To the editor: Using a personal anecdote woven into stale 1940s Nazi-Norwegian history, Paul Thornton suggests that the American people will create an authoritarian state if they elect Donald Trump president in 2024. This is not the case.
In 1973, historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. published his analysis of the growth of presidential power, especially war power, by eroding the legislative and advice-and-consent powers of Congress. Schlesinger's book, “The Imperial Presidency,” traces the evolution of the dominance of the executive branch throughout American history.
Any individual who sits in the Oval Office enjoys the exceptional power of a quasi-authoritarian institution, whether he is a boastful bully or a confused man licking an ice cream cone.
No partisan pundit can predict how a president will use that awesome authority to address the “emergencies” of our times.
James Valentine, Woodland Hills
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To the editor: I was born just before Britain entered the Second World War. As a child I experienced bomb shelters and rationing of food and clothing, and saw the aftermath of bomb attacks in my home town, the steel-producing city of Sheffield.
Consequently, the danger of fascism was seared into my mind, heightened by the many books I read about that period in history.
I keep wondering how we get today's young people to pay attention. I've tried talking to my kids about this, but they don't want to hear it.
Which brings me to the conclusion that a generation faced with fascism must experience its horrors firsthand before they can begin to deal with the monster.
Zena Thorpe, Chatsworth
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To the editor: I read Thornton's article that relates the current fragile political situation to what his grandmother experienced when the Nazis invaded Norway in 1940. It is 100% accurate.
How can we allow our wonderful nation that stands for “liberty and justice for all” to fall into authoritarianism? We must not allow our government to be controlled by those who do not respect the Constitution our country is supposed to live by.
I was born in Los Angeles during World War II. My father was a transplant from Sweden and my mother was from Texas. I remember the blackouts and all the soldiers passing by Union Station (near where we lived) and the conversations about Norway.
We are at a crossroads and must protect our Constitution and our country by maintaining a democratic government. We must not allow insurrection.
Tilda De Wolfe, Monterey Park
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To the editor: I don't wonder, as Thornton writes, if what I see is really happening; I know it's happening. I also know that none of us know what to do about it.
Recently, I asked a group of friends how they thought the country would respond if Trump were elected and enacted a set of rules, similar to the Nazi Nuremberg Laws, toward any group, whether Muslims, immigrants, or Democrats. Nobody had an answer.
Would we finally rise as one voice to denounce such tyranny and oppression? Will people finally see what has happened to our country? I can only hope and vote.
Barbara Busch, Santa Barbara
