Each week we’ll run through the sublime, the trivial and profound issues, decisions and goings on that strike us as Hits or Misses. You can join in, too, by emailing your Hits & Misses to editboard@theunion.com, also, to efunez@theunion.com
Miss (from Fletcher Craddock): To Christian churches supporting Trump. Jesus was humble; Trump is arrogant. Jesus teaches forgiveness; Trump is revengeful. Jesus helped the poor and the voiceless; Trump surrounds himself with billionaires and cuts programs that help the poor and disabled. Jesus was kind; Trump is vicious. You cannot be Christian and MAGA. They are mutually exclusive.
Miss (from Richard Howell): To Peggy Laird’s criticism of my recent letter. My intent was never to directly debate Graves’ opinion. Some feel The Union is “too liberal,” others, “too conservative.” As for my “plan” for accomplishing support for young people, Ms. Laird makes too many assumptions and her references to partisan labels belie a deeper agenda. The research on learning is deep, both public and private. It seems to me that it doesn’t support Ms. Laird’s “tough love” approach nor the actions being taken by Trump 2.0 or D.O.G.E.
Miss (from Howell): To Barry Pruett’s treatise on what I will call “Free Market Christianity.” Like the creations of cable outlets like Fox News, it is easy to assemble a couple of facts and bake a narrative. With all the private help out there, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer at an accelerating rate. We live in an age where great wealth equates to dominating attention and propaganda, and unlimited access to our legislatures. No, Mr. Pruett, private “Christian” charity is not, and will not be, enough.
Miss (from Shanti Emerson): To the billionaire father of fifteen children who has slashed USAID funds for starving children around the world. When do we say, “Enough!”?
Hit to (from Sally Knutson): To Barry Pruett. Your “Reliance on Government” submission to Saturday’s Union is right on. Government has become the “nanny” for many in our population. That is not the attitude I grew up believing. I wish I could have written as eloquently. Thank you, Barry.
Miss (from Cheryl Cook): To the popular MAGA talking point: “But many Democrats didn’t stand and applaud” when a sweet, innocent boy fighting cancer was awarded an honorary Secret Service badge during a Trump speech. Maybe people with a genuine sense of empathy recognize when a child is being exploited. Just maybe their response was less than enthusiastic by Musk standards because they saw through a performative stunt and sadly realize how many MORE children fighting life threatening illness will be hurt by Trump cuts to medical research, medicaid, and education.
Hit (from Cook): To Martin O’Malley, former Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, who calls the Trump administration attacks on government services, “Wreck it to rob it!!” Musk calls Social Security a “Ponzi scheme.” Secretary Lutnick says people who try to contact Social Security because of a missed check are “fraudsters.” But the Social Security Administration has a 99.7% accuracy rating when audited. It is the core of middle class economic stability and peace of mind.
Miss (from Rick Kraus): To smaller government? “As of March 21, 2025, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced the planned closure of 47 field offices across the United States, with 26 of these closures scheduled to occur within this year.”
Miss (from Don McCormick): To Terry McLaughlin for claiming that Trump only wants “peace and negotiation between the warring factions” in Ukraine. Trump has not asked Putin to concede anything as part of the “negotiation,” but advocates huge, crippling concessions from Ukraine. Trump’s agenda is not negotiation between two warring parties; it is Ukraine’s total surrender to the demands of the aggressor. WWII showed that if you give in to a ruler that wants territory, he is just encouraged to demand more.
Miss (from Jo Ann Rebane): To those who worry that Democrats don’t have a message. Their message is violence.
Hit (from Rebane): To California Senator Dahle and others who support SB-2. It looks like Democrats who oppose SB-2 support increasing the gas tax by 65 cents per gallon and even higher over time. SB-2 would repeal the 65 cents per gallon tax hike based on the new Low Carbon Fuel Standard policy.
Miss (from Terry McLaughlin): To Minnesota Governor and VP candidate Tim Walz publicly cheering the decline in Tesla stock, when 1.6 million shares of Tesla stock are invested in the State of Minnesota’s retirement/pension plan, and 211,000 shares are invested in their non-retirement fund. How does that serve his constituents?
Hit (from McLaughlin): To Barry Pruett’s Other Voices of March 22 in which he articulately explains how over-dependency upon the government reflects a serious lack of trust in the decency and compassion of human beings.
Hit (from Patricia Graves): To The Trump administration who continue to exert pressure on foreign governments to release detained Americans. George Glezmann, a Delta Airlines mechanic, was released by the Taliban after two and a half years in captivity and is on his way home to be reunited with his wife. Thank you President Trump.
Miss (from Ramona Greb): When hatred develops into violence and destruction. Anyone guilty of damaging/destroying property should pay for its restoration/replacement before going to prison. No money? Work it out at $20/hour. AND when you urge people not to buy Teslas, how many hard-working middle class people working on these cars will lose their jobs? I guess hatred is more important.
Hit (from Greb): Barry Pruett’s article Mar. 22 re: reliance on government. My ancestors legally entered the US 140 years ago. They spent 2 weeks on Ellis Island, probably being vetted and checked medically. They had to have a place to stay — relatives or friends — and had to be SELF-SUPPORTING. No help from the government. Wish we could bring that policy back.
Hit (from Greb): To Greg Marshall’s Other Voices of Mar. 19. He forgot to condemn those who oppose voter ID. Didn’t Garland say it was “burdensome, unnecessary and divisive”? Activist judges!
Miss (from Daryl Grigsby): To Terry McLaughlin, for her continual justifications, rationales, excuses, explanations of everything and anything the Trump administration does. From the DOGE cuts to Trump’s treatment of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, she provides lengthy tedious justifications. No mention of the Sudanese children who are dying unnecessarily, the lack of evidence regarding the deported Venezuelan “gang members,” the Afghan supporters of the US military who have been stripped of their federal support as they relocate to the United States, the arrest of green card holders simply for their political views, and the rise in racist and homophobic attacks across the nation. A 25% cut in education funding looms for the poorest state in the nation, Mississippi, and the world’s richest man laughs and brags about cuts to human health — apparently all fine according to her perspective.
Miss (from Mike Vasser): To Trump’s failed effort to bring peace in Gaza. He promised he would have a peace agreement even before he was elected. The Israeli administration has blatantly broken the ceasefire and aggressively and brutally attacked and killed mostly civilians including a NATO staff member. There has been no action taken by the Trump administration to hold the Israeli government to account for their decision to disregard the terms of the ceasefire.
Miss (from Vasser): To Trump’s Secretary of Defense, who had his staff scrutinizing thousands of documents to determine what DEI-related material should be removed. Among those removed were references to Jackie Robinson, Navajo Codetalkers, Tuskegee Airmen, a Japanese Infantry Regiment, and other minority military members, a shining example of inefficiency and skewed priorities in a massive federal department.