I don’t disagree with most of what Katy Burns wrote in her opinion piece of March 24. I do disagree on why she wrote it.
I have seen this fairly frequently in the past. Members of the media decide to say something nice about a member of the opposite party after they are dead in an effort to define how awful are the living members of that party. Often these are the same individuals they castigated when living, but now glorify in death.
Barry Goldwater was considered the devil incarnate by Democrats in the 1960s. He was going to initiate nuclear chaos and kill every child on the planet. Dartmouth wouldn’t even allow him to speak on campus. By the time he was deceased he was a “lion” of the Senate and a true statesman. Similarly, John McCain was hated by the left when alive. He was a crazed Vietnam veteran, and we all know what nut cases they are. He also had a terrible temper, was nasty to children, and beat up dogs and small kittens.
I was a supporter of McCain in both of his presidential runs and the dislike of him in Concord after the nomination was very real. I was one of the few to dare to put a McCain sign in front of my house. One night, some angry and not very tolerant Democrat in town torched the sign. This actually reminded me of the times in the Deep South a few years ago, when angry Democrats set fire to crosses in front of the homes of black people and Republicans to intimidate them from voting. (Yes, surprise, almost every black person in the South was a Republican.) Perhaps as a Republican I should be used to it.
Lest you think I am embellishing about my sign being torched, the Monitor’s own publisher at the time (Tom Brown) was a witness to this.
The bottom line in my comments on Katy’s article is that it is pretty easy to say nice things about deceased opponents, especially if it provides an opportunity to say terrible things about a living opponent. And, yes, the Donald is guilty of many egregious things, including his totally disgusting comments about McCain. But don’t play the aggrieved citizen, when the media has been playing these hypocritical games forever.
Let’s face it: McCain was one of the few candidates in the last 30 years who might have actually done a good job as president, and we did not choose him. We have been guilty as a nation of providing the public with really poor choices. Most of our candidates have no experience at all or are totally indebted to lobbyists or single-issue causes. Many get there by being hugely wealthy or playing to a media that loves bizarre behavior. Some seem to have no common sense and are blown around by the latest poll numbers. Many qualified candidates don’t have the money sources, don’t want to put themselves and their families through the media wringer, or do some disqualifying thing in their childhood, like buying cigarettes with a fake ID.
In 2016, Republicans had numerous candidates for the presidency, but the media ensured they all lived in a vacuum except the Donald. They loved him because he was different. And newsworthy. There may have been a couple of other candidates who would have done a good job as president, but we never heard their voices. My personal impression is that many in the media labored hard to get Trump the nomination, because they thought their own hugely flawed candidate could not lose to Trump. Surprise!
Two bad choices, and here we are. So now the media is really upset, and they do their level best to drive a flawed president over the edge so they can atone for their own stupidity.
Here’s a suggestion: Why don’t all the members of the media try acting like patriots (oops is that a bad word, now?). Perhaps instead of running as far to the left as possible, maybe try to find a candidate for the Democrats who understands the history of socialism/communism/fascism and how closely related they all are. And maybe someone who will stop all the race-baiting, identity politics and attempts to do away with the First Amendment. Let’s get a candidate who will be a uniter instead of a divider.
There is plenty of anger and hate all over the country right now. The media seems to give a free pass to people who want to deal violently with opposite political views. College campuses have stopped being a place where students can learn to live with others of differing opinions. The nation is coming apart. Both parties need to take responsibility to provide voters with reasonable choices who bring experience and common sense to political office.
So, to Katy and all the others, we know you hate Donald. Enough! Don’t use John McCain or anyone else to tell us how bad Trump is. Work within your own party to find someone better. So far most of the Democratic candidates for 2020 are even more scary. May God help us. Oops, sorry, another bad word.
(Glenn K. Currie lives in Concord.)