Our bipartisan outrage culture

Re “The toxic culture of outrage,” Opinion, Feb. 22

While I agree with Nancy Rommelmann that “we” parcel ourselves into our own tribes and are “unwilling to confront the world” beyond our chosen “side,” and that we engage in spewing hatred toward those who disagree with us, I must take exception to her one-sided examples of that hatred.

She cites “animalistic pleasure in destroying the kid in the MAGA hat” and eviscerating John Wayne based on an old interview. There are no references to Charlottesville, the Coast Guard lieutenant who allegedly planned a terrorist attack, or the president’s hate-filled tweets.

I do not condone the attack on her husband’s business that, according to her, is now in danger of collapse because she questioned the #MeToo movement.

But just as she suggested that we all “have conversations” about these “dangerous” issues, I suggest that she investigate the roots of the #MeToo movement and have conversations with victims of sexual violence.

Christine Rios

Murrieta

Thank you for publishing Rommelmann’s excellent op-ed article.

Reading it, I was struck by just how much the dynamics of our present culture increasingly represent those of a totalitarian society, where free speech is effectively squelched by economic retribution, public humiliation, disgrace and, worst of all, physical harm.

One has only to recall Nazi Germany’s Brownshirts to understand how thuggish behavior that begins in a relatively narrow segment of the population can get out of control quickly.

Jeff Denker

Malibu