Opinion: There is no Milo Yiannopoulos of the left. Why is that?

To the editor: Jonah Goldberg rightfully skewers Milo Yiannopoulos and his alt-right circus sideshow but then goes on to compare the Conservative Political Action Conference’s infatuation with his bigotry to Democrats supporting Father Coughlin because of his support for FDR’s New Deal. (“What explains CPAC’s dance with Milo Yiannopoulos? The enemy of my enemy is my ally,” Opinion, Feb. 21)

No Democrat of any stature embraced Father Coughlin, who spewed vitriol and provocative beliefs that were at that time fairly commonplace. In fact it was FDR who was instrumental in banning his radio broadcasts. If you go back eight decades to make your false equivalency, you pretty much have lost that argument.

There is no way you can explain the desperate infatuation that conservatives have for anyone who provokes liberals. This is unique to current conservative thinkers who make a devil’s bargain with anyone who is willing to promote their single-minded quest to end “political correctness,” or what most people call “politeness” and “courtesy.”

Carl Godlewski, Venice

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To the editor: I want to thank liberal comedian and talk show host Bill Maher for exposing me to Yiannopoulos. I had the impression he was an elderly Republican bigot; how wrong I was.

As a gay man myself, I put Yiannopoulos in the same category as President Trump: He’s not my president, and Yiannopoulos is not my homosexual. Now I just hope folks keep in mind that the LGBTQ community does not share Yiannopoulos’ views.

Tony Foster, Oceanside

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