Lessons from Roth’s ‘Plot Against America’
How prophetic the words of an imaginary FDR, in an imaginary speech in 1942 about the imaginary despot who had defeated him in the 1940 election, a year and a half into his presidency met separately with the dictator Hitler, whom he admired, in Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America, as follows: “My fellow Americans … The only thing we have to fear … is the obsequious yielding (by the president) to his Nazi friends … the shameless courting by the president of the world’s greatest democracy of a despot responsible for innumerable criminal deeds … a cruel and barbaric tyrant unparalleled in the chronicles of man’s misdeeds.” Kim Udall
Santa Fe
Color Trump yellow
In Renaissance paintings, color often had meaning.The color yellow symbolized betrayal. Judas is often depicted in yellow robes. It was, therefore, appropriate that Melania Trump wore a yellow suit to her husband’s disgraceful betrayal of America. Trump is a shameful traitor. Bonnie Joseph
Santa Fe
Belongs on Broadway
Much has been said about Candide and the Santa Fe Opera production (“SFO goes globe-trotting with ‘Candide,’ ” July 1). Candide is not an opera. Opera companies often present operettas, but Candide, in my opinion, is not even an operetta. It is a Broadway musical. It should not be done on the opera stage; it belongs in the theater.
The oft-discussed serious flaw in this work is the irreconcilable conflict between the delightful, satirical, mostly lighthearted songs and the labored, lugubrious book. Yes, there are a couple of serious songs and musical interludes, but for the most part, the songs are light, airy fun.
The best production I have seen of this work was a staged concert presentation that featured the songs tied together by two narrators (one as Doctor Pangloss, Candide’s tutor) who related to us the story between the musical numbers. I have not seen a fully staged production that was completely successful. We all wish the SFO much success. But in this case, I believe the choice was mistaken. Let us enjoy — even love — the songs and forgo the rest. Richard Block
Santa Fe
Struggle for survival
With severely endangered species like the Mexican gray wolf, it is important to take advantage of every method available to speed their recovery (“Conservation groups want to release more wolf packs,” July 15). Cross-fostering is one tool, but releases into the wild are also super important to make sure viable adult bloodlines are introduced into the population.
We have a moral, economic and scientific responsibility to restore endangered species like the Mexican gray wolf. It has now been 40 years since the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service first listed the Mexican gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act, yet the species is still struggling to remain viable. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will not see the 10 percent annual population growth of Mexican gray wolves they claim they want to achieve with the methods they are employing. Their plan to recover the species without ever releasing an adult wolf to the wild again is preposterous and in bad faith. It it time to change the strategy. Robyn Richards
Albuquerque
Overreaching by GOP
The strategy used by the House Republicans during the July 12 hearing with FBI agent Peter Strzok (“FBI agent defends actions in bristly House testimony,” July 13) was the most blatant, overreaching hypocrisy I’ve seen since watching independent counsel Ken Starr and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich during the impeachment process of President Bill Clinton. Strzok, after all, is the man who helped lead the FBI’s counterintelligence division to roust nests of Russian spies from this country in the first decade of the 21st century. The recent hearing had different subject matter but equally ridiculous Republican hype serving their evangelical base. Yes, Virginia, there is an altered reality if you are a Republican. Stick with your belief in Santa Claus and vote for Democrats in November. Marcia Wolf
Santa Fe