The New York Times Op-Ed Page Has Devolved Into Nonsensical Reader Spats
Nothing screams equanimity quite like turning an entire section of a national newspaper over to folks who all support Donald Trump, but so went the New York Times on Wednesday, filling its op-ed pages with over a dozen letters from Trump supporters praising his first year in office. (They are a riot, and I suggest you read them all.)
On Thursday, the Times will again turn its op-ed section over to reader letters, but this time, the page will feature reader letters written by disillusioned pro-Trump readers alongside reader letters written by readers reacting to the pro-Trump reader letters who don’t like the pro-Trump letter-writing readers. Do you follow??
The Times’ explanation of the decision says in part:
In the spirit of open debate, and in hopes of helping readers who agree with us better understand the views of those who don’t, we wanted to let Mr. Trump’s supporters make their best case for him as the first year of his presidency approaches its close. Tomorrow we’ll present some letters from readers who voted for Mr. Trump but are now disillusioned, and from those reacting to today’s letters and our decision to provide Trump voters this platform.
To be frank, I’m too tired to unpack what “readers who agree with us” means, because I am still trying to digest the closing line of a pro-Trump reader’s letter, which asks, “who knew that all it would take to make progress was vision, chutzpah and some testosterone?”
Would somebody please, for God’s sake, make sure there is more testosterone in the White House?