Trump landslide was real and historic

Regarding Stanley Trulock’s recent letter calling the Trump landslide a mirage, I submit the following facts.

The one thing Stanley got right is that only 64% of registered voters voted this past election. Where he goes wrong is the smoke and mirrors of percentage of people who voted for Trump vs. Kamala. While his numbers are correct, it hides the fact that the Electoral College is what determines the presidency. Trump won 312 to 226. That is a 30% beatdown. That, in fact, is a landslide — the biggest in many of our lives.

Let me round out the story with some facts for Mr. Trulock. While, as I said, his percentages are correct, they belie some facts that need to be touched on. Trump won 89% of the counties in the U.S. The map is still up at https://vividmaps.com/2024-presidential-election-county-by-county/. If you look at this map, it is clear that the U.S. is dominantly Republican with a few Democrat strongholds. We live in one. That is a fact.

Not only did Trump win in the counties, but according to the New York Times, there isn’t a single demographic that Trump didn’t pick up gains in vs. 2016 and 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/11/06/us/politics/presidential-election-2024-red-shift.html. The NYT is hardly a right-wing rag. If you follow the link, you will see that our entire country moved decidedly to the right. Those, my friends, are facts.

Lastly, I would like to expand upon the one thing Mr. Trulock got right: that 64%. Research, the most notable from the Cultural Research Center of Arizona Christian University, shows that between 30 and 32 million Christians don’t vote. That is just under 10% of the U.S. population and roughly 15% of the registered voters in the U.S. What happens if those Christians, who overwhelmingly identify as center-right (red), engage and vote their values? Blue won’t exist in but a very few counties.

So, while we all can have opinions about what is and what isn’t, facts remain stubborn things. Not only was the Red Wave of 2024 a landslide — it was a miracle.

Pedro Navaja, Glenwood Springs

Gratitude for the restaurant takeover fundraiser at the Hotel Colorado

On behalf of Raising a Reader, I would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Bay Equity, Mike and Kristi Picore, and the staff at the Hotel Colorado for the recent restaurant takeover fundraiser. The event was a fun community fundraising opportunity, and we couldn’t have done it without so many wonderful and generous community partners.

We are also grateful to all the diners who joined us for dinner. We appreciate their kindness and patience with the “questionable” service the Raising a Reader staff and board members provided. Their generous tips help support our mission to promote early childhood literacy in our region by encouraging all families to read at home together.

Partnerships of this magnitude highlight the passion in our community for early childhood literacy and learning, and the heart of the Glenwood Springs community. This community event helps Raising a Reader continue to significantly impact early literacy and learning for over 1,700 children in our region.

Suzanne Wheeler-Del Piccolo, Glenwood Springs

No tax breaks for hedge fund-backed bookstores

I want to applaud the decision by Glenwood City Council to deny a sales tax rebate to Barnes & Noble. Alpenglow Books co-owner Katie Hake is exactly right in her statement that if a corporation owned by a hedge fund needs local taxpayer support to be in business here, then they should not be here.

Small shops like Katie’s and mine and many others in this area have to go it alone without any tax breaks or incentives. We all work incredibly hard to bring value to our communities and support them precisely by paying taxes. National chain stores should at least be held to that standard.

And if it’s too expensive to be in business in these developments without taxpayers providing an incentive? Then let those spaces sit empty until developers drop their prices and lower the risk on businesses. There is such a thing as enough profit.

Izzy Stringham, owner of White River Books, Carbondale

On betrayal, brutality, and broken systems

If one can’t find a reason for outrage at our political situation, let me try to help.

We have betrayed Ukraine, an ally who was doing a service to the free world serving as a bulwark against Russian aggression; mainly as revenge because the leader of Ukraine dared to refuse to falsify charges against Hunter Biden as our petulant and vindictive President Trump wanted; a disgusting reason to betray honesty of a brave people.

I am sorry if Trump voters feel terrible; they should. I do.

This is to mention also the stupidity of tariffs against our closest neighbors, Canada and Mexico. Who needs friends? The corruption and pardons are a whole other letter.

Oh, and the policy of support of starvation and indiscriminate bombing in Gaza. As people protest this continuing inhumanity and are arrested, remember that police do not wear masks because they represent the rule of law. When police defy the First Amendment and lawful process, they suddenly hide their identity. Rameusa Ozturk, a female Turkish student at Tufts University with a valid student visa, was whisked away by masked men.

Maybe the outrage will reach the sleeping Trump supporters only when the axe falls on their health care or Social Security checks. Then they will awake. As Trump limits access to reporting by the Associated Press, an important source of news for smaller local newspapers, and if anyone wants facts about these potentially devastating disruptions in benefits and rights, maybe at that point they will care — and be outraged.

Barb Coddington, Glenwood Springs