White Male Voters

* How kind of Milton Viorst and Ellen Goodman (Commentary, Dec. 2) to help us understand why white males voted Republican in greater numbers this past November. Before reading their pontifications, I had not realized that I was anxious nearly to the point of breakdown because my wife’s salary is equal to mine (Goodman), or that I was feeling vulnerable, insecure, alone and frightened (Viorst). I had been laboring under the misapprehension that I merely resented being a member of the only group that is openly condescended to as inferior today, and all because of my anatomy and the color of my skin.

I didn’t know I was wrong to protest when someone tells me that my voting pattern indicates I’m a “madman,” or that I’m frustrated with my political “plight” because now I have to do the dishes. Honest, I thought Martin Luther King Jr. was right when he said the condition of a person’s soul is more important than the color of one’s skin, so I was a little irked when people denigrated my motives because of things like the color of my skin. Are Goodman and Viorst sure it’s anxiety I’m acting on? Because it certainly feels more like disgust. With them and their type.

JOHN J. BRUGALETTA

Fullerton

* Neither Viorst nor Goodman appears to have any understanding of the 60% of the white male voters who cast their ballots for Republicans. Simply put, the white male is historically a dreamer. He has never felt comfortable accepting the status quo because that would indicate that things are the way they should be and are as good as they are going to get. This is what has made him among all the peoples of the world the most gifted inventor and innovator, the most daring explorer and discoverer, and not to be overlooked in his anti-status quo makeup is his willingness to go to war to force change.

This is, like it or not, the person that built, shaped and led America through its first two centuries and into the start of its third.

ROY DAHLSON

Arleta

* As a white male voter I would like to turn my depraved mind over to the revered political observer and sometime-psychologist Viorst. It seems as though I am “alone and frightened” and I am desperately searching for a “sense of self,” which has been destroyed by the “women’s movement--and perhaps the black and gay movements.” This can be unequivocally observed by the bizarre voting patterns which resulted in a Republican landslide. Liberal voters indicate hope, optimism and a strong sense of self. Republican votes, on the other hand, reveal possible pathologies among the body politic (i.e., anger, fear, diminished sense of self-worth). While out in the field of research, Viorst managed to capture a “white male taxi driver” who expressed his animal-like anger toward Hillary Clinton. Luckily, Viorst managed to escape unharmed.

Dr. Viorst, I voted Republican. My fragile male ego just couldn’t take the abuse anymore. I am no longer allowed to enslave people of color, go out for some Saturday night gay-bashing or enjoy the occasional date-rape. Under such threatening circumstances I voted for Republicans, who promise to bring back the good old days of white male hegemony. The egregious failure of 40 years of liberal policies did not manage to enter my small, fear-ridden brain.

JOE FLANIGAN

Los Angeles