Donald Trump about the Reagan Airport tragedy: His opinion is cruelly flat out wrong. Trump's stupidity harms the victims' families

Trump had one job after the D.C. plane crash. He failed. | Echo Opinion published in the Houston Chronicle

Tragedy at Reagan National Airport turned stupid speculation

Dear Editor:  At a Thursday press conference President Trump, without any evidence, blamed former presidents Obama and Biden, the Democrats and DEI for Wednesday’s tragic plane crash in Washington, D.C. He also got out ahead of the investigation, blaming the FAA and making their job more difficult.

Not only can Trump’s assertions not be proven but some aviation experts already have cast doubt on them. When pushed by White House reporters, Trump made the absurd claim that what he knows about the reasons for the crash is based on “common sense.” Really!


Once again Trump is using the crash for purely selfish political purposes — at a time when so many passengers have died, and their loved ones are grieving. This is shameful, unprofessional, inconsiderate and disgusting. This is not presidential! When will people, including Republican leaders, denounce the president’s unhinged behavior?

What worries me is that this pattern of blaming is orchestrated and will continue. It should be noted, after all, that Trump read his comments; this suggests that his team prepared the remarks and that this narrative is part of a larger rhetorical strategy to create chaos and confusion — something that will make it harder for those who resist and who want to prevent the implementation of dangerous Trump policies.

From Richard Cherwitz, in Austin Texas

Dear Editor:  How appalling to hear the current president turn a press conference meant to comfort and support those who lost friends and loved ones in a terrible plane crash into a political opportunity, and to cavalierly place blame on a policy he doesn’t understand but rails against.

Narcissist Donald Trump has no idea how his suptidity harms victims of the Reagan Airport tragedy.

He began with a traditional moment of silence and then moved into a horrific description about the devastating crash. All hope for continued appropriate behavior soon evaporated as Trump launched into nonfactual assumptions, blame and personal attack.

His only job in the wake of this tragedy was to comfort, support and assure a thorough investigation. He failed. 💢❗

From Carol Godell, Spring Texas

Kamala Harris on Fox News! She showed up and left Bret Baier without anything to spin about.

Echo 🔊opinion letter published in The Boston Globe:

Editor: As a scholar of political rhetoric who spent more than 40 years analyzing presidential discourse, I believe the act of Vice President Kamala Harris going on (Fake❗)Fox News October 16, will have a greater capacity to influence voters than anything of substance that she said — including her effectively responding to Bret Baier’s numerous interruptions, demonstrating he was arguing with her rather than asking questions in an objective manner as journalists are expected to do (”Shoring up soft spots as Nov. 5 closes in,” Page A1, October 17).

As one commentator put it, as a result of the arguably adversarial interview with Baier, some Fox viewers will now Google to discover things Harris said and has done that Fox News rarely — if ever — shows. It is significant as well that, at this closing stage of the campaign, Harris was willing to face tough questions from a (Fake❗) Fox News host. It is also noteworthy that she — along with 100 Republicans — held a rally on Wednesday in Pennsylvania.

From Richard Cherwitz in Austin, Texas

The writer is a professor of communications at the University of Texas at Austin.

Toilet flushing in the Trump show

Echo opinions published in The New York Times

To the Editor:  "So wads of paper were stuffed down the White House toilets. Well, remember how hard it was to get toilet paper during the early days of the pandemic?" From Mary Garripoli in
Los Angeles, California.

Trump claims Americans have to flush the toilet ‘10 times, 15 times, as opposed to once’

And then there are these letters:

Shredded documents, records improperly taken to Mar-a-Lago, papers flushed down the toilet, plans to seize voting machines, and now gaps in the official Oval Office call record from Jan. 6. Does this sound like a former president who has done nothing improper or illegal? Hardly! They seem like an archetypal example of the “res ipsa loquitur” legal doctrine — “the thing speaks for itself.”

I eagerly await the Jan. 6 committee’s final report. Unpacking more fully these facts and many more, a well-documented and clear story will be told. I suspect that at least some of the committee’s findings will be referred to the Justice Department for investigation.

The only question is: Will Donald Trump once again escape legal accountability?

From Richard Cherwitz, in Austin, Texas
The writer is professor emeritus at the Moody College of Communication, the University of Texas at Austin.

At the end of his (aka - failed!) term in office, Donald Trump unlawfully removed 15 cartons of documents and other items from the White House. There has long been a federal statute that makes it illegal to remove papers or documents from a public office. The offense is punishable by up to three years in prison, and the person is “disqualified from holding any office under the United States.”

I know this because, in 1970, I was prosecuted for this crime when I burglarized the Selective Service complex in Providence, R.I., and carried off a bit over 15 cartons of papers and documents to destroy later at my leisure. I held a news conference about the burglary. I was duly prosecuted, convicted and sentenced (and, I believe, was the only convicted felon in my graduating class at Harvard Law School).

