# All NYTimes letters to editor today (01-18-2018) from pro-Trumpers **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 18, 2018, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-nytimes-letters-to-editor-today-01-18-2018-from-pro-trumpers/806907 "2018-01-18T15:04:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-nytimes-letters-to-editor-today-01-18-2018-from-pro-trumpers/806907/61 "2018-01-19T00:10:51Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Understanding it, and buying into it are two different things. Really, they are different. Never assume we don’t understand what we mock, or why. Farther up this page, ThelmaLou said: > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > … That’s the part that’s so hard to understand. … I don’t think it takes much assuming to conclude that (not sure on pronoun here, but I’m referring to ThelmaLou) doesn’t really understand it. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-nytimes-letters-to-editor-today-01-18-2018-from-pro-trumpers/806907/62 "2018-01-19T00:35:20Z")
Trump supporting husband: “I work at Walmart, and I just got a raise and a bonus! Thanks, Trump!” And his wife: “I work at Sam’s Club and I showed up today and the doors were locked. Everyone lost their jobs. Uh…Thanks?” MAGA! ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-nytimes-letters-to-editor-today-01-18-2018-from-pro-trumpers/806907/63 "2018-01-19T00:51:38Z")
Well, I, for one, don’t need to come up with artificial scenarios involving imagined husband-and-wife teams. I work for a small business and I…haven’t gotten a raise or bonus at all. Nor do I expect to. And I strongly suspect that the vast majority of workers are in the same boat, as it were. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-nytimes-letters-to-editor-today-01-18-2018-from-pro-trumpers/806907/64 "2018-01-19T00:52:13Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Well, I, for one, don’t need to come up with artificial scenarios involving imagined husband-and-wife teams. I work for a small business and I…haven’t gotten a raise or bonus at all. Nor do I expect to. And I strongly suspect that the vast majority of workers are in the same boat, as it were. Are your taxes going to go down next year? ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-nytimes-letters-to-editor-today-01-18-2018-from-pro-trumpers/806907/65 "2018-01-19T01:49:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Granted we have the most unpresidential president of our time. Crude, rude, clueless dude — but I believe, with the help of his friends, he’s stumbling through one of the most effective presidencies in memory. > > As the Sonny LoSpecchio character wisely concluded in the movie “A Bronx Tale,” it’s better to be feared than loved. My hope is for our enemies to fear Donald Trump and for his domestic opponents to realize he’s on their side. > > STEVEN LANDIS > HAMPTON BAYS, N.Y. How much is wrong with this letter? It’s an understandable sentiment, but three problems jump out to me: 1. The saying, “It is better to be feared than to be loved,” comes from Machiavelli, who said it in a larger context often forgotten, to wit: A ruler would like to be both loved and feared, but if you must choose, choose fear, for love is fickle. However, _never, ever_ let fear turn into hatred, or you’re on the way out and probably dead. 2. I think it’s important to realize that Trump is not on our side. Not “his domestic opponents,” nor his voters. Trump is known for screwing over anyone who does business with him, barring a few direct employees. 3. Trump has _friends?_ ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-nytimes-letters-to-editor-today-01-18-2018-from-pro-trumpers/806907/66 "2018-01-19T06:44:13Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > That’s the part that’s so hard to understand. Why are these educated, intelligent, employed people buying the bullshit that thump is selling? American politics, to a large extent, is about cultural signifiers and performative tribalism, not concrete policy, which is why so many Republicans love that Trump makes liberals mad, regardless of whether they benefit personally from the gilded age 2.0 policies. He’s a boon to the rich, so it’s not a mystery why the professional class would sing his praises (they’re the ones who own stock), and he’s bringing the boot down on immigrants and moving the racial Overton window to the right, which the reactionaries love. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-nytimes-letters-to-editor-today-01-18-2018-from-pro-trumpers/806907/67 "2018-01-19T08:04:52Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > That’s the part that’s so hard to understand. Why are these educated, intelligent, employed people buying the bullshit that thump is selling? I see why the bitter, rural, unemployed, FOX-News crowd believes him–they are too stupid to know any better and the only news they get is the news that thump & co. put out. But why are _these people_ falling for his line? You may have answered your own question–that these people are educated, intelligent, and employed; and after adding up all the pluses and minuses (as intelligent and educated people do), they have found that they like Trump. Reading their letters, I find coherent arguments, logical thought processes, and the like. Not too different than we might find here on the SDMB. Understand that I am no fan of Mr. Trump. Not being an American, I am among the 70% worldwide who disapprove of Mr. Trump ([cite](https://globalnews.ca/news/3973172/donald-trump-us-world-approval-canada/)). These reasonable, rational letters to the NYT in support of Mr. Trump will not cause me to change my mind. But I contrast them with the messages I see elsewhere online, which obviously come from the unintelligent and uneducated. No letter to the NYT mentioned “Obummer,” “Obozo,” or “Shrillary,” for example; neither did any letter claim “Trump will go down in history as the best president ever.” No letter painted all immigrants (legal or not) as “welfare mooches”; no letter claimed that “All Dems and leftists are communists.” No letter asks for a complete scrapping of Supreme Court caselaw precedents “by lib’rul judges,” in favour of an originalist reading of the Constitution. I could go on, but I won’t. Compared to the extreme views elsewhere on the internet, these letters are harmless. The educated, intelligent letter-writers to the NYT have written educated and intelligent letters, as should be expected from readers of the NYT. Like I said, they’re harmless. What is truly scary are those who would never consider sharing their views with the NYT, or similar mainstream media; and instead choose to read opinion blogs that they cite as fact, post wildly inaccurate definitions of socialism and its dangers (especially when they state that free and capitalist countries such as Canada, the UK, and Norway, are socialist when they are clearly not), and otherwise hold Mr. Trump as Dear Leader Who Can Do No Wrong. Because we already know of a country that has a Dear Leader Who Can Do No Wrong, and we know what kind of a mess it is in. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-nytimes-letters-to-editor-today-01-18-2018-from-pro-trumpers/806907/68 "2018-01-19T13:18:06Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > They give him credit for the tax cut (do they know it’s going to expire in a few years?) I see this as a weak argument. When GOPers extend the tax cut in a few years, we’ll hear instead from opponents about its huge budget-busting effect (which is indeed the major drawback). What we won’t hear much about is how we can’t keep piling up enormous deficits indefinitely without foregoing needed spending, just to pay interest on the mountains of debt. My crystal ball also foresees that an upcoming major market downturn will get blamed on Trump, which makes about as much sense as crediting him for the Dow’s surge. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-nytimes-letters-to-editor-today-01-18-2018-from-pro-trumpers/806907/69 "2018-01-19T13:22:26Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > [https://politics.theonion.com/huckabee-sanders-repeatedly-insists-that-president-s-fo-1822163179](https://politics.theonion.com/huckabee-sanders-repeatedly-insists-that-president-s-fo-1822163179) > > The Onion: > "Chastising the assembled reporters for failing to cover the story, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders repeatedly insisted Wednesday that President Trump’s footprints created the Great Lakes. " The Gulf of Mexico was created when he sat down? ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-nytimes-letters-to-editor-today-01-18-2018-from-pro-trumpers/806907/70 "2018-01-19T13:33:48Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > And what are Presidents responsible for, specifically? > > Regards, > Shodan There are really two answers to this question, Shodan. 1. The honest one: not as much as people think. 2. The political one: everything. President’s tend to get credit or blame for what happens during their administrations, even if it is blindingly obvious the President had nothing to do with what happened. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-nytimes-letters-to-editor-today-01-18-2018-from-pro-trumpers/806907/71 "2018-01-19T13:50:23Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > There are really two answers to this question, Shodan. > > 1. The honest one: not as much as people think. > > 2. The political one: everything. President’s tend to get credit or blame for what happens during their administrations, even if it is blindingly obvious the President had nothing to do with what happened. And there is a third and more common answer. 1. The President is responsible only for what is good (if he is from one party) and responsible only for what is bad (if from the other). Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-nytimes-letters-to-editor-today-01-18-2018-from-pro-trumpers/806907/72 "2018-01-19T14:08:25Z")
This has turned into quite a good discussion. Thanks, y’all. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-nytimes-letters-to-editor-today-01-18-2018-from-pro-trumpers/806907/73 "2018-01-19T14:27:38Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > And there is a third and more common answer. > > 1. The President is responsible only for what is good (if he is from one party) and responsible only for what is bad (if from the other). > > Regards, > Shodan I like when the same set of facts is good for one President but bad for another. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-nytimes-letters-to-editor-today-01-18-2018-from-pro-trumpers/806907/74 "2018-01-19T16:36:50Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Like I said, it’s hard to argue that the economy isn’t better when the Dow is a new record, unemployment is down (a record low for African Americans), taxes will be lower for most people, and businesses are giving bonuses and raises. Sure, but look at the big picture here. I think of it like the pilot who says “look at how great I am, I got this plane to fly much faster!” By putting it into a dive. They stimulated the economy by borrowing 1.5 trillion dollars from our kids. It’s not sustainable, and it’s something that in the long term will be a net negative. But hey, right now we’re going faster, so who cares? ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-nytimes-letters-to-editor-today-01-18-2018-from-pro-trumpers/806907/75 "2018-01-19T16:46:38Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > Sure, but look at the big picture here. I think of it like the pilot who says “look at how great I am, I got this plane to fly much faster!” > > By putting it into a dive. They stimulated the economy by borrowing 1.5 trillion dollars from our kids. It’s not sustainable, and it’s something that in the long term will be a net negative. But hey, right now we’re going faster, so who cares? I know how to look at the big picture, but many don’t. “Less taxes for me = better. 1.5 trillion? So what? Obama doubled the deficit and nobody complained” Again, an intelligent conversation about the tax cut can be had, along with some other issues, but without some compassion from the people you are arguing with, they are not going to see how cutting CHIP to make sure private airplane owners get a tax break is bad. Compassion, that if it exists, may disappear when they start being told they are “too stupid to know any better” ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-nytimes-letters-to-editor-today-01-18-2018-from-pro-trumpers/806907/76 "2018-01-19T17:19:54Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > President Trump cured my lupus. It was never lupus. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-nytimes-letters-to-editor-today-01-18-2018-from-pro-trumpers/806907/77 "2018-01-19T18:14:14Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > without some compassion from the people you are arguing with, they are not going to see how cutting CHIP to make sure private airplane owners get a tax break is bad. Compassion, that if it exists, may disappear when they start being told they are “too stupid to know any better” The issue of compassion is indeed somewhere in there, but not where you think it is. Or to state it another way, compassion already disappeared among people who prioritize a tax break for private plane owners over the **Children’s Health** Insurance Program. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-nytimes-letters-to-editor-today-01-18-2018-from-pro-trumpers/806907/78 "2018-01-19T18:24:01Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > The issue of compassion is indeed somewhere in there, but not where you think it is. Or to state it another way, compassion already disappeared among people who prioritize a tax break for private plane owners over the **Children’s Health** Insurance Program. :rolleyes: True. But I would be talking about people who don’t really know what is involved with the tax cut, or what CHIP is, or that private plane owners get a tax break. Educating them would be a good step, not simply calling them stupid. I myself had never even heard of CHIP before the stories that funding was running out last year. Of course, I know how to read and try to stay somewhat informed, so I learned what it was. Many people don’t do that. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-nytimes-letters-to-editor-today-01-18-2018-from-pro-trumpers/806907/79 "2018-01-19T21:04:25Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Well, to be fair, and to look at the other side of the teeter-totter, it’s kind of hard to have concrete, specific reasons why the tax cut is bad for me. After all, I’m saving upwards of $5,000 next year in taxes. Calling me “too stupid to know any better” is probably not going to change my opinion. > > … > > Now, if you have a good reason why the President shouldn’t talk that way, other than “They shouldn’t”, maybe people would listen. Calling them “too stupid to know any better” is probably not going to change their minds. > [@Slash1972](#): > > … > Again, an intelligent conversation about the tax cut can be had, along with some other issues, but without some compassion from the people you are arguing with, they are not going to see how cutting CHIP to make sure private airplane owners get a tax break is bad. Compassion, that if it exists, may disappear when they start being told they are “too stupid to know any better” > [@Slash1972](#): > > … > Again, an intelligent conversation about the tax cut can be had, along with some other issues, but without some compassion from the people you are arguing with, they are not going to see how cutting CHIP to make sure private airplane owners get a tax break is bad. Compassion, that if it exists, may disappear when they start being told they are “too stupid to know any better” I’m sorry, would you mind repeating that? I didn’t quite catch it. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-nytimes-letters-to-editor-today-01-18-2018-from-pro-trumpers/806907/80 "2018-01-19T21:11:38Z")
I’m not sure what you mean. Two of those are one post that you copied and pasted twice. 2 are two different responses to different posters, and 1 is about a different policy. Not sure what is being repeated. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-nytimes-letters-to-editor-today-01-18-2018-from-pro-trumpers/806907.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-nytimes-letters-to-editor-today-01-18-2018-from-pro-trumpers/806907.md?page=5)