Threatened by differences

Re “The red and the blue,” Opinion, Oct. 9

Timothy Garton Ash correctly identifies the end goals of today’s campaign: a choice between two different sets of values.

Implicit, yet not mentioned, is the tactic used by each to communicate with its particular audience. The “blues” place great faith in the ability, maturity and intelligence of their adherents to understand a message based on logic and reason. The “reds” descend to the lowest common levels of communication and inundate their audience with base emotion. Thus we have the snarky rhetoric of the McCain-Palin entourage.

With the obvious condescension comes a caveat. There may come a moment when a follower of John MCain will take it on himself to assassinate “the terrorist, Obama” as an act of patriotism. It has happened before. If that, heaven forbid, occurs, the real traitors to our country will be those who foment such sentiments.

Carlos Magallanes

Pasadena

It baffles me that so many feel threatened by the idea of an “accepted, peaceful coexistence in one society of different faiths, value systems and lifestyles” that Ash promotes.

It seems to be the way to go, a way to dismiss and replace the fear-based opposition among citizens in terms of religious beliefs, morals, sexual orientation and, sadly still, skin color.

We can hope to move toward a more humanistic view of democracy in America.

Jan Thompson

Woodland Hills

Ash speaks of the 1968 cultural revolution. Does he mean the Kennedy and King assassinations and rioting college students?

That was a party, not a cultural revolution. The real cultural revolution came from the Supreme Court -- the main thrust being a 10-year series of anti-Christian decisions beginning in 1962 and ending with the 1973 decision legalizing abortion.

The result was a reversal of more than 150 years of traditional American culture as it had existed from the time of the adoption of the Bill of Rights.

Ray Rostan

Irvine