Letters to the Editor: Effort to encourage snitching on national park signs could backfire hilariously

To the editor: I laughed out loud at this column from guest contributor John Lawrence (“Uncle Sam wants you ... to rat on national parks that reflect true history,” July 15). Don’t misunderstand: Lawrence is sounding the alarm on another serious way President Trump’s MAGA mentality seeks to degrade our democracy.

The laugh-out-loud part is the use of our tax dollars to mandate that national parks install QR-code-adorned signage soliciting visitors to snitch on any history-denigrating content seen, read or heard while enjoying a family outing.

I can’t wait for news coverage of the creative and subversive ways Americans will use those QR codes to push back on this stupid effort at undermining historians’ contributions to progress in creating a more perfect union. Let the wit begin.

Phyllis Owens, Chatsworth

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To the editor: Lawrence writes about Trump’s executive order directing national parks to cleanse themselves of signage that “inappropriately disparages Americans past or living.” This, while the president consistently disparages his predecessor in the Oval Office, alleging mental incompetence and actions that Trump says resulted in near ruin of the nation.

According to the executive order, messages are to reflect only “American greatness.” This, after Trump claimed that, under the previous administration, America was being turned into a “third-world hellhole, run by censors, perverts, criminals and thugs.” Who’s censoring now? This is just another example of the double standard employed by this hypocritical president.

Perry Valantine, Costa Mesa