Sound Off: March 29, 2026

Sun Herald readers weigh in on local and national topics.

Good grief

The uselessness of social media was clear in back-to-back posts on my X feed: The first insisted that the Democrats had come out on top in the shutdown. The very next one went into great detail on why and how the Republicans won. Wonderful.

Shutdown

Once again we got to experience the great joy of a government shutdown and what, exactly, was gained? As best I can tell, nothing.

Silliness

Louisiana must be in great shape, what with the amount of money it has paid to steal a football coach and, now, a basketball coach away from other schools.

Always delivers

You can’t count on much in this world, but the NCAA men’s basketball tournament always delivers. Going to be sad once it’s done and we have to focus on ... baseball, I guess.

Trump dollar

President Trump plans the unprecedented move to place his name on the dollar bill. If ego could be printed, the dollar bill would already be out of ink. The Dictator-in-Chief wouldn’t just put his name on it, he’d make sure it swallowed George Washington whole. The man who refused a crown would be reduced to background decoration for someone who treats public office like a branding opportunity. Washington walked away from power to preserve a republic. This one clings to attention like it’s oxygen. One built a nation; the other builds his name in oversized letters and calls it legacy. The dollar used to represent stability, restraint, and trust. Turn it into a vanity autograph and it becomes something else entirely: a souvenir of unchecked ego masquerading as leadership. At that point, it’s not currency anymore, it’s merchandise. And maybe that’s the point. Perhaps the phrase “In God We Trust” will be replaced with “In Trump We Trust.”

Time and place

If you’re not happy with the way the government is being run, the time and place to address that is at the ballot box, not by shutting the government down. I’m about done with Democrats shutting everything down because they didn’t like the results of the election.

Is this us?

To the person lamenting the apparent detention of her friend’s housekeeper, I have a question. Can you walk into a bank with a gun and demand money? No, it’s against the law. Can you take clothing from a department store and walk out without paying? No, it’s against the law. It doesn’t matter if the bank robber is flat broke or if the shoplifter needs clothes, there are laws in our country and consequences for breaking the law. Likewise, there are laws governing entry into the United States. I also feel sympathy for those who wish to live here instead of a country with few opportunities, but enter this country legally and there will be no consequences.

Actually, yes, this is us

If your housekeeper or your friend or your acquaintance or your doctor or your lawyer entered the country illegally, I’m sorry to have to break the bad news to you, but they broke the law. Whether they have behaved while here is largely irrelevant.

Lock them up

The only people here illegally who should be allowed to stay are people who were brought here as juveniles, through no fault of their own. Everyone else should understand that they have broken the law, and the penalty for that lawbreaking is a return to where they came from.

Funny

It’s almost comical: I see that we’ve arrested tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people in our country illegally. Yet, I can count on one hand the number of employers I’ve read about being arrested for employing those lawbreakers. Guess money really does rule.

No democracy

Some are complaining that after ousting dictator Nicolás Maduro, President Trump is not aggressively establishing democracy in Venezuela. That should be no surprise. Trump doesn’t want democracy in the USA, much less Venezuela. He continually takes steps to weaken what democracy we have and to maximize his executive power.

Another crash

I haven’t seen so many airplane crashes and airport chaos since ... ever. Who’s is charge? Not DEI. Probably a White man appointed because, you guessed, he’s White and a man.

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