Reader says world will miss values that President Obama embodied

Editor: Those who have experienced President Barack Obama’s righteous anger will never forget his stern, determined manner.

Conversely, people who received his compassion and humane generosity, such as victims and families of mass shootings, may have felt comforted by a sense of shared sorrow. Expansiveness also affects his response to Republican Donald Trump’s victory in recent polling, according to a Nov. 20 article by Mark Abadi, reprinted from Business Insider by the San Francisco Chronicle: “Like millions of Americans ... (the) President ... was struggling to explain the results of last week’s election, according to a New Yorker profile ... “But when Trump won the election in a shocking upset, Obama still had some comforting words to say to his daughters. ‘What I say to them is that people are complicated.”

Obama told The New Yorker's David Remnick: “Societies and cultures are really complicated … This is not mathematics; this is biology and chemistry. These are living organisms, and it's messy. And your job as a citizen and as a decent human being is to constantly affirm and lift up and fight for treating people with kindness and respect and understanding.”

Generosity is one of humanity’s redeeming virtues. Soldiers who one moment tried to kill each other turn into angels of mercy attending to wounded foes. Anonymous donors feed the hungry, find shelter for the homeless, stop to aid the injured. Strangers risk death to rescue people from fires. Courage accompanies generosity, for selfless acts defy fear.

What the President sought to instill in Sasha and Malia is the strength to face racism, deny hatred a place in their spirits, allow love to motivate their deeds. The United States will miss such a man as the nation’s chief executive. The world will, too.

LANGE WINCKLER Lodi

What we should fear after election

Editor: Once again the folks were treated to their daily dose of fear and loathing in America: (“Dissenters decry Trump, fear future”, Nov. 13, 2016). Sad people throughout the country are marching and whining about the election results. Indeed, I feel their pain and stand with those protesters fearing the future. My fear, however, is different from theirs. Those protesters fear for a Trump presidency and I fear for the causes of their fear, namely, the educators and purveyors of our information.

Immature college kids who retreated to “safe zones” and were too upset with American democracy to show up for their exams — but made time to vandalize property — clearly shows we have something to fear.

Higher education has been hijacked by leftist “progressive” professors who have instilled in the minds of our children disrespect for the economic and political structures which have made our United States a model for the world.

Our hope for the country’s future is entrusted to the “best and brightest,” yet, if these young adults are taught to tolerate every confused and weird idea that comes along, but, can’t tolerate foundational principles governing reality, then yes, we do have something to fear.

Should we worry that institutions who are supposed to provide our information, do not actually provide the information we need to make sound decisions? Judge for yourselves: the country’s largest newspapers, for example, ran negative articles about Donald Trump every day, while largely ignoring investigations of corruption and email leaks surrounding the Clinton campaign. Sadly for Clinton, the FBI discovering more evidence just before the election could not be ignored. However, note that over 240 newspaper editorial boards endorsed Clinton while 19 endorsed Trump. Note also that over 90 percent of journalists vote Democrat, so, how can their ideology not color the news? How can they not have a different view of America?

Confused dissenters complaining about the election are not really protesting Trump because there’s nothing they can do about that; their chance to do something was in the voting booth.

JOHN B. HYMES Stockton