LETTER: GOP picks on the marganalized to cover up failures

Regarding Victor Joecks’ March 5 column, “Dems double down on destroying women’s sports”:

The NCAA reports that fewer than 10 transgender athletes compete in college sports, which likely translates to fewer than 1,000 across the entire U.S. school system. So why does the GOP devote so much energy demonizing a handful of individuals instead of working to improve the lives of the 347 million people who live in this country? Is it because attacking a small, often invisible community is easier than doing the work of governing — crafting budgets, passing meaningful legislation, and addressing issues that impact Americans?

An extraordinary amount of political theater is being generated over an issue that, while deeply important to those directly affected, has little to no bearing on the vast majority of Americans. Meanwhile, inflation continues to drive up the cost of groceries, gasoline, housing and insurance; outbreaks of measles, COVID and bird flu spread unchecked; there’s still no federal budget for 2025, let alone 2026; and the threat of yet another government shutdown looms. Instead of addressing these pressing crises, Republican leaders are busy fabricating an existential threat out of a marginalized group — conveniently deflecting from their failure to govern.

Worse, Republicans in Congress have abdicated their constitutional responsibilities, ceding power to a rogue president and handing control to unelected billionaires pushing self-serving agendas under the guise of “America First” policies.

How did a tiny fraction of transgender Americans become the supposed greatest threat to the nation — while the very freedoms our founders fought for 249 years ago are being trampled by those claiming to stand for liberty? The real danger to our democracy isn’t coming from student athletes — it’s coming from leaders who would rather manufacture outrage than do their jobs.