To the editor: Allow me to submit that columnist Jonah Goldberg is wrong about the genesis of red-versus-blue antagonism. It was deliberately created by the right to serve the interests of corporate America and the wealthy.
If you are in this class, what do you do if all the policies you prefer are deeply unpopular and destructive to the interests of ordinary Americans? For example, consider the deregulation of corporate America and the lowering of tax rates on the rich.
Answer: You create a culture war that distracts ordinary Americans from protecting their own interests and destroys trust in mainstream news sources and other institutions that might shed any light on how destructive these policies are.
Over a period of decades, the right-wing media empire has progressively insulated a large part of America from reality and demonized the other side.
The real separation is not red versus blue; it’s that much of the country that lives in a reality-based world, and much of it does not. This is the issue that supersedes all others now. Until this is addressed, nothing can be done to fix our problems.
Steven Schechter, Thousand Oaks
..
To the editor: I mostly agree with Goldberg’s assessment of elite-driven polarization and voters punishing what they saw as poor governance. But it is sad he stopped there, mostly with post-game quarterbacking.
He said that Donald Trump lost in 2020 because “voters did not believe he was actually good at governing.” They did not have to believe it — they knew, they saw, after four years of his incompetence.
Trump, for as much as he wants it, cannot “fix” rampant inflation. His foreign policies will be the end of goodwill and sane international collaboration.
Goldberg should use his pulpit over the next four years to warn us that Americans will pay for Trump’s tariffs. That needs to be shouted loud and clear everywhere.
Marie Mulligan, Manhattan Beach