Column: Who is worthy of our trust?

This week, we published Frank Cappabianca's Letter to the Editor, referencing my column about blind faith. Frank asked me several questions about why I ignored specific facts regarding what President Trump and the DOGE folks are doing. He is concerned that allowing Elon Musk and the DOGE group to continue on their current path as directed by President Trump will lead the nation to a constitutional crisis. He asked, "Is it correct that Musk and DOGE could get access to our personal information"? Well, Mr. Cappabianca, I do not believe they need that information to audit the department's finances, but if they do, I am okay with that, as I have nothing to hide. But remember, time is critical, as we are simply running out of options if we do not get government spending under control. The Government Accounting Office has been auditing the federal government's consolidated financial statements since FY 1997. The GAO continues to be unable to render an audit opinion on the government's accrual-based consolidated financial statements. The GOA concludes that the current fiscal path is unsustainable. Few of us know who the long-term, unelected bureaucrats are who run these departments, but they have access to our personal records, and unfortunately, they haven't done a great job managing our funds. What safeguards do we have to ensure they aren't looking at our personal information? I do not recall any concerns about when President Biden hired 80,000 new IRS agents to perform audits, specifically on tax returns looking for tax underpayments. Congress and blue-ribbon panels of economists haven't shown much interest in getting to the bottom of this mess over last few decades, so if not someone like Musk, a brilliant inventor and wealthy, successful entrepreneur, who else could we agree upon doing this task reliably? We are so severely divided that it's hard to accomplish anything simple, let alone something as essential and massive as cleaning up government waste and abuse. The voters understood that President Trump was serious about addressing government waste, and he made it clear that Musk was the best man for the job. I believe it is why he was re-elected. One of Mr. Cappabianca's other concerns is why I have made no mention of President Trump's full pardoning of all January 6 rioters. I believe I've written in the past that I do not condone the violence that took place on that day. Many things were out of the norm with that election due to the pandemic in 2020, and as Americans, we enjoy the privilege of protesting, but those trials were very one-sided. During the last administration, the Justice Department was used to discipline many on the right side of the political spectrum but not so many on the left. I can't say that I agree with commuting all 1,500 January 6 sentences, as many did cross the line that day. But I do believe many of the infractions that took place on January 6 were more severely penalized than those who rioted in the summer of 2020, doing far greater violence and destruction of property with next to no charges brought forth. I believe justice needs to be blind. When we compare pardons and commutations, President Biden certainly has his share to defend with over 4,200 Presidential Pardons in his final days, including family. Let's not forget the many violent crimes committed by illegal aliens who were set free in this country instead of being turned over to ICE. Our political system and the national media have turned us on each other, and until we can agree to administer justice fairly, as I hope we will in the coming days, it will only widen the divide. —Columnist Dan Alexander is a resident of Elizabethtown, N.Y. He serves as Publisher Emeritus and President of Denton Publications, Inc. The Thoughts from Behind the Pressline Column reflects his observations of current events, not from a journalist's perspective, but as an independent-minded, local businessman.

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Column: Who is worthy of our trust?

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