Auburn and Cayuga County speaks up: Letters to the editor for the week of Jun. 20, 2025
- Updated
Our weekly round-up of letters published in the Citizen.
- Douglas George-Kanentiio
Our group is the Hiawatha Institute for Indigenous Knowledge. We have submitted a formal offer to convert Wells College into an international, accredited university for the preservation and formal instruction in all areas of Native culture, language, agriculture, technology and the fine arts. Our unique, innovative curriculum will attract hundreds of students from throughout the world. We will also create a conference center, expand the existing health clinic and preserve the ecological integrity of the campus. We will create hundreds of jobs.
Our offer will carry on the grand tradition of Wells in the best way possible. We will also host music concerts and are planning the largest Native art show east of the Mississippi. We have the support of the traditional Cayuga Nation and are committed to working in partnership with the Haudenosaunee Confederacy to realize a dream long held by our people聽鈥 which is to establish a learning center of the highest academic standards. We will also make a home for the Haudenosaunee Nationals Lacrosse teams, a center for the Native Veterans of New York with an attendant cemetery and a Native Boarding School Resource facility.
We will create an alliance with local, regional state and federal political leaders to insure our university has their support. We have met with the residents of Aurora and are pleased with their enthusiasm for our plans which are detailed, comprehensive and rational. We are ready to move forward once the Wells trustees have made their decision to return the campus to the embrace of an organization rooted in the best traditions of our ancestors.聽
- Roseann Lorefice
Thank you, John Mannion, for showing us how a true representative of the people stands up to truth and calls out the shameless cowardice of his colleagues who, like sheep, follow the cruel demands of a despotic leader!
Your righteous indignation is no crime. It reflects your moral indignation at the hypocrisy and cruelty that is now pervasive in the Trump regime that abandons the poor and needy in order to support the privileged.
Yes, your righteous indignation is no crime. What is a crime is allowing families to go hungry.
What is a crime is denying medical treatment to the sick.
What is a crime is turning your back on the world and reneging on promises and programs that keep illnesses such as HIV at bay.
What is a crime is destroying the fabric of family life, ruthlessly and without a coherent plan detaining those who have contributed to our daily life鈥檚 activities and deporting them to the cruelest of prisons without due process.
What is a crime is failure to call out the idiocy of what is happening and continuing without questioning the chaos, the cruelty, and the obvious criminality.
Your righteous indignation reflects the outrage that we feel as the most inexperienced candidates are now in positions of power that affect our national security, our precious health, our educational system, our children, our environment, our transportation system, the very life we enjoy.
We need others like you in Congress to stand up and sound the call as you did. We need the Democrats to keep challenging, daily and in loud voices, the transgressions and attacks on our democracy. We need the Republicans to break ranks and have the courage to speak out.
Unless that happens, truly 鈥渢he emperor has no clothes鈥 and it will take a stronger voice than we now have to call the masses to react.
- Roseann Lorefice
Mannion correct to call out threats to democracy
Thank you, John Mannion, for showing us how a true representative of the people stands up to truth and calls out the shameless cowardice of his colleagues who, like sheep, follow the cruel demands of a despotic leader!
Your righteous indignation is no crime. It reflects your moral indignation at the hypocrisy and cruelty that is now pervasive in the Trump regime that abandons the poor and needy in order to support the privileged.
Yes, your righteous indignation is no crime. What is a crime is allowing families to go hungry.
What is a crime is denying medical treatment to the sick.
What is a crime is turning your back on the world and reneging on promises and programs that keep illnesses such as HIV at bay.
What is a crime is destroying the fabric of family life, ruthlessly and without a coherent plan detaining those who have contributed to our daily life鈥檚 activities and deporting them to the cruelest of prisons without due process.
What is a crime is failure to call out the idiocy of what is happening and continuing without questioning the chaos, the cruelty, and the obvious criminality.
