Letters to the Editor: Journalists, start treating the GOP like the bigoted cult it is
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To the editor: Brava to columnist Jackie Calmes for her clear-headed assessment of the decline and diminished viability of the Republican Party.
It's time to acknowledge the GOP for what it is: a loosely woven construct of anger and anti-intellectualism, wrapped up in an embarrassingly obsequious cult of personality.
Why should a "political party" be given the privilege of equal consideration in discussion when said party abandoned any pretext of a political platform in 2020 in favor of a shrug and pronouncement of "whatever he says"?
The GOP of 2021 is not a political party; it is a joyously ignorant affinity group of bullies and their minions.
R.C. Price, San Clemente
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To the editor: Calmes argues that the Republican Party is so toxic and obstructionist that journalists should take a moral stand against it. Yet that same day's newspaper contained an editorial describing how three City Council members in heavily Democratic Los Angeles have recently been indicted for corruption.
Facts do not have political parties, and good reporters know this. Journalists are free to have opinions and argue for them, but that partisan alignment should stop as soon as the reporter begins to cover a story. Once reporters start playing for a side, they cease to be journalists and abandon their duty to hold the powerful to account.
Just recently, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) told reporters, "I think you all could do a better job of selling" the $3.5-trillion reconciliation package. She sees the media as her cheering section. Columns like Calmes' confirm that Pelosi is right.
Robert Helbing, Monrovia
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To the editor: Stop calling Republicans "conservatives." There is nothing conservative about supporting an insurrection or trying to undo almost 50 years of protecting women's health.
Calmes talks about the euphemisms that journalists have used for the lies former President Trump told. Why? Because a lie is a lie.
Extreme right-wingers are not conservative by any definition. Come up with a better word — "reactionary" comes to mind.
Theda Snyder, Sherman Oaks
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
