens. That is very sad.

If a democracy is to work and last, we must have well educated people and this doesn't seem to be the case anymore. Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe would be appalled at this if they were alive. As all three stated, a democracy must have a well-educated populace, especially in how the government works. We need to have Civics taught again or our democracy is doomed.

Sincerely,

Jay Harter

Susquehanna, PA

Unite the Right, a conservative organization, planned a rally to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Regrettable, the gathering served as a lightning rod for Leftists. It was a recipe for a perfect storm: several Leftists groups protesting the presence of a right-wing group around the embattled icon of Gen. Lee.

There would be violence.

Headlines blared, “Charlottesville White Nationalist Rally Violence Prompts State of Emergency.” Unite the Right was morphed into a white racist mob that caused the brawling while the Leftists' organizations became a nonentity.

The clash in Charlottesville was soon followed by an orgy of self-righteousness. Who could lamb-bast the white supremacists with the most vehemence? The competition was tough.

The problem was with the president, Donald Trump. His soap box wasn't high enough, his carotid veins didn't bulge, and his tone while sincere lacked shrillness. Wholly insufficient to vilify the MSM's favorite whipping boy, white conservative males who by birthright are bigoted racists.

Moreover, Trump had the audacity to “condemn in the strongest possible terms the egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides.” His condemnation of racial prejudice and physical assault could not have been clearer. The president's “crime” was that he recognized two sides. And there were indeed other elements protesting the presence of Unite the Right.

For starters, the Black Lives Matter and [Expletive] The Police. And hundreds of masked Anti- Fascists prepared to “demonstrate” with helmets and body shields. Add a few more left-wing organizations funded by George Soros' 25 billion to the mix.

If these lawless anti-free speech and violence-prone mobs were not present, there would have been a peaceful demonstration against the removal of the statute and subsequent rewriting of history in accord with a Leftist narrative.

Every major political party has its crazies on the periphery such as the Leftists groups previously cited. The Right has its nut gallery: the white supremacists, the neo-nazis, the KKK. But they are far from the outer rim of the Republican Party somewhere in deep space unnoticed, unwelcomed, and unsolicited.

It was one of these neo-nazi loonies, James Alex Field, who drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters killing a young woman and injuring 19. Field was arrested and faces a list of charges including murder.

On the Left, we have psychopaths like James Hodgkinson. Last June he specifically targeted Republicans at a baseball practice game, severely wounding Rep. Steve Scalise and four others. Hodgkinson was shot to death at the scene by police officers. Later Pres. Trump decorated two officers for their bravery under fire. Both were black.

Both political parties unreservedly condemned these acts of violence. That said, I cannot think of one riotous demonstration by any right-wing organization. On the other hand, all the organized hooliganisms were perpetrated by the Left.

Trump called it right. He denounced the “bigotry and violence on many sides.” And no, Joe Biden, there is not “only one side;” there are two.

But it is this “one side” that was almost exclusively reported in the MSM and taken up by the Democrats as well as some Republicans. But when it comes to shear sanctimoniousness, the trophy goes to Kenneth Frazier, CEO of Merck Drug Company.

Frazier resigned from the President's American Manufacturing Council. His withdrawal statement reads, “Our country's strength comes from its diversity and the contributions made by men and women of different fundamental values by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy.”

Tell me, Mr. Frazier, did your rejection of “expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy” refer to Black Lives Matter, [Expletive] the Police, and the Anti-Fascists?

I think not. It was undoubtedly directed to the Unite the Right protesters aka white supremacists by the MSM, a wrenched view of the unrest in Charlottesville by a media that is vehemently against the president.

Sincerely,

Bob Scroggins

New Milford, PA