This is in response to a letter (“If you want positive change in Maine, vote red”), published on June 6, that concluded: “Vote red and see the real changes.” Vote red and see:

• Black Americans redistricted out of their right to vote for the candidate of their choice.
• Women die from ectopic pregnancies due to draconian anti-abortion laws.
• “Queer” folk shoved back into the closet and denied basic human rights and dignity.
• Cyanide bombs deployed on public lands, killing animals indiscriminately. 
• Smokestacks spewing fossil fuel waste products where cleaner alternatives exist.
• For-profit detention centers jailing people without warrants or access to legal aid.
• Soldiers being killed and maimed on foreign soil fighting for weapons manufacturer profits.
• Cuts to social services to the poor and working class used to fund  big tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations.
• The excuses they come up with for gutting the Social Security and Medicare we’ve paid for through our working years.
• The dismantling of financial regulations lead to the next banking crash and recession, while unchecked private equity drives up the price of housing and medical services.
• The return of Jim Crow and the erosion of women’s rights.
• The degradation of the environment and endless wars.
• Lower standards of living for working families.
• An unconstitutional police state, growing inequality and a bleaker future for today’s youth.

If we really “see” what “red” has actually done for “the people,” it’s bound to make us blue.

Joanne D’Unger
Leeds