To the editor: I am bewildered by Josh Hammer’s column, “Vance is right that Europe’s values are no longer the same as America’s.”
He says that Europe is taking an unfortunate turn toward censorship of dissidents. It is the United States that is doing this!
In some parts of the country, doctors cannot talk candidly to their patients about abortion, critical race theory cannot be discussed, and books are being banned. Ordering the end of diversity, equity and inclusion programs is a blatant attack on free speech.
It is almost laughable that Hammer claims that the United States prizes sovereignty and nationhood while “European elites increasingly do not.” Ukraine is a sovereign nation, but the United States is interceding to give part of it away to Russia. We have our sights set on Greenland and the Panama Canal, and President Trump has stated he wants to expand our territory.
And what is this finger pointing at European elites? Elon Musk is the richest man in the world, and Trump is a billionaire. You can’t get much more elite than that.
Stephanie McIntyre, Simi Valley
..
To the editor: In his piece arguing that Vice President JD Vance was correct to criticize European leaders during his recent speech in Munich, Hammer ignores the terrible toll taken by uber-nationalism in the 20th century.
After World War II, this country led efforts to create a new and safer international order, one based on the rule of law. This has served our interests well for 80 years. Blowing it up can only serve the interests of our adversaries.
Glenna Matthews, Laguna Beach
..
To the editor: Vance is wrong.
Europe’s values have been and continue to be the same as ours: democratic governance, the rule of law and respect for human rights. I believe those values are supported by majorities on both sides of the Atlantic.
It’s true that conservative policies on immigration are in resurgence here and over there. But those are policies, not values.
It is the U.S. under Trump that has abandoned our shared values. And I believe most Europeans reject the selfish, shortsighted, self-serving policies advanced by Trump and Vance.
Rather than align the United States with Europe, they make us an outlier and only weaken us.
Drew Davis, Redondo Beach
..
To the editor: Hammer is right — Europe’s values are not the same as ours.
Europe’s “delicate … elite sensitivities” include not repeating the most destructive war in the planet’s history. Vance and his all-but endorsement of the neo-Nazi German political party AfD “takes a blowtorch” to those sensitivities.
And this praise gets a platform in the Los Angeles Times. Why?
Michael Smallberg, Menlo Park, Calif.
