Opinion | Analyze This: Donald Trump’s Thoughts and Speech
To the Editor:
Re “Donald Trump’s Approach of Talking Defies All Logic,” by Michael Wolff (Opinion visitor essay, Aug. 6):
Mr. Wolff argues persuasively that a lot of what Donald Trump says could be chalked as much as illogical and thus legally inconsequential blather and bluster. Besides that’s true solely when one evaluates the previous president’s pronouncements individually. Taken of their totality, they reveal themselves as the alternative of random scattershot.
Nearly all the pieces Mr. Trump has mentioned within the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election pushes in the identical path: to attempt to reverse the election by each authorized and — failing that — unlawful means conceivable. Thus, the path to defeating Mr. Trump’s “my phrases are meaningless” protection is to assemble them into their coherent and sinisterly subversive entire which means.
Richard Sclove
Amherst, Mass.
To the Editor:
Michael Wolff’s depiction of Donald Trump’s language and pondering as disordered rings true after years of listening to and studying the previous president’s communications. Nonetheless, Mr. Wolff’s argument that Mr. Trump’s actions concerning the 2020 election have been seemingly unwitting and that this will mitigate his guilt in a trial brings to thoughts the previous punchline, “I could also be loopy however I’m not silly.” That’s, chaotic pondering doesn’t preclude intention.
Studies of the previous president’s warning and calculation abound. He famously doesn’t use e-mail, sometimes issued questionable orders to subordinates utilizing indirect language, and tore up, even flushed, papers in a White Home bathroom. His speech on the Ellipse on Jan. 6 incorporates various examples of oblique language.
Even when Mr. Trump’s actions within the Jan. 6 case have been primarily based on an irrational perception, is {that a} viable protection? If it have been, it’d apply to many convicted criminals who actually believed they might commit a criminal offense and get away with it.
Madeleine Crummer
Santa Fe, N.M.
To the Editor:
Wait a minute now. Since when does a liar’s honest perception in his personal lies excuse him from committing a criminal offense?
There are authorized and unlawful methods to pursue a grievance. The query is just not whether or not the accused sincerely believes he was wronged however whether or not he was capable of distinguish proper actions from improper ones.
Donald Trump selected reputable challenges to the result of the 2020 election via poll challenges and recounts. However at each flip, regardless of the skilled opinion of lots of his personal advisers and loss after loss within the courts, Mr. Trump went additional and pursued unlawful technique of reversing the vote.
If after November 2020 he was not an inexpensive particular person and unable to inform proper from improper, he ought to attempt his luck with an madness protection.
John Mark Hansen
Chicago
The author is a political science professor on the College of Chicago.
Unlawful, Nah. Let’s Name It ‘Aspirational.’
To the Editor:
Re “Trump Lawyer Describes the Effort to Overturn the 2020 Election as ‘Aspirational’” (information article, Aug. 7):
Donald Trump’s legal professional John F. Lauro has claimed that Mr. Trump’s requests to Vice President Mike Pence and Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, weren’t unlawful as a result of they have been “aspirational,” which is to say they spoke to a hope somewhat than a plan.
In an interview on CNN he said: “What President Trump didn’t do is direct Vice President Pence to do something. He requested him in an aspirational method.”
By the identical token, I presume that if I requested somebody to cooperate with me in robbing a financial institution, that too wouldn’t be a part of a legal conspiracy, as a result of my request was merely “aspirational.”
David P. Barash
Goleta, Calif.
Biden’s Scores
To the Editor:
Re “Rising Tide Lifts All Boats, however So Far Not Biden’s” (information evaluation, Aug. 5):
President Biden’s weak approval rankings regardless of his administration’s accomplishments end result from a mixture of his age, his lack of ability to forcefully tout his achievements, the generalized contempt for politicians of all stripes and the profitable marketing campaign by his opponents to color him as weak and ineffectual.
Ought to Donald Trump win the White Home subsequent 12 months, the nation may have given credence to the adage that individuals get the governments they deserve. We may have introduced upon ourselves no matter calamities a second Trump administration would ship.
Daniel R. Martin
Hartsdale, N.Y.
Canine Parks: Enjoyable or Dangerous?
To the Editor:
Re “Canine Parks Are Nice for Folks. Too Unhealthy They’re Horrible for Canines,” by Julie V. Iovine (Opinion visitor essay, nytimes.com, Aug. 6):
Ms. Iovine makes the unlucky logical leap that as a result of canine parks could also be inappropriate environments for some canines, all house owners ought to “forgo the canine park.”
For breeds like labradors (a breed that Ms. Iovine and I share affection for), canine parks could be the one place to soundly or legally interact in instinctive pursuit and fetching conduct in an city surroundings.
We must always no extra prescribe an finish to canine parks as a result of some canines don’t take pleasure in them than we must always get rid of the symphony as a result of some folks don’t take pleasure in Mahler.
Brian Erly
Denver
To the Editor:
Folks ought to know in regards to the dangers associated to canine parks after which determine accordingly in the event that they really feel comfy about them. Simply as with most issues, from using in airplanes to consuming road meals, a few of us are extra threat averse than others.
Take into account just a few issues: Do you’ve got pet insurance coverage? (Usually, the opposite particular person can’t or won’t pay for any vet payments if their canine injures yours.) Are your canines extra assured or nervous? Have you learnt the indicators of tension and aggression in canines? Are you keen to observe your canines and stick with them to ensure they’re secure? Is your canine a bully (a tough one to confess)?
Considered one of our canines was attacked this 12 months at a park, and the opposite canine’s guardian didn’t pay the vet payments for the stitches and follow-up visits. We nonetheless return, however now with an air horn and an additional sense of vigilance.
Katie Arth
Ventura, Calif.
Collectively, With Music
To the Editor:
Re “This Is the Music America Wants,” by Farah Stockman (Opinion, Aug. 9):
Ms. Stockman’s great article jogged my memory of my childhood, after we got here to those shores in 1938 as refugees from Nazi Germany. My father, a effective newbie violinist and an avid chamber music participant, found a small publication that listed newbie musicians and their self-grades as to skill.
This introduced a various assortment of proficient musicians, violin and cello instances in tow, to our condominium. They have been younger and aged, newly arrived in addition to true Yankees, Black and white, with numerous backgrounds and beliefs, all related by the enjoyment of creating music collectively, taking part in Mozart and Haydn quartets.
The after-music “Kaffee und Kuchen” (“espresso and cake”) offered by my mom inspired dialog about one another’s lives, and a great deal of laughter and fellowship. Though small in quantity, these teams echoed the headline, “This (Too) Is the Music America Wants.”
Rudi Wolff
New York
