Jun 28, 2025 3 min read

Gary Stout’s June 23 commentary was particularly disappointing (“Hibernating bear kicked awake and not going back to sleep”). In addition to the same tired, 8-year-old accusations about President Trump, he introduces some random, confusing thoughts that are neither explained nor supported with facts. Consider three examples:

Who are the “hibernating bears” and why have they been asleep? He doesn’t tell us. Readers must assume Mr. Stout refers to the Democrats, Independents, and disaffected Republicans who showed up on the steps of the courthouse for the June 14 “No Kings” demonstration. (I guess he had to go with “bears” since hibernating “donkeys” or “elephants” don’t conjure up angry images.) He also neglects to explain why the bears have been hibernating. If things were so good under previous national and local Democrat administrations, why have the bears been snoozing? If Mr. Trump has been a scourge for eight years, why haven’t the bears been kicked into action long before now? It’s puzzling.

Mr. Stout states that the Republican Party was “hijacked” (nationally and locally) by the “MAGA Movement.” While he doesn’t explain how the hijacking occurred, he is sure that Republican voters, like me, have unwittingly been taken over by the “MAGA party” and we now are free to nurture our “white nationalist” ideology. What nonsense! To make such an unsupported, ridiculous statement about half the voters in this county is insulting. Moreover, it indicates to me the author is out of ideas for making substantive, logical, mature arguments in his political commentaries.

Finally, Mr. Stout bemoans our nation’s crumbling democracy (his opinion) and refers to the “ongoing authoritarianism at both the national and local levels.” Yet in the same commentary he mentions the 2,000 demonstrations on “No Kings” day, including the one on the steps of our courthouse. No authoritarians stepped in to stop those events. Like Mr. Stout I also checked out the local demonstration. I didn’t hear much anger or roaring as one would expect from “bears” awakened from hibernation. There were no pitchforks, scythes, or torches. The hibernating bears who showed up appeared to be having a good time in exercising their freedom to congregate and speak.

If, as Mr. Stout suggests, people now are motivated to become actively involved in future elections, that’s a good thing. It will be the exercise of the democracy Mr. Stout believes is in such jeopardy.

Steve Johnson

Washington