Everyone’s problem
Re “Election ‘is not politics as usual,’ ” Oct. 14
“Shaken me to my core” is how First Lady Michelle Obama described her reaction to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s lewdness. No doubt I was shaken as well.
But upon reflection, it’s easy to see that Trump’s attitude is pervasive in entertainment as well. Rock stars and other famous performers collect groupies, and this country is full of men who have children they do not take care of. Even John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton had women on the side, some of whom were perhaps too afraid to say “no.”
I wish not to condone the actions of Trump, but to point out some hypocrisy. Behavior like Trump’s continues to be a problem, even in this age of women’s empowerment. Gerard Fischer Naples, Fla.
Re “Trump gropes for a scapegoat,” editorial, Oct. 14
So Trump is blaming the news media for his imploding campaign.
Apparently the news media took over Trump’s mouth during the last few decades, forced him against his will to say horrible things about women then lied in wait for decades before revealing these statements just in time to defeat him on Nov. 8. I had no idea the media were this powerful. Paul Gulino Santa Monica
Trump’s disgusting remarks are a thin sheen of filth atop his terrifying core beliefs. Trump proposes to act like a dictator, erasing opposition by jailing the losing candidate. He implies that his “2nd Amendment” supporters should use their right to bear arms to take care of her. He attempts to delegitimize our entire political system by claiming our election system is rigged.
He shows contempt for the 1st Amendment by proposing to ban Muslims from entering the United States. He is supported by white supremacists like David Duke. He praises the autocratic Russian President Vladimir Putin and encourages that country to try to influence our election through hacking.
He blatantly uses the tools of propaganda to try to erase on-the-record comments, such as his support of the war in Iraq, just by saying they never happened.
What separates Trump’s rhetoric from that of fascist dictators? I shudder in disbelief that our country has fallen to these depths. Gina Frierman-Hunt Sierra Madre
Trump’s continued blaming of everything and everyone who calls him to task for his egregious behavior is further proof that his narcissism knows no bounds.
What gets me is that his rantings and ravings continually make the front page while the candidate who really is focused on the issues is fighting upstream to get her message of unity and continued progress for the country heard.
I guess the media feel that lies sell more papers than integrity. Doris K. Reed Los Angeles
The articles about Trump’s sexual peccadilloes published by the New York Times, followed by Trump’s threat to sue the paper, should sound familiar to longtime Los Angeles Times readers.
In 2003, Arnold Schwarzenegger was running for governor of California. The L.A. Times’ editor at that time, John Carroll, courageously published an op-ed article defending his paper’s reporting of Schwarzenegger’s lengthy history of sexual harassment, which was substantiated by many women.
The L.A. Times’ investigation was published after diligent investigation and research, but Carroll and his paper received strong criticism. After Schwarzenegger ceremoniously apologized “to those people I have offended,” he was elected and re-elected.
A warning: Schwarzenegger’s subsequent storied personal life appears to have substantiated the L.A. Times’ courageous reporting in 2003. June Maguire Mission Viejo