Dear Sir,

Even though I was not able or qualified to vote in the United States congressional elections that were taking place in Alabama, my ears were hard-pressed to the ground and paying close attention to the events that were taking place there just as much as if they concerned me personally.

My hope was that Doug Jones, the Democratic candidate, would win. I do understand the history of the Deep South, Sir, and the role it played in the American Civil War, and I do have a fairly good understanding of the historically cultural and traditional mindset of most of those Southern states.

Ever since the day that General Robert E. Lee signed the declaration of surrender at Appomattox Court House in Virginia, the Confederates have never really conceded to defeat. Thus you have statues, although those southern states honour the losers of the Civil War and still back people such as Roy Moore, who has the ability to seize upon the moment to hide behind the shield of Christianity to conceal his racist behaviour and deceptive intent from the American people.

If I am correct, it’s not just because of the allegations directed at him of sexual harassment by at least eight women. But here we have a man who has also been removed from the bench of the courts on two occasions for his injudicial practices and inability to be fair to those who had appeared before him. Here also is a man who believed that slavery was a good thing and who is looking to be elected to the United States Congress to help to push Donald Trump’s agenda.

From the time that I started this letter, Doug Jones has since won the election, beating out Moore, which I believe is a good thing for getting America back on the right track to where it belongs. The sad thing about Moore is that most in his own Republican Party did not want to see him win and were relieved when he lost the election. At least one Republican senator even went as far as to give a contribution in favour of his Democratic opponent, with the hope that he would beat Moore because he perceived him as a threat to the soul of the Republican Party.

Whether we want to believe it or not, Trump does support the mindset of people such as Moore and white supremacist groups in the vein of the Ku Klux Klan. He has failed to properly condemn the events that took place in Charlottesville, where one person was run over and killed by a supporter of the white supremacist group that they were demonstrating against. It is a true saying that if America sneezes, Bermuda catches a cold. If we don’t watch out, we can rest assured that if we don’t watch out, we can rest assured that if Trump sneezes too hard, we will surely be catching pneumonia and most likely will die from it.

Sir, I have been told that it makes no sense complaining about what is going on in the US, but we have to — the US is the closest landmass to Bermuda; a little more than an hour’s flying distance away. Ninety per cent of our visitors come from the US, and trading is done through the US daily for vocations or business. There are many Bermudian family connections to the US that go way back over many, many decades and right along up until today.

Even though we may not have any political influence over what goes on in Washington, we are just as tied to them as if we were white on rice. So, to have a man such as Trump sitting in the White House and cheering on the likes of Roy Moore should be seen as being very chilling and frightening — not just to Bermuda, but to the rest of the world as a whole.

Think for a moment the suggestion coming from Trump that to put a stop to North Korea, the US should drop atomic bombs on that country without thinking how the fallout will affect the entire region should be seen as ridiculous at best.

Think about it, people. To think that he is going to kill a population of more than 23 million just to get at one man should make everyone shudder. It should be clear to most just how much damage would be done to South Korea and China if Trump were to go ahead with this threat to bomb North Korea. How devastating that would be in affecting the rest of the world.

I have pointed out to you before, Sir, in past letters that it was clear that Trump had no skills whatsoever in diplomacy, yet we should be glad that it was his Secretary of State who exercised enough common sense and logic to realise how important it was for the use of diplomacy to be used in such volatile manners.

My hope, Sir, is the sooner the people of America remove Trump from office, the safer the rest of the world and Bermuda would be.

E. McNEIL STOVELL

Pembroke