Weak case against conservatives

Re “Downsized to death,” Opinion, July 20

The weak writing by Eric Lotke sabotages his own arguments. He begins his rant by alleging that we are all victimized by a conservative conspiracy: “Conservatives shrink government by hamstringing it. They weaken rules that protect people, slash the budgets of consumer agencies and appoint industry friends to oversight commissions.”

These unsubstantiated claims form the premise of his argument. He then takes a rhetorical leap that a laundry list of current societal problems is directly attributable to conservatism. His argument is essentially: Conservatives are bad. American society has a lot of problems. Therefore, these problems are caused by conservatives.

These arguments are further undermined by the reality that Democrats control both houses of Congress and government spending is at a record high. If anything, the enumerated problems are a reflection of liberal ineptitude.

Stephen Levinson

Encino