President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sept. 7, 2018.KEVIN LAMARQUE/Reuters
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In Anonymous we trust?
Re Top Trump Officials Deny Ownership Of New York Times Column (Sept. 7): If I were a Trump supporter given to reasoning (unlikely, I know), I would be relieved there is a safety net of senior staff making sure he doesn’t do anything really, really crazy.
While I may have been having doubts about voting for him again, I might just find that anonymous New York Times op ed reassuring enough to dispel those doubts. Maybe the international media has been set up. That’s crazy. But not really, really crazy.
Michelle Walsh, Ottawa
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Donald Trump’s opponents – and “Anonymous” has to be one of them – are proclaiming non-stop the inadequacies of Mr. Trump and his administration. Can this administration be so inadequate if people like Anonymous (who claim to be so good) are there to prop it up? Isn’t this a bit of a contradiction? I really don’t get it.
Ermes Culos, Ashcroft, B.C.
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Donald Trump has no discernible discipline as regards the communication of his reactions and thoughts, however, we cannot accuse him of trying to hide them. He owns his words: more’s the pity. The New York Times should take a lesson and require its “anonymous” author/sources to do the same: more’s the pity, greater’s the shame.
R.J. Monterio, Fredericton
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The author of the New York Times op-ed writes anonymously, prompting President Donald Trump to call him or her “gutless.” The author might have used an alias, such as “John Barron” or “John Miller” – but those have already been taken by Mr. Trump, who presented his opinions behind those names.
Mel Simoneau, Gatineau, Que.
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Everyone is guessing up a storm about who wrote the anonymous New York Times essay. Has no one read Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express?
Judith Pearsall, Oakville, Ont.
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Richard Nixon called them the “silent majority”: a vast mass of patriotic, God-fearing Americans, living comfortable, middle-class lives, who chose, for the most part, to steer clear of the tumult and turmoil that embroiled the U.S. in the late ’60s. In his famous 1969 speech, Nixon explicitly asked for their support, both in defending traditional American values, and his teetering administration. Overnight his approval rating shot up from around 50 per cent to more than 80 per cent.
Patriotism is indeed the last refuge of a scoundrel.
I wonder how the silent majority felt when Tricky Dicky scampered from office, tail between his legs, after the extent of his criminality became known. Were there still true believers out there when the former president was muttering “I am not a crook”?
Now, in 2018, I see a part of that silent majority sitting in the bleachers behind their faltering President, those Make America Great Again ball caps nodding in sheepish unison. How will they feel, I wonder, when the true extent of Donald Trump’s deceitful dealings and arrogant pettiness become known?
Mick Welch, Toronto
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Okay, it’s all clear now. The Deep State is undertaking a political coup d’état in the U.S. From lack of imagination or intelligence, or both, the perpetrators are following the plot of House of Cards. First, get rid of the vice-president. That’s why the New York Times has so adeptly set up Mike Pence.
Who’s behind it? Well, if it’s not the Koch brothers, then my money is on Ted Cruz.
Should we wish them luck? Hmm … that depends.
Frank Olenski, Brantford, Ont.
Debating Steve Bannon
Re The New Yorker, The Economist And Bannon’s Squad Of Useful Idiots (Sept. 6): Denise Balkissoon is dead right about Steve Bannon’s tour and the ego of editors. There is no winning in debating Mr. Bannon. Some of his answers are nonsensical, so why give this ignorant man the time of day? Giving exposure to this racist, right-wing zealot is his win from the first question on. Like Donald Trump, Mr. Bannon wants press coverage and for his supporters there is no such thing as bad press coverage.
David Bell, Toronto
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So, the Munk Debates are bringing Steve Bannon, about whom no more need be said, to debate the “rise of populism” – and the person they’re pitting him against is David Frum. I guess Bernie Sanders was busy.
David Frum, of course, is Canada’s own Republican ex-insider, speech-writer to George W. (Mission Accomplished) Bush. As such, he was around to stomach the dog whistles, the voter suppression laws, the flagrant gerrymandering, in short, all the stuff that set the stage for The Donald, but now, post-Trump (and Bannon), he’s the face and voice of injured Republican innocence. I’d cry but laughing is more fun.
Tom Sullivan, Toronto
Developing sexuality
Re Sex And The Smartphone (Folio, Sept. 1): As a sexual-health educator who has the privilege of working and learning with thousands of wise youth each year, I was thrilled to read this article. I appreciated much of what was included, but feel an important point was missed: the validation of youth sexuality as a healthy stage of adolescent development.
Too often, society either dismisses and negates developing sexuality as the behaviour of “horny teens” or focuses only on the potential for harm, often because of our own discomfort and fear as adults. Offering validation tempered with realistic discussion about the potential risks and benefits provides opportunities to talk with youth (of all genders and orientations) about positive, safer ways to grow, express and experience their developing sexuality. This approach will serve them (and us) far better than denial and fear-mongering ever has.
Jennifer Gibson, Co-ordinator, Community Education Services, Island Sexual Health Society
Praise for CFL’s Ambrosie
Re Redblacks’ Linebacker Hebert Suspended For Second Time This Season (Sports, Sept. 4): Kudos to CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie for suspending Ottawa Redblack repeat offender Kyries Hebert for two games for his helmet-to-helmet hit on B.J. Cunningham of the Montreal Allouettes. And shame on the commentators who broadcast the game who were mute about it – and either didn’t see the vicious, reckless hit (even though NORAD could have detected Mr. Hebert flying like a missile targeting Mr. Cunningham’s head), or intuitively figured that hits like this are normal and part of the game.
Shame, too, on the talking heads who question the fairness of the suspension and diminish the dangerousness of the play. Are they aware the NFL settled a $1-billion lawsuit over concussions, and that it has admitted to a link between football and neurodegenerative diseases such as CTE?
The CFL hasn’t made any such admission but Mr. Ambrosie’s stance shows the league is stepping up and treating brain injuries more seriously.
Jon Heshka, sports law, Thompson Rivers University