Deploying only insults, threats
Re “Trump threatens to deploy troops,” June 2
The president has only two tools in his toolbox — threats and insults. When these don’t work, he’s got nothing. They didn’t work against the the virus, and they are worse than useless in dealing with protests and riots.
He has no political sense or powers of persuasion. As for empathy, well, it’s too late to start now.
What he does have is a great sense of drama. This will of course play well with the base. He does have to make a calculation whether he would like to risk a Kent State-type incident.
My money says no, he’s perfectly willing to make idle threats to satisfy his followers. As mom used to say, it’s the thought that counts. Peter Scofield Corona del Mar
Our president apparently discovered he can conference call with the governors of all states, just in time to admonish them to “dominate the streets,” before protesters were violently cleared from outside the White House so he could walk across the street to pose in front of a church.
How unfortunate he did not make a call in late January, when he had been made aware of the dangers of the coronavirus. He could have discussed coordinating federal and state responses, including talking about the responsibilities and limitations of the federal government to undertake its most pressing task of protecting its citizenry. Connie Becker La Cañada Flintridge
It would take so little for Trump to quell the uprising after George Floyd’s death. All he needs to offer are sincere words of sympathy and acknowledgment of the pain among people of color.
These feelings of injustice are real, and likewise people know when expressions of respect and sympathy are genuine. If Trump is incapable of offering these, because inside he feels no respect or sympathy, the protests and violence will continue, and he is unfit to lead. Nancy Kiang La Crescenta
I am a white woman and a former Republican. I will tell you who is responsible for the rioting and looting: Trump and his followers.
Amid the worst pandemic this country has seen in a century, this president tweets utter garbage and threatens to sic vicious dogs on the protesters. November cannot come soon enough. Sandra Stubban Stanton
Has no one else noticed the irony of the photo of President Trump standing in front of St. John’s Church, Bible in hand, in front of a sign reading, “All are welcome”? Ruberta Taylor Orange
I call on your newspaper to demand that Trump resign. This week, he gassed his own people — does that ring a bell?
A front-page opinion piece calling for the president’s resignation is in order. Daryn Eller Pacific Palisades
Yes, Mr. President, that’s a Bible.
It’s usually used for prayerful reflection inside our houses of worship, to foster love, hope, inclusiveness and equality before God.
The book calls on us to show humility and empathy in dealing with all our fellow humans. It is meant to unite us, not divide. Phil Ryan San Gabriel