In the 2016 presidential election, 80% of Butler County voted for Donald Trump. Today, Trump enjoys an insurmountable lead over all other (R) candidates competing in the 2024 presidential primaries.

His message to replace people, places and things — like the constitution — when he becomes dictator, is a recipe for disaster. Imagine this. A former president is headed for trial on several charges. Yet, an alarming 40% of his constituents want him back in the Oval Office.

We, the children of the early 1930s, cherish those fond memories of growing up on the south side of Butler during the Great Depression, followed by the Great War. Our immigrant parents confronted those extraordinary times, inspired by Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s remarkable resolve.

When Roosevelt initiated the progressive income tax in the mid-1930s, unlike today, America’s top earners paid the lion’s share of this historic game-saver. Jobs programs and the advent of Social Security offered a large measure of hope for America’s workers, the jobless and retirees.

When World War II ended in 1945, Democrats continued to dominate American politics, opening the door for the common man to capture the American Dream. Together, President Roosevelt and the Greatest Generation of Americans made it happen.

It was a wonderful time of life for a child of the Great Depression, feeling unthreatened while viewing a faraway world at war from the safe confines of America.

There’s more coming. Don’t blow it, Butler. Know the facts before you vote in November 2024.

Geno Mariotti, Butler