Your righteous indignation reflects the outrage that we feel as the most inexperienced candidates are now in positions of power that affect our national security, our precious health, our educational system, our children, our environment, our transportation system, the very life we enjoy.
We need others like you in Congress to stand up and sound the call as you did. We need the Democrats to keep challenging, daily and in loud voices, the transgressions and attacks on our democracy. We need the Republicans to break ranks and have the courage to speak out.
Unless that happens, truly 鈥渢he emperor has no clothes鈥 and it will take a stronger voice than we now have to call the masses to react.
- Larry Dean
- Updated
Kudos to all the concerned citizens who turned out Friday June 13 to show their support for the growing "No Kings" movement in America. It was an important event that articulated the increasing opposition to the usurpation of our constitutional system of government by the clearly undemocratic forces currently in power. While the rally was indeed heartening, we need more, much more, participation by those who see the damage being done to the fabric of our society and the world by the lawlessness of the Trump administration.
The acceleration of their transgressions is indeed dizzying (which is tactical), making our response in real time all the more critical.
Now is not the time to warm the bench, to expect those on the court to win this for the rest of us. Now is the time for each of us to clock into the contest and make our presence felt.
That is true if you are a liberal, a moderate or (most certainly) a conservative, whose ideas have been kidnapped by the Trump movement and used as cover for their blatant attacks on the Constitution. Genuine conservatism is not about the destruction of traditional norms or the abandonment of our cherished institutions for the sake of authoritarianism. The very fact that we have wide and disparate views on civic conduct and governance is a direct result of the fact that we do not live in an authoritarian state 鈥 we live in a democracy, and that democracy is now in great peril.
Please join us at the next Indivisible Cayuga rally on July 17, in Auburn. Indivisible Cayuga is a non-partisan, community focused organization defending democracy for all of us. In the interim, speak with your neighbors, colleagues, and friends about the seriousness of our situation and the dire consequences of inaction.
The essence of democracy is to recognize our commonality and collectively act upon it 鈥 for the common good. The goal of authoritarianism is obedience. We have to ask ourselves, which do we prefer? I think I know the answer to that and I think you do too.
More like this...
- Douglas George-Kanentiio
Our group is the Hiawatha Institute for Indigenous Knowledge. We have submitted a formal offer to convert Wells College into an international, accredited university for the preservation and formal instruction in all areas of Native culture, language, agriculture, technology and the fine arts. Our unique, innovative curriculum will attract hundreds of students from throughout the world. We will also create a conference center, expand the existing health clinic and preserve the ecological integrity of the campus. We will create hundreds of jobs.
Our offer will carry on the grand tradition of Wells in the best way possible. We will also host music concerts and are planning the largest Native art show east of the Mississippi. We have the support of the traditional Cayuga Nation and are committed to working in partnership with the Haudenosaunee Confederacy to realize a dream long held by our people聽鈥 which is to establish a learning center of the highest academic standards. We will also make a home for the Haudenosaunee Nationals Lacrosse teams, a center for the Native Veterans of New York with an attendant cemetery and a Native Boarding School Resource facility.
We will create an alliance with local, regional state and federal political leaders to insure our university has their support. We have met with the residents of Aurora and are pleased with their enthusiasm for our plans which are detailed, comprehensive and rational. We are ready to move forward once the Wells trustees have made their decision to return the campus to the embrace of an organization rooted in the best traditions of our ancestors.聽
- Roseann Lorefice
Thank you, John Mannion, for showing us how a true representative of the people stands up to truth and calls out the shameless cowardice of his colleagues who, like sheep, follow the cruel demands of a despotic leader!
Your righteous indignation is no crime. It reflects your moral indignation at the hypocrisy and cruelty that is now pervasive in the Trump regime that abandons the poor and needy in order to support the privileged.
Yes, your righteous indignation is no crime. What is a crime is allowing families to go hungry.
What is a crime is denying medical treatment to the sick.
What is a crime is turning your back on the world and reneging on promises and programs that keep illnesses such as HIV at bay.
