Trump has incited hatred and violence
Re Trump slow to respond to violence in Virginia, Aug. 13 U.S. President Donald Trump’s response to the rioting is hypocritical and hard to stomach. Calling out racist organizations who supported his political campaign and who responded to his attacks on Mexicans, Muslims and many more is a blatant corruption of the facts. Trump himself has incited Americans to hatred, and now violence.
Canada needs to be vigilant about the spread of hate propaganda and the recruitment of youth who feel disenfranchised and are looking for scapegoats. Haven’t the wars of the 20th century taught the world the consequences? Diane Sullivan, Toronto
What a strange reality it is to come from the 1950s, when the U.S. still imposed racial segregation in schools, buses, washrooms, concerts, restaurants, stores and an endless list of public services.
We would see the Ku Klux Klan on television covering their faces like the cowards they were. And now I see their successors, the same group of disenfranchised, mindless hordes that used to show up at public lynchings and hangings for entertainment.
The biggest shock to me is how many of us don’t learn from history. That hate is taught in the first place is enough to sicken even the hardest heart.
These are strange times, brought on by a man who is sick in his heart and mind. He is a harbinger of what may come if we don’t keep those who would embrace hate and intolerance in check. These people look upon him as entertainment because they’re bored with the status quo. They have a longing, a hope for an alternate reality beyond what they have created with their miserable apathy and bland mediocrity.
What a strange reality it is to witness the most powerful man in the world stand aloof and seemingly indifferent to the things taking place on his watch that assault our sensibilities. Donald Trump is not fit to hold the office of The President of The United States. Jay Paul Baldwin, Mississauga
Although Donald Trump’s failure to call out white supremacists in Charlottesville is reprehensible, it provides one more reason why the nation should ignore him and look for leadership elsewhere. Hopefully, he will become irrelevant, a large boulder in a river, impeding but not stopping the water’s flow. Unable to lead and addicted to self-aggrandizement, he is already being sidelined — even by some in his own cabinet. Geoff Rytell, Toronto
‘I hardly recognize my country anymore,’ Opinion, Aug. 14 Abraham Lincoln firmly believed that “government of the people, for the people, by the people” was essential for democracy to flourish. Canada is a peaceful, tolerant country because it too, believes in this creed. The U.S. is an intolerant, turbulent country because it rejected Lincoln’s sage advice in favour of the mindless raging of Donald Trump. “O tempora, o mores!” William Bedford, Newmarket