Trumpism may prevail

To the Editor:

You wistfully look back at the customs and beliefs of your youth as you grow older.

In my generation, rock 'n' roll, roof antennas, transistor radios, honest journalism, civil politics, black-and-white TVS, ratted hair, hairy chests, and hourglass figures were in.

Today, skinny models, online commerce, M-15s, crackpot conspiracies, shaved chests, breast implants, and Miss Piggy lip jobs are in.

I recall the days when politics were rarely discussed. Now, there's a rabid cesspool of online disinformation leading to a rightwing authoritarian government. The Republican Party is no longer a political party. It's “Trumpism.” And they may win by staffing election systems with true believers and voter suppression laws.

Trump, like Hitler, Mussolini, Daniel Ortega, and other authoritarian leaders repeatedly use the “big lie” enough times until the masses believe it.

The trick is to get gullible people to solely watch right-wing networks and online forums. Fox News, Newsmax, and OAN are not legitimate news operations. They're propaganda machines. Facts don't matter to them. They make up their own facts. It's whose side you are on that counts.

They shelter true believers from current events, such as the Trump impeachment hearings, the select congressional committee to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection, and the corrupt anti-democratic antics of Trump and his minions. The best journalists in America, such as Jonathan Karl, Bob Woodward, and Robert Costa have written stirring exposés about this.

The brilliant investigative reporting of the New York Times and Washington Post is the gold standard of holding public officials and politicians accountable for their actions.

Robert Dorroh

Sonora