Give me your tired, your poor huddled masses but only if they are white Christians | Opinion
Rebranding the statue
STATUE OF LIBERTY -1903-------Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
STATUE OF LIBERTY - 2025------ Give me your tired, your poor huddled masses but only if you are a Christian and white. No gays or lesbians. No atheists. No one from below the Rio Grande. No automatic citizenship for kids born here. Other various and sundry reasons subject to change. We left our donation bucket by the golden door!!! (Bitcoin and Doge accepted)
Bob Sutton, Springfield
American division
What ever happened to “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free?” What ever happened to our pride in being the melting pot of the world? When did we become so full of hate and division and ignorance? When did we become proud of the fact that we hate anyone who is not white, Anglo-Saxon and protestant?
Our very history has shown us that we have never been perfect. But at least we were striving to make this country and the world a better place for everyone. It has been a struggle, but we were trying.
Now, sadly, we are not even trying. Because of this current administration, people are encouraged to hate and divide. Because of this current administration, we have lost our standing in the world. Do you really want to be remembered as part of the problem and not part the solution? There is more at stake here than many are willing to admit. It is the future of this country and Mother Earth herself. PLEASE take a stand against fascism and authoritarianism. Our fathers and grandfathers fought and died for this country. Don’t make their sacrifices be in vain.
Catherine Lee Ferguson, Lexington
Congressional cowards
Congressional committees focus on specific areas of domestic and foreign policy issues and legislation related to the Committee. The “Committee System “is the principal means by which Congress acts. However, another group important to Congressional activity is the Caucus. These influential groups are less formal and tend to be centered around the more personal concerns and orientations of the members of Congress.
It appears to me a new (and large) Caucus has been established in Congress — the Cowards Caucus. This caucus is composed of members of Congress who share the ability to endure any humiliation or threat by President Donald Trump to ensure his blessing for re-election as well as having completely flexible core values enabling them to embrace any self-serving position to retain their office and power to serve Trump.
I am not sure this bodes well for our future, regardless of political party affiliation. Perhaps there will be enough voters in the coming elections who will be concerned with both the policy positions AND the personal integrity and values of the candidates to vote against those individuals who are already in or aspire to be in the Congressional Cowards Caucus.
Charles Myers, Lexington
MAGA Barr
To U.S. Rep. Andy Barr: you, along with your MAGA cohort U.S. Mitch McConnell, both R-Ky., have sold out the people of Kentucky. You voted in the affirmative for President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.” What will you say to your constituency when rural hospitals in Kentucky began to close because they lack funding? What will you say to your constituency when their family members start to die or become seriously ill because needed healthcare is no longer available? I heard that you pride yourself in being a strict constitutionalist; yet you remain silent as your president attempts to destroy the Constitution on a daily basis. I am wondering what has become of your commitment to the rule of law and your oath of office. I am wondering why you think the people of Kentucky will send you to the Senate on their behalf. What will you tell them?
Polk S. O’Neal, Lexington
One Big Bill
Giving legislation the title “One Big Beautiful Bill” does not change its essence. It’s still a ‘Pig in a Poke’!
It increases the U.S. debt limit by $5 trillion. And according to the Congressional Budget Office, it adds $3.3 Trillion to the current national debt of $37 trillion dollars already owed. An estimated $40.3 trillion by the time the bill’s authority ends, or $261,000 per taxpayer based upon 2022 filed tax returns. To put the $261,000 debt per taxpayer in perspective, the U.S. average homeowners mortgage debt is roughly $264,000.
Healthcare in Kentucky will suffer! An estimated 35 rural hospitals in Kentucky could close due to the Medicare/Medicaid Cuts according to a study by the Sheps Center for Health Service Research at the University of North Carolina. With those hospital closures the communities the hospitals are in will see doctors, nurses and technicians moving on to hospitals in other towns. This will impact their schools, and the other businesses in those towns that rely upon the business of those hospital employees. It will be a significant loss to those communities’ tax bases. Most of these impacts will start before these medical cuts start after the 2026 mid-terms.
A ‘Pig In a Poke’!
Joe Crouch, Lexington
Masked thugs
The masked thugs who are violently seizing people in America present an extreme danger to the safety of all of us and to all legitimate law enforcement. Those of us who honor the badge and respect the uniform, and the rule of law, must be able to see the badge, see the uniform, see the face, read a valid warrant, and be assured that we are dealing with legitimate law enforcement instead of kidnappers and street gangs.
The Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees the “right of the people to be secure in their persons… against unreasonable searches and seizures.” This right “shall not be violated…”
No “arrest” by masked and unidentifiable thugs can be considered reasonable. What we are seeing is not only “unreasonable” within the meaning of the Constitution, it is reprehensible. Our elected leaders, especially any who claim to be for law and order must put an immediate end to the use of all “secret police” and make us, and the real police, all safer.
Anne Chesnut, Lexington
Fourth brilliance
Kudos to the planners and organizers of the Patriotic Concert at Transylvania University! It was an evening filled with patriotic music. I particularly enjoyed the salute to the Armed Forces (as always) and the America sings segment. What a nice addition to hear some of our favorites like “God bless America,” and “This Land is your Land,” and to hear people join in. In the future, I would also love to see the crowd recognize and honor some of the individual veterans in attendance.
I cannot wait for my grandchildren to get a little older so they can come join in the festivities. We need to nurture patriotism in our next generations! It would be fun if there could also be perhaps an early segment designed to engage the children present to dance, parade around and/or sing along. I love Lexington and love my country. Let’s pass that on! Events like this can help our young ones to feel the same. Thanks again to this year’s organizers and the Lexington Philharmonic. Well done.
Linda W Cranfill, Lexington
Nobel joke
It is incredulous that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would nominate President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. Netanyahu is the Israeli equivalent of Hitler and has committed and continues to commit genocide against the people of Palestine. He even now wants to sequester them in a “humanitarian” enclave in Rafah. Hitler told the Jews they were going to such a place and then systemically annihilated them.
Netanyahu is not qualified to nominate anyone after all of the war crimes he has committed. The Nobel Prize, in any category should only be given to persons who are above reproach, and Trump certainly does not meet those standards or any standard of behavior. He is a serial abuser of women, a pathological liar and a narcissist of the highest degree. He constantly says he puts America first, and yet, the only thing he puts first is himself. If by some chance he would win the august prize, the integrity of establishment will be forever tarnished and will only feed his incessant need for recognition and the delusion he has that he is a “Great Big Wonderful President.” The only thing he is is a Great Big Orange incompetent president. Will this nightmare ever end?
Sara Wellnitz, Lexington
Edited by Liz Carey
This story was originally published July 10, 2025 at 11:48 AM.