Wendy Oellers-Fulmer: Madison Square Garden rally represents very dark future

To The Daily Sun,

My grandfather, Dr. Walter H. Bucher, a brilliant, world renowned scientist, was an immigrant from Switzerland, with a deep faith in his church, who taught us valuable lessons about life.

In World War II, millions of Jews, Jehovah's Witnesses, Roma, homosexuals, political dissidents, and people with disabilities were interred in Nazi camps and killed. During this horrific time, my grandfather helped some of his Jewish colleagues escape the Nazi regime, and was devastated over the loss of so many lives he couldn’t save.

I have deliberately stayed away from commenting on this year’s election, not wanting to receive all the hateful retribution that has been permeating the news and social media.

But after watching, in horror, the rally at Madison Square Garden, where a huge audience cheered on antisemitic, racist, misogynistic comments by both the speakers and the candidate, I could only wonder, what has happened to our country?

Do we want to be a country that targets populations as “the enemy within” or “vermin”? The world is watching in wonder how a country that was founded on the principle of democracy and unity (E pluribus unum) can be split so decisively. Where our country has been perceived, like the Statue of Liberty, as a beacon of hope, they now see a country divided and filled with hatred. A fact that our enemies, with leaders like Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, can only relish.

In my opinion, it comes down to the choice of “what kind of country do we want to be?" One of acceptance, compassion and tolerance for all, even those who we disagree with, or one like the hate filled rally in Madison Square Garden? A rally that represented, to me, a very dark future, where I sincerely hope and pray we never go.

Wendy Oellers-Fulmer

Gilford