To the editor:
Planning a getaway in the non-pandemic near future? Stay well away from Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore, the Gateway Arch, the Grand Ole Opry, and Fort Sumter. Musical fans, you really ought not to give Iowa a try, and anywhere in Oklahoma it not OK.
After the burlesque bit by 43 Senate Republicans that concluded the impeachment trial, it’s time to take action on those states that elected two senators who determined, in full face of the facts, that former president Trump had no hand in inciting the riots on the Capitol — and to encourage those who voted for them to think twice at the ballot box next time.
It starts with a serious boycott of the states themselves. Not stepping foot in them. Not sending our children to their colleges and universities. And not buying products made in their factories.
For instance, to strike back at Florida’s pusillanimous pair, Messrs. Rubio and Scott, don’t buy their state’s orange juice. (Which, unfortunately, means don’t buy virtually any orange juice.) Try instead apple cider from a state whose two senators voted with reason: say, Washington or Connecticut. (Be sure to read the label: believe it or not, there are ciderworks in Florida.) Ditto grapefruit and avocados — go Californian instead. And are the rides at Disney World and Universal worth the nauseating trip we just took with Trump? Better say “so long” for now to Mickey Mouse and Harry Potter.
Now, let’s turn to the turtle: Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, perhaps the second most unfeeling, uncompromising, and generally unpleasant man in our Republic. Want to stick it to Mitch and his equally odious confederate, Rand Paul? This is the tough one. Sure, you can go without Valvoline Motor Oil, Kingsford Charcoal, Dixie Cups, and Ragu pasta sauce, all made in the state they represent. But are you truly irate about what happened on January 6, how it happened, and why it happened? Then it’s time to give up bourbon: 95 percent of it comes from the Bluegrass State. Try rye instead.
How can you help make life miserable for two more senators synonymous with the word: Cruz and Cornyn of Texas? For starters, don’t remember the Alamo — forget it until sanity returns to the Lone Star State. As long as you’ve given up bourbon, you might as well also forgo Snickers, Skittles, and Starburst, which all come courtesy of a huge Mars Candy factory in Waco. Yearn for a pickup truck and a cowboy hat? Just don’t saddle up in a Toyota Tundra or wear a Stetson. Texas-made both.
You get the point, and you can research attractions in and products of Arkansas, Idaho, Mississippi, et al.; incredibly enough, 17 states can claim two senators who voted to acquit Donald Trump. Our fellow Americans there may suffer from a boycott, just as the those in states represented by at least one anti-Trump senator may benefit from our business. But, if we want to hold the pro-Trump senators accountable, shouldn’t we hold the voters who elected them accountable, as well?
So examine your conscience. Who really wants to see where Sitting Bull surrendered in North Dakota? Can you truly tell the difference between a potato made in Senator Crapo’s state of Idaho or one from Senator Collins’s Maine? And whether it’s a ski slope in red Montana or Wyoming, or in blue Colorado or California, you’re still going downhill.
James Harris
Great Barrington
