Mark Twain said, “Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.” There is always much to support and love about our country. At the same time we have the most dishonest, ignorant, corrupt, and incompetent president that our nation has ever seen. This point doesn’t need to be argued as POTUS supplies proof of this every single day. Feeble attempts to justify his actions rely on distraction, denial and what-about-isms. Some of the more extravagant explanations of why Donald Trump behaves in such strange ways describes him as a genius playing four dimensional chess. Other pundits have more correctly observed that it is closer to the truth to describe him as putting the chess pieces in his mouth.

At this time the most patriotic acts Americans can take part in are those that fight against the illegal and unconstitutional actions of the current administration. This includes activities large and small. A few weeks ago, UMass Amherst professor Richard Bogartz provided an opinion piece that described a technique for expressing dissent that has been used around the world for many years — banging pots and kitchen utensils together. He and others have begun to do this every evening from 6 p.m. until 6:03 p.m. My understanding is that others in Greenfield have already started. I began on April 2 and invite anyone else that wants to join. No doubt some will see this as silly and pointless. And if it was the only action taken to counter the threat our country faces it would be useless. But the sound is a reminder and a wake up call that we are not in normal times.

The Trump administration acts in ways that are not just unconstitutional but anti-constitutional. Rather than work on lowering the cost of housing, groceries and health care Trump is entirely focused on constant doses of adulation, getting even with perceived enemies, and eliminating barriers to making the super wealthy richer. This includes ending any protections for the environment. Remember, most Americans are somewhere on the spectrum of mildly disliking to despising this administration. We need to call and attend town hall style meetings, contact legislators, attend rallies and essentially let everyone know that what is going on is not OK. Plan to join others in making noise.

Edward M. Dowd

Greenfield