Rush Limbaugh, philanthropist

Re “Trump dittoes Limbaugh’s bigotry,” Opinion Feb. 7

Rush Limbaugh is no bigot. Rather, columnist Virginia Heffernan hates that he got big.

Just a little investigative work into Limbaugh’s extensive charitable work over 30 years would show the character of this American patriot. Google “Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation,” “Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation” or “Leukemia & Lymphoma Society” to discover just a few of the charitable groups that Limbaugh (and his listeners, like me) have supported with donations totaling millions of dollars over 30-plus years.

Ken Artingstall Glendale

Heffernan characterizes the “Trump-era reality: If it’s rude, stale and meanspirited, it has to be true.” This does seem to be the belief that many disaffected American men clutch tightly to their swooning hearts when they embrace Limbaugh and President Trump.

The men enamored of these two may be “authentic” in their angry disappointment over failed “American dreams.” But this authenticity of anger does not mean their claims are true.

And, Limbaugh and Trump are neither authentic nor true. They are not “authentic” (genuine) in their care for their followers, and they are not “true” (factual, accurate, exact) in their portrayal of reality.

I feel for the disappointment of my fellow Americans and despise how crassly Limbaugh and Trump exploit them. No heroes of freedom here.

Barbara Eurich-Rascoe Pasadena