The commentary headlined “Making whine from sour grapes” (Feb. 8) was astonishing. I could hardly read it without being overwhelmingly aware that its writers are not aware of what they reveal about themselves in writing it.

Their own “whining” repeats the same lies and disinformation FOX News and the trump/GOP agenda have repeated endlessly, without evidence. Every one of their complaints could be disproven by doing five minutes of research.

But to them none of that matters. And they wouldn’t believe the proof that they are lies anyway.

So the comments are unreasonable and unreasoned. The lies are so fantastical, so extreme, that they suggest cult behavior.

The agenda has been to spread lies, practice brainwashing on a national level, express disdain and revulsion toward your fellow Americans you are accusing — not the Russians, not the North Koreans, not the Chinese — but fellow Americans, and undermine the American democracy from within.

That is frightening.

What really lies beneath this letter can be found in a direct quote from the writers themselves — as they describe themselves by complaining about “failed men who bully their way “ against American society.

The writers want their view of life under President Donald Trump as they see it — true or not. They mistake statements and legal actions by Obama and Biden as authoritarian ones because they have been told that is what they are.

There are those of us who believe in progress. And leaders in the last 50 years have produced progress in a lawful way. Progress does not remove the rights of others. And we are not afraid of that progress. If President Joe Biden told Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg he needed to stop spreading disinformation (lies) on his platform — wasn’t that like the father who tells his children not to lie? Was Zuckerberg arrested? Jailed? No. But it was good leadership by Biden.

I won’t bother trying to disprove each of the allegations because they have already been disproven. Trump once said he could shoot someone in Times Square and get away with it.

He was right. He started a coup on Jan 6, his role was proven by the Jan 6 committee, hundreds of participants were convicted — especially of attacking police officers whose job it was to protect our Capitol — and his followers have been trained to believe he has been treated unjustly — that he is the victim along with his thugs who attacked the Capitol. So this is our world now — you can support a proven and convicted felon if you refuse to listen to the truths of justice and instead listen to lies, and give up on the Constitution.

The writers complain about and repeat lies about: Biden (Biden did say he wanted to end fossil fuels to save our environment. But yesterday I filled my tank with gas and no one arrested me. So he stated a goal; he did not give a mandate); the LBGTQ community; DEI; lies about the bird flu; lies about COVID (the Pfizer Papers are false); lies about the ERA; lies about NY State taking children from parents to be given forced gender mutilation surgery (My God, can you cite one case where that has happened? Believing it proves brainwashing).

Every law or movement toward creating equality for others has been twisted into something ugly — because if the brainwashers can convince enough people they are true, then they’ll vote for an authoritarian like Trump — who creates those lies to gain power through divisiveness. Biden and Obama worked within the law so the Constitution represented more people and their rights; a thug and bully stirred people to attack our Capitol and wants to dismantle our justice system and government under the guise of “fixing” a government that was not broken.

Do not confuse whining with freedom of expression. We aren’t whining. We are calling out lies and abuse of power.

We are not afraid to express ourselves. We look at facts and separate lies from facts. Each of those lies you list has stirred your resentment and anger into something disturbing. How sad you carry such anger. How sad you as an Americans have believed so many lies.

Diane Andrasik is a Dunkirk resident.