LETTER TO THE EDITOR: ‘Stop the games’ and clean up Delaware’s jails

EDITOR’S NOTE: Below is an open letter to Gov. John Carney. A copy was furnished to the Delaware State News for publication. Dear Mr. Governor and Liberal Politicians, As I attempt to digest the vile act that was committed in our state prison (last) week, I find it hard to not blame you. We live in a day and age where nobody wants to make the tough decisions or be the bad guy. Politicians like Matt Denn, Sean Lynn and countless others, including yourself, continue to play musical chairs with high-paying government positions, while the working class people of this state suffer. An honest, hard-working, regimented man was brutally murdered while trying to carry out his daily duties. This, sir, happened on your watch. When, exactly, is enough enough? In your recent press release, you said you were going to make sure this never happened again. While I can’t quote it, I would be willing to guess that a similar statement was made by then-Gov. Ruth Ann Minner, to whom you served as lieutenant governor, when prison counselor Cassandra Arnold was brutally raped in her office in the same facility back in 2004. If you couldn’t prevent this incident (last week) from happening, after that tragedy, how can you ensure safety for our correctional officers moving forward? The liberals in this state have worked tirelessly to defeat the death penalty and have had great success. While you are busy abolishing the death penalty in our great state, think about this — are any of you the ones that went into the facility and mopped up the spilled blood of this fallen hero? Are any of you the ones that went to his family and informed his mother and father, his wife and his children, that he is never coming home? Or are you the ones that wear your fancy suits and read your prepared speeches filled with false promises to the people? The American people have spoken in this last election, and we are sick and tired of your political rigamarole. I don’t understand how you can look a victim’s family members in the face and tell them that justice will be served, knowing full well that there is nothing our justice system can do to even begin to atone for this heinous act committed against Sgt. Floyd. I beg you — please stop the games. Stop giving in. If you want to make a difference in your term, clean up our jails through education, policy reform and capital punishment. This incident has monopolized my thoughts, and so many of the conversations I have had with others have ended the same way — we blame you and other bleeding-heart politicians like you. Luckily, for you, it’s not an election year. Unfortunately for us, people will forget about this three years from now when you are knocking on doors and telling people all the things they so desperately want to hear. I’m sure you have already started creating some sort of a task force made up of lawyers and political donors and other special-interest people to look into this, and I’m sure you’re going to collect overpriced data through some polling company. Let me help you for free. The problem is people like you and the policies that you promote. The liberal agenda doesn’t work. Your tax incentive plans don’t work. Look at Fisker. Look at AstraZeneca — they took your money and made you, and our entire state, look like fools. We need good jobs. General Motors is gone. DuPont isn’t doing business here like they historically have. I ask you again, when is enough enough? You have to stop catering to the people who constantly cry for help and a handout. Your party has made people weak. When they are told something they don’t want to hear, they can’t handle the disappointment. Prisoners are prisoners for a reason. If they want freedom, they need to know to do the right thing — get an education, get a job and STAY OUT OF JAIL. Your government handouts are hurting society. People need to feel their value and their self-worth and the self-respect that comes by providing for themselves and their families. It could be compared to a person raising a child and giving them everything they want and never making them earn anything. At some point, you have to blame the parent and not the child. Dependency is a learned behavior. Stop punishing our citizens by promoting your own agenda. We now live in a country of entitled, spoiled brats. The world can be an ugly place, and weak people are unable to cope with basic problems because they have never been taught to walk on their own two feet. Stop talking about what you’re going to do and do what’s right. We have to make this country great again, and only a person in a position of power, such as yourself, has the tools necessary to promote an adequate agenda. Many will not admit it, but most people want structure, and they won’t disappoint when put up against obstacles. They want a leader who knows how to lead. Please, I beg you, be that person. That’s what we’re paying you to do. You cannot relate to the people who were locked up. You cannot relate to the lady who is working two jobs and having to choose which bill to pay. You cannot relate to the business owners, like myself, who constantly find it impossible to find good employees and who are constantly taxed by the federal and local governments. This is why we can’t give raises. This is why people cannot afford to live and turn to a life of crime, which leads to their incarceration. This is why things happen like they did (last week). You, Mr. Carney, have the power to turn a horrible tragedy into a beautiful turning point for our great state.

Optimistically, John J. Orona Dover