What is a crime is destroying the fabric of family life, ruthlessly and without a coherent plan detaining those who have contributed to our daily life鈥檚 activities and deporting them to the cruelest of prisons without due process.
What is a crime is failure to call out the idiocy of what is happening and continuing without questioning the chaos, the cruelty, and the obvious criminality.
Your righteous indignation reflects the outrage that we feel as the most inexperienced candidates are now in positions of power that affect our national security, our precious health, our educational system, our children, our environment, our transportation system, the very life we enjoy.
We need others like you in Congress to stand up and sound the call as you did. We need the Democrats to keep challenging, daily and in loud voices, the transgressions and attacks on our democracy. We need the Republicans to break ranks and have the courage to speak out.
Unless that happens, truly 鈥渢he emperor has no clothes鈥 and it will take a stronger voice than we now have to call the masses to react.
- Roseann Lorefice
Mannion correct to call out threats to democracy
Thank you, John Mannion, for showing us how a true representative of the people stands up to truth and calls out the shameless cowardice of his colleagues who, like sheep, follow the cruel demands of a despotic leader!
Your righteous indignation is no crime. It reflects your moral indignation at the hypocrisy and cruelty that is now pervasive in the Trump regime that abandons the poor and needy in order to support the privileged.
Yes, your righteous indignation is no crime. What is a crime is allowing families to go hungry.
What is a crime is denying medical treatment to the sick.
What is a crime is turning your back on the world and reneging on promises and programs that keep illnesses such as HIV at bay.
What is a crime is destroying the fabric of family life, ruthlessly and without a coherent plan detaining those who have contributed to our daily life鈥檚 activities and deporting them to the cruelest of prisons without due process.
What is a crime is failure to call out the idiocy of what is happening and continuing without questioning the chaos, the cruelty, and the obvious criminality.
Your righteous indignation reflects the outrage that we feel as the most inexperienced candidates are now in positions of power that affect our national security, our precious health, our educational system, our children, our environment, our transportation system, the very life we enjoy.
We need others like you in Congress to stand up and sound the call as you did. We need the Democrats to keep challenging, daily and in loud voices, the transgressions and attacks on our democracy. We need the Republicans to break ranks and have the courage to speak out.
Unless that happens, truly 鈥渢he emperor has no clothes鈥 and it will take a stronger voice than we now have to call the masses to react.
- Larry Dean
Kudos to all the concerned citizens who turned out Friday June 13 to show their support for the growing "No Kings" movement in America. It was an important event that articulated the increasing opposition to the usurpation of our constitutional system of government by the clearly undemocratic forces currently in power. While the rally was indeed heartening, we need more, much more, participation by those who see the damage being done to the fabric of our society and the world by the lawlessness of the Trump administration.
The acceleration of their transgressions is indeed dizzying (which is tactical), making our response in real time all the more critical.
Now is not the time to warm the bench, to expect those on the court to win this for the rest of us. Now is the time for each of us to clock into the contest and make our presence felt.
That is true if you are a liberal, a moderate or (most certainly) a conservative, whose ideas have been kidnapped by the Trump movement and used as cover for their blatant attacks on the Constitution. Genuine conservatism is not about the destruction of traditional norms or the abandonment of our cherished institutions for the sake of authoritarianism. The very fact that we have wide and disparate views on civic conduct and governance is a direct result of the fact that we do not live in an authoritarian state 鈥 we live in a democracy, and that democracy is now in great peril.
Please join us at the next Indivisible Cayuga rally on July 17, in Auburn. Indivisible Cayuga is a non-partisan, community focused organization defending democracy for all of us. In the interim, speak with your neighbors, colleagues, and friends about the seriousness of our situation and the dire consequences of inaction.
The essence of democracy is to recognize our commonality and collectively act upon it 鈥 for the common good. The goal of authoritarianism is obedience. We have to ask ourselves, which do we prefer? I think I know the answer to that and I think you do too.
