Beltway Rancor

Martin Marty bemoans the “rancor and animosity” inundating Washington, but his concern is curiously selective (Opinion, Dec. 27). Understandably offended by Bob Barr’s reference to “two Americas,” he is apparently unconcerned by: Alec Baldwin suggesting that everyone “stone Henry Hyde to death,” Alan Dershowitz asserting that a vote against impeachment is a vote against “evil” and “white supremacy” or Maxine Waters comparing Clinton to black men railroaded in the 1950s South.

Ultimately, Marty’s column is reflective of the very disease he claims to be so concerned about: assuming that those who disagree with us do so out of ill motives, while ignoring the “rancor and animosity” spewed forth by those with whom we agree.

RICHARD B. DAVIS, San Pedro