To the editor: Reporter James Rainey points out that Minnesota Gov. Walz has made clear he “didn’t join the Democratic ticket just to play nice.” Rainey goes on to write, “In his debut performance at the Philadelphia rally he made a thinly veiled reference to a prurient and debunked rumor involving his opponent, Vance, and certain living room furniture.” (“Amid the gloom, doom and anger, can joy win voters over?” Aug. 10)
Walz’s reference was a filthy, unfair attack. I have been a very active Democrat for more than 60 years, but I am very disappointed with Walz for his smear of Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), because he surely knows the rumor to be untrue.
Walz is an enormous asset to the Democratic ticket. He has a great record as a congressman and as a governor. He is a powerhouse in advancing good policies, and has the gift of explaining his positions in down-to-earth terms.
But he should quickly apologize to Vance for his “thinly veiled” ugly reference and move on with the campaign.
Rick Tuttle, Culver City
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To the editor: A curious milestone in human history has occurred in the past few years without most of humanity noticing — for the first time in history, amid all the fighting, world peace is actually possible.
Everyone is connected to one another through the web. With the simple touch of a button, we can touch the hearts of people worldwide. To paraphrase an old Geico commercial, it’s so easy, even a caveman could do it.
It’s refreshing to see all the talk of joy inspired by Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign. No matter where you fall on the political spectrum, everyone wants and deserves to be happy. I may be a Republican, a Democrat or an independent, but in the end, whoever can make the world a happier place for myself, for others, my children and my children’s children, well — they deserve victory.
Austin Diamond, Sherman Oaks
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To the editor: Look no further than The Times’ lead article in its Aug. 11 print edition for reasons why readership and subscriptions have declined.
The article mentions Republican complaints about “fawning coverage in the media” of the newborn Harris-Walz presidential campaign. I would add “infatuated” and “enraptured” to describe The Times’ barefaced campaigning for Harris and Walz, from the front page to Entertainment.
I offer three modest proposals: Strive to recover some objectivity, limit overt editorializing to the Opinion pages, and give writers with viewpoints at variance with The Times a little real estate on the op-ed pages. Jonah Goldberg gets a column; there are others like him out there.
Paul Reisser, Thousand Oaks
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To the editor: Your headline about Democrats turning to joy amid so much doom and gloom reminded me of the old Mad magazine slogan, “What, me worry?”
Jon Konjoyan, North Hollywood
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To the editor: Never underestimate the power of “irrational exuberance.” It can change the tide of history.
This, God willing, is what we are seeing now: Irrationally exuberant joy is triumphing over irrationally exuberant hate.
Leslie Stem, Gardena
