Letters to the Editor: Ignoring Trump is the best way to fight his disinformation

To the editor: One essential idea that Doyle McManus left out of his column on fighting former President Trump’s disinformation is that the media are a huge and influential component of the “village” needed to put Trump firmly in the back seat, if not the trunk, of the clown car of deceit he continues to drive.

The answer is to provide him with no coverage.

When he calls a news conference, don’t show up. When he has a rally, don’t cover it. When he files another one of his ridiculous lawsuits, don’t give it any notice.

It’s long been obvious that Trump thrives on the chaos of amplifying his lies through the media. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have banned him. Let’s see if the news media have the courage to follow suit.

Bill Waxman, Simi Valley

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To the editor: McManus arrives at the same old failed solutions to the Trump war of disinformation, because he’s ignorant of what the root problem might be.

McManus’ solution is to get objective truth out there for people to see. That’s not the root of the problem. Instead we need to ask why people believe these obvious falsehoods. Perhaps schools are at fault.

Permissive tendencies such as saying that any answer is right, making higher self-esteem the goal of education, and believing that “critical thinking” needs to be stressed in grade school and junior high — at an age when kids know very few facts to critically think about — are the wrong way to go. It leads to Trumpism and to “my opinion” and “fake facts” as refuges.

If not this, then our Trump-era renegades have always been here and always will be.

Joel Athey, Valley Village