To the Editor:
Re “Unwitting Progressives for Trump,” by Bret Stephens (column, Sept. 1):
An NPR interview with a “fringe left” writer who defends looting and a few instances of regrettable left-wing behavior seem like a very weak argument for Mr. Stephens to question Joe Biden’s commitment to moderation and his willingness to stand up to violence from the left as well as the right.
Surely Mr. Stephens’s friends who latched onto the NPR interview are simply looking for an excuse to “reluctantly” vote for President Trump while blatantly ignoring Mr. Biden’s unambiguous message condemning violence “of every kind by anyone, whether on the left or the right.”
If the issue is law and order, could the contrast between Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump be any clearer? After all, Mr. Biden didn’t invite Mark and Patricia McCloskey, who pointed guns at St. Louis protesters, to address the party’s convention; Mr. Trump did. And it was Mr. Trump who called his supporters in Portland, Ore., who shot paintballs and pepper spray at left-wing demonstrators “great patriots.”
As Mr. Biden said on Monday: “This president long ago forfeited any moral leadership in this country. He can’t stop the violence because for years he has fomented it.” And Mr. Trump continues to do so, undermining law and order and endangering our citizenry, all to the detriment of our great nation.
Jay N. Feldman
Port Washington, N.Y.
To the Editor:
I am also concerned about the issues raised in this column. How many times are Democrats going to shoot ourselves in the foot? Here’s a suggestion: Joe Biden could enlist leaders in the Black community to stand with him and call for an end to the looting and violence. How about LeBron James, or Oprah? Barack or Michelle?
Janis Nelson
Cleveland
To the Editor:
Re “Biden Confronts Trump on Chaos and Leadership” (front page, Sept. 1):
You write, “The exchange between Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump over public safety, law enforcement and civil rights represents a significant, high-profile clash in an election that is now just nine weeks away.”
Isabel Wilkerson, in her new book, “Caste,” offers a starker, and somewhat darker, view of that clash. The author recounts a conversation she had with the civil rights historian Taylor Branch, in which they discuss the projected demographic flip expected over the next two decades.
White people “said they wouldn’t stand for being a minority in their own country,” Mr. Branch is quoted as saying. “So the real question would be,” he continued, “if people were given the choice between democracy and whiteness, how many would choose whiteness?”
Dianne Selditch
Norwalk, Conn.
Source: Elections - nytimes.com
