To the editor: For multiple reasons, I thank God that former President Trump was not killed, wounded, or shot in the latest assassination attempt.
There will always be those who turn to violence for reasons we may never understand, but it is time to attack one of the seeds of political murder: the rhetoric we hear from our leaders. It is time for them to do their part to try to restore some internal tranquility, to think about the words they speak before they leave their mouths.
When one degrades, belittles and dehumanizes one's opponent using extreme terms, when one implies that violence against one's enemies is acceptable, we risk falling into anarchy.
Is it possible for our political figures to disagree without being disagreeable? Is it possible for them to question an opposing ideology without launching violent personal attacks? If we continue down the path of increasing polarization, our country and its system of government are in danger.
I pray for the safety of Donald Trump, JD Vance, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.
Oren Spiegler, Peters Township, Pennsylvania.
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To the editor: In the 1960s, a pop group had a big hit with the song “Only in America.” One chorus of the song begins with the words of the title and continues with “land of opportunity.”
As I watched recent reports about yet another possible killer with an assault rifle, those lyrics came to me, oscillating between the song’s hope and patriotic optimism and our current crazy opportunities: We have more guns than people, gun violence is the leading cause of death of American children, and immigrants in an Ohio town are being falsely accused of eating people’s pets, leading to bomb threats there.
Land of opportunity, without a doubt.
Tim Vivian, Bakersfield
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To the editor: Vice President Kamala Harris is right. As she noted in her response to the failed attempt to assassinate Trump, “violence has no place in America.”
But the insistence by some of the former president's supporters that saying Trump is a threat to our democracy has prompted these assassination attempts is ridiculous.
Trump systematically supports violence, dehumanizes his opponents and those who do not support him, and shows open disdain for the law, elections, and institutions. His admiration for dictators is an unquestionable truth.
Trump is a threat to democracy. That fact may lead some to resort to violence, but simply telling the truth about Trump is not the reason these attempts have been made.
Ray McKown, Torrance
