Fishkill, N.Y.: McCarthyism was a tragic era in our history. Bullying and lies intimidated the normally responsible Republican leaders into silence. The Second Red Scare’s fever broke when Joseph McCarthy’s ugly tactics became obvious to the general public as they watched, in horror, the televised Army-McCarthy hearings. Republican leaders, including President Dwight Eisenhower, finally realized that McCarthy was a political liability, and they acted to censure and remove him from the spotlight. It was not their courage that broke the fever. It was political expediency forced on them by an attentive public. McCarthy was a dangerous demagogue and the people knew it.
Some pundits claim that Trumpism and its “fever” may have broken after the disastrous Republican midterm elections. Maybe! Maybe not! Back in the 1950s, the public got its news from three networks, was generally well-read and had no major alternate place to go to find “alternate” facts. Today, there is an alternate universe of distortions available to some people on Fox News and conspiracy websites. Many of these people do not see with their own eyes, as people did in the Army-McCarthy hearings, what facts are because they willingly choose to be uninformed.
So the Trump fever may be lessening a bit, yet it is still spiking for the Fox audience and the conspiracy-believing nutcases. Four-star Marine general and Trump’s former chief of staff, John Kelly, gave them the best advice: “If you want to become an informed citizen, just shut off Fox News”! It’s the best medicine to break the Trump fever but you have to be willing to take the medicine. As always, facts do matter! Gerald Browne
Jamaica: It is truly sad that the Supreme Court of the United States can be bought, especially justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas. There truly needs to be term limits for SCOTUS because they are destroying the laws that have been in place for years. God bless America! Charlene Black
Brooklyn: The Powerball and New York Lotto jackpots generated publicity. I suggest a U.S. government program with virtually no administrative cost and with a continuous benefit for almost every American resident: a free lottery. Every three months, the Social Security Administration would randomly choose the Social Security number of one adult. The holder of that number would receive, say, $50 million from the U.S. Treasury free from federal income tax. The lottery’s annual cost of $200 million would be a trivial portion of the multi-trillion-dollar federal budget. Yet every adult Social Security card holder would constantly hold a free lottery ticket with a $50 million prize. At low cost, the government would give all Americans constant hope of an immensely better life. Few government programs can duplicate that. William K.S. Wang
Norfolk, Va.: Christmas is a time for compassion and kindness. Forcing captive animals to serve as props in holiday shows is the antithesis of those tenets. There’s nothing “spectacular” about trucking animals into the city and making them participate in shows that are frightening and confusing to them. It’s stressful and completely unnatural for animals to be onstage or stored in windowless backstage holding pens. Camels, sheep and donkeys are meant to be grazing, socializing and going about their business, not serving as a Nativity scene backdrop. During the holidays, goodwill should take center stage, and there are many ways to celebrate that don’t compromise animals’ well-being. Give animals the best gift of all by refusing to buy a ticket to displays that exploit them. Peace and goodwill to all. Jennifer O’Connor
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