In your article about the protest in Bath when Pete Hegseth came to Bath Iron Works, you wrote that David Jones, Republican candidate for governor, said “we should be honored to have the secretary of war come to our state.”

Just the fact that he is called secretary of war, instead of defense, should alert us all that there is a huge shift in focus under Trump/Hegseth. They have lied to the American public about “drug ships” in order to justify military build-up near Venezuela, and likely committed war crimes in the process. I suspect they will have no trouble putting American lives at risk in trying to advance this administration’s agenda.

Many retired and well-respected military leaders have criticized Hegseth for politicizing the military, for wasting resources. Let’s not forget sending classified information over the Signal app. The sham prosecution of Sen. Mark Kelly, for using his First Amendment right to warn our dedicated military people about their constitutional right to disobey illegal orders, is a great example of the hypocrisy of this administration.

Hegseth is a perfect example of the unqualified sycophants that Trump has running our country. We were not only protesting him, but the constant and blatant lies from this administration, the unnecessary violence of ICE and, most importantly, the constant attempts to ignore and erode our Constitution. Those who chose to ignore this are practicing willful ignorance.

Margaret Duhamel
Woolwich