Letters to the Editor: Stop the comedy rallies, Mr. President, you’re killing us — no, really

To the editor: The comedy show is back. (“Trump wanted big crowds at his comeback rally in Tulsa. They didn’t show up,” June 20

The White House insisted the president was “speaking in jest” when he had America in stitches, riffing like Rodney Dangerfield: “I said to my people, ‘Slow the testing down, please.’” He had them rolling in the aisles in Tulsa, Okla., with his racist remark about the “kung flu.” And did you hear the one about the virus that walked into a bar?

Oh stop it, you’re killing me. No seriously, you’re killing us.

Rob Campbell, Palos Verdes Estates

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To the editor: President Trump’s rally in Tulsa on June 20 was historic. I’m too young to have seen Mussolini or Hitler perform at one of their rallies, but I watched Trump.

Our president’s form of fascism is uniquely American. It’s shtick covered with racism. It’s an entertainer, in turns jovial then vicious, a mix that appeals to an American mind-set raised on cop buddy movies.

It’s an authoritarianism that is free from facts, because the very definition of what it is to be an American has come to be one who regards the world on his or her own terms without the burden of history or science. It is a belligerent sycophancy disguised as masculinity. It has nothing to do with running the trains on time or controlling inflation, because any form of competency is not required.

American fascism is a song and dance. It declares that American core values have been lost as women and nonwhites elbowed their way into places of power.

Trump is the embodiment of a culture that wants to be open for entertainment without responsibility to the harm that may entail.

Fred Burgess, Camarillo

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To the editor: As a psychotherapist and very concerned citizen, I want to commend Robin Abcarian for her column, “Donald Trump, our narcissist in chief, wants us to thank him for discovering Juneteenth?”

That Trump has not one iota of compassion is evident daily in his pronouncements and in his disregard for public health in holding a political rally during a raging pandemic that has killed more than 120,000 Americans. It is heartening that the turnout for that rally was much smaller than Trump had expected.

Trump’s declaration that nobody had heard of Juneteenth until his rally was initially scheduled for June 19 was the height of narcissism, much of which he has displayed throughout his time in office.

Peggy Aylsworth, Santa Monica

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To the editor: Trump said he wanted the COVID-19 testing slowed down so that we would have a lower number of positive tests and therefore fewer sick Americans.

He also believes that if you send fewer engines to the fire, the blaze will get smaller and go out on its own.

Bill Linas, Trabuco Canyon