PUTNEY-I'm wondering why Kamala Harris - right after Donald Trump rose from the stage in Butler, Pennsylvania, fist in the air, urging "Fight, fight, fight" - chose to adopt that pugilistic language herself. Watching her campaign, I felt that while criticizing Trump incessantly, she also chose to take on and copy his worst habits. Like name calling, at the end.
When everything is characterized as a fight, a me-versus-you, an us-versus-them dynamic is immediately set up. There is an instant declaration that the other side has no value, no thoughts or questions worth considering, no possibly logical or reasonable points of view worth listening to.
A declaration is made that the other side must be squashed and vanquished - not worked with. Why does our so-called democratic republic have to be engaged in a never-ending civil war?
I consider myself to be left leaning. The most bigoted people I have known in my life have been left-leaning Democrats. I have known many people over the course of my lifetime who have tolerated zero questioning of the party line and who have kicked me out of their lives the minute I asked a valid question about a political narrative or if I said something like "You know, I've got about 10 books on my shelves that say the opposite."
There are two sides to every story. There is always more information to be had.
Jacqueline Brook
Putney
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