Laura L. Lister

Lock Haven

This letter and these questions are sincere. If your comment is something insulting, then it becomes irrelevant and will garner no respect. This letter is to Republicans, of which I am a registered Republican.

Here is a scenario to consider and answer:

Your daughter is in a political science class in college. Her professor is right-wing Republican, as are you. Your daughter asked him a challenging question. He doesn’t like to be challenged and wants total control of the class. He does not consider the question. He does not try to answer it with intellect or with maturity. This man calls your daughter a pig! He tells her to shut up.

How do you feel about what that professor did to your daughter? What will you do? Do you shrug it off or make excuses for him because he is a Republican and in charge? Do you tell your daughter that it must be somehow, her fault? Do you ask her what she did to bring it on? Do you tell her that he’s allowed to say anything he wants to her? After all, he’s a right winger, like you.

Or would his party affiliation mean nothing to you now? Do you call out this professor in some way? Are you the mom of this student, so you write a scathing letter: To the professor, to the administration, to the parents of other students and to the local paper and share an Internet post; assuring that as many people as possible learn of this professor’s mistreatment of students? Are you the dad of this student, who will strongly confront the professor, in a way, just short of knocking his block off?

Will you teach your daughter to stand up for herself and to stand up for others, no matter who it is that they are up against? Friend or foe.

Now, the real question is: Do you continue to support Trump?

He has, for the umpteenth time, insulted and disrespected a female reporter. She dared to challenge him. He called her a pig! He told her to shut up.

I am not suggesting that you leave the Republican Party. I don’t expect you to start loving Democrats. Love his financial expertise if you believe he’s a success in that regard.

But call out the bad. Call out the wrong. I am asking, how can you continue to support and turn a blind eye to this one person, who has shown himself to be a disgusting human?

It’s time for Republicans to stand up and denounce this behavior. You wouldn’t tolerate it from anyone else. Show your daughters and your sons that mistreatment is unacceptable, no matter the political party, or in the classroom, or in the workplace. Stand up. It’s not okay coming from anyone, including the president, especially the president.