Donald Trump (aka The Former Guy) should also be prosecuted for this offense.

From Jerry Elmer

In a bizarre rally speech reported by Thomas Colson, on October 19, 2020 (Sunday),  The Former Guy tRump launched into a lengthy monologue on the subject of water pressure.  He said that 'people have to flush their toilet 15 times' because of water restrictions. 'I won't talk about the fact that people have to flush their toilet 15 times. I will not talk about it. I'll only talk about showers ... When you wash your hands it takes five times longer ... you get soapy, you can't get it off,' he said.

To The New York Times Editor: Republicans are not interested in democracy or this country’s promised ideals. Instead, the GOP cult are interested in total control, a permanent Republican autocracy, power and wealth. And if they have to get in bed with a vengeful, hate-filled wannabe king to bring their coup to a successful conclusion, so be it.

Republicanism equals "stupidism". These freaks are not "tourists"!

They got oh so close. They won’t stop now. Take off the blinders, shake off the wishful thinking. They’re feeding the divisions; they’re dismantling our democratic institutions.

From Olivia Koppell, in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Jews echo opinion of Trump and the Holocaust

Trum's voices of hatred:

An echo opinion published in the Houston newspaper, The Houston Chronicle by Richard Cherwitz*

As a Jew and proud American I am horrified and deeply offended by the increasing number of stories about the rise of anti-Semitism and racism both at home and abroad. 

Too often, we get embroiled in unproductive debates about whether Donald Trump is anti-Semitic and racist. Moreover, to suggest that he is directly the cause of this hatred and violent activity misses the point and obscures a legitimate worry.

What is clear is that Donald Trump's hateful rhetoric and actions have, at minimum, emboldened and empowered those such as the neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacists. The best examples of this are Trump’s repeated unwillingness explicitly to condemn and disassociate from racist behaviors since he came down the escalator and announced his candidacy for president, as well as his suggestion that there were good people on both sides of the Charlottesville protest — all of which was taken as a wink and a nod to extremist groups. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that following his election these groups literally have come out of the shadows and are now a daily part of current events. The same is true in Europe as well, where the growing influence of nationalist leaders seems to be correlated with an increase in hateful discourse and behavior.

What especially troubles me is the context in which all of this is happening. First, political polarization, which may be at an all-time high and level of intensity, appears to feed on, as well as take advantage of and exacerbate, such hatred.

Second, we live at a point in history when the “Browning of America” unfortunately is regarded as threatening to some who for the first time will become the minority. Many of these people even blame their own problems on increasing numbers of the non-white population.

Third, and even more worrisome, is the fact that younger Americans, who as a professor I teach, as well as younger citizens of the world, do not have a memory or knowledge of the Holocaust that their parents and grandparents had. 

Several of my students told me last semester that, while they “believe” the Holocaust took place, they feel ill-equipped and unprepared to respond to those who suggest otherwise. 

Sadly, there are fewer individuals capable of making cogent arguments supported by more than opinion to rebut Holocaust deniers.

Fourth, and as has been repeated over and over in the last two years, too many people no longer have an understanding or appreciation of “facts” and truth.” 

All of these — and many additional factors — make anti-Semitism, racism and hatred more possible and tolerable.

The only antidote to this is awareness and resistance. The media has a professional obligation to expose this problem. Republicans, most of whom are good and decent people, must do what they haven’t, namely, speak out forcefully against the president’s racist discourse, telling him there will be no more business as usual. Put simply they must stop normalizing, protecting and enabling Trump simply because they fear political repercussions. Cowardice is no excuse for permitting unethical behavior; not reprimanding Trump is tantamount to agreeing with him.

Teachers must do a better job of educating students about the history of the Holocaust; but we must make sure the next generation understands the clear demarcation between “facts” and “opinion” and that statements like “the truth is not the truth” are unacceptable. 

They must have the wherewithal to argue effectively, always employing critical thinking skills.

And the rest of us, many of whom don’t follow or engage in politics, must avoid the complacency that existed in pre-Nazi Germany—a complacency that arguably allowed the rise of Adolph Hitler. Like many Germans then, we must stop saying this can’t or won’t happen in the United States. It is imperative that we have the courage to protest often and loudly, making clear “never again.”

Put simply, rather than merely debating whether President Trump is the cause of the problem or whether he himself is a racist and anti-Semitic, let’s move beyond partisanship, calling him out and vigorously resisting. While it may be trite to say, years from now all of us will be asked: What did you say or do to prevent this?

*Richard Cherwitz, Ph.D., is Ernest S. Sharpe Centennial Professor in the Moody College of Communication, University of Texas at Austin.