8 SR THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2020TO THE EDITOR:
Re “A Repudiation That Never
Came,” by Jamelle Bouie (col-
umn, Nov. 6):
Can we stop being morally
indignant that half the country
voted differently than we did?
This nation was founded and
built on conflict over values:
the role of government, the
divide between church and
state, the limits of individual
freedoms, who is a person.
This endless struggle may
seem at times as absurd as
Sisyphus pushing the boulder
up the hill, only to have it fall
back down for him to start
anew. It is hard work. It seems
to go nowhere. We grow ex-
hausted, physically and spiritu-
ally. But it also is the meaning
of being American.
The Constitution’s preamble
memorializes the basis on
which we agree to push that
rock up the hill each day: to
form a perfect union, to estab-
lish justice, to promote the
general welfare and to secure
the blessings of liberty to us
and those who follow us. The
rock falls. We start over. It is
not easy. But we push our way
back up the hill to preserve
America.
JESSICA KURZBAN, LOS ANGELESTO THE EDITOR:
In “A President Sabotages His
Own Country” (column, Nov. 5),
Nicholas Kristof expresses
bewilderment about how voters
in this election could have voted
for President Trump in greater
numbers than ever, after four
years of experiencing his
bungling of Covid-19, his end-
less lies and his attacks on
American institutions.
In Thomas L. Friedman’s
column on the same day, “Even
Before a Winner, America Was
the Loser,” we find a plausible
answer, from Rich Lowry, Na-
tional Review editor: Mr.
Trump, repellent as he is, is
seen as the only means avail-
able to resist “the overwhelm-
ing woke cultural tide that has
swept along the media, acade-
mia, corporate America, Holly-
wood, professional sports, the
big foundations, and almost
everything in between.”
The Democrats are regarded
by many who in the past would
have been part of their base as
identified with the trends of
“wokeness” that accuse white
people, and particularly white
men, of complicity in systemic
racism, patriarchal oppression
and “toxic masculinity.” More-
over, Democrats have taken
stands on issues such as abor-
tion and policing that denigrate
values and beliefs a lot of ordi-
nary people hold dear.
If Joe Biden is going to help
heal the terrible divisions that
afflict us, he must not only
address the wreckage due to
Mr. Trump but also work to
reform the divisive and coun-
terproductive agenda of the
woke “progressive” left.RICHARD H. MILLER
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.TO THE EDITOR:
Thomas L. Friedman has writ-
ten another brilliant column,
outlining the deep, irreconcil-
able divides in our country. He
describes the fear of less edu-
cated whites that the country’s
population is moving heavily
toward people of color and
different cultural backgrounds,
and that they are being left
behind by a skilled technolog-
ical society that they believe
ignores their needs and de-
means them. There is also a
rural and urban divide. These
differences have deeply divided
America, exacerbated by the
Trump presidency.
America fought a civil war
over issues painfully analogous
to these. Perhaps it is time to
consider a similar solution, but
by peaceful means. The frac-
tionalization of the country is
leaving deep scars that will not
heal.
Perhaps recognizing this can
lead to peaceful separation into
red states and blue states ac-
ceptable to both sides. The
states on each coast could join
in a blue union, with a few
states in between, perhaps even
joining with Canada to unite the
geographic separation.
KEN LEFKOWITZ
MEDFORD, N.J.TO THE EDITOR:
It is time to end the hatred on
both sides. A first step would be
for President Biden to pardon
President Trump, and for Gov.
Andrew Cuomo to do likewise.
Historians mostly agree that
Gerald Ford was wise to pardon
Richard Nixon. The good of the
country must come first.
President Trump gave voice
to voters who previously felt
hopeless. Although flawed and
corrupt, as are a great many
politicians, he did keep many of
his promises and brought
needed balance to our politics.More than 70 million citizens
voted for him. He would have
been re-elected by a wide mar-
gin but for a virus. Perhaps his
greatest accomplishment is that
he may have made liberals a
little less arrogant.
A pardon is both needed and
appropriate. We need to come
together as a nation.
ELIZABETH STESSEL
WESTFIELD, MASS.TO THE EDITOR:
As a lifelong Democrat, an
Oakland resident and a lesbian,
I am thrilled by the prospect of
a more diverse administration,
the hopeful emblem for which is
Kamala Harris, Oakland’s pride.
But I also fear more division
and stalemate. I’m apprehen-
sive about the prospect of re-
lentless Senate blockading by
Mitch McConnell — against all
things perceived as Democratic,
blue, liberal.
That is why I urge liberal
support for at least two re-
spected Republican cabinet
members, who could encourage
Republican senators — and
those voters who did not sup-
port Joe Biden — to be more
receptive to the new adminis-
tration’s initiatives.
The truth is, Democrats
demonize and “other” Republi-
cans as much as the other way
around. It’s time to have leader-
ship nudge our divided country
toward real dialogue and recon-
ciliation, in brave, practical and
highly visible ways.
MARY GROVER, OAKLAND, CALIF.TO THE EDITOR:
Re “We Still Don’t Really Un-
derstand Trump,” by Frank
Bruni (Sunday Review, Nov. 8):
Like Mr. Bruni, I wonder how
more than 70 million Americans
could have voted for Donald
Trump. I understand that many
who live away from diverse
urban areas believe that “elites”
look down on them and have
negative feelings about non-
whites and immigrants. That
said, I am baffled as to why his
failure to manage Covid and its
economic fallout — which must
have affected many directly —
wasn’t more important in their
electoral decisions.
Part of the answer is that
many of them do not share the
view that, in fact, he didfail. I
heard an elderly person in
Florida tell an interviewer that
she thought Mr. Trump had
done all he could about the
virus. Yet those of us who read
The Times and other main-
stream media know that Mr.
Trump rejected science-based
recommendations. As a result
we did worse than every other
developed country.
Since the data don’t lie, my
assumption is that those facts
did not make an impression on
Trump voters. Why? Because
they get their news and views
from sources — Fox and social
media — that overwhelm them
with “alternative facts.”
To make progress on the
many fronts that need atten-
tion, this is a problem that must
be overcome.
STEPHEN M. DAVIDSON
PHILADELPHIATO THE EDITOR:
As I read the opinion pieces and
letters to the editor since the
election, it remains obvious to
this New York Times reader
that your journalists and many
of your readers still don’t un-
derstand President Trump’s
supporters. I accept that and
expect that this mistaken and
condescending view (we are all
“deplorables”) will yield gains
for the G.O.P. in 2022 and 2024.
GERALD KATZ, EDWARDS, COLO.TO THE EDITOR:
The most important takeaway
for Democrats is that it’s time
to get to know the voters in all
of the states, and learn how to
communicate in a way that
does not frighten or insult them.
The Democrats may be capa-
ble of developing good policies,
but they stink at communicat-
ing them. Carefully worded
polling often shows that a ma-
jority agree with Democratic
proposals to combat systemic
racism, address income dispar-
ity and reform the health care
reimbursement system. But
when the masses hear “Defund
the Police,” “Occupy Wall
Street” and “Medicare for All,”
they recoil.
As a liberal living in a small
town in Michigan, I can attest
that no amount of patient expla-
nation of the actual policy pro-
posals overcomes the impres-
sions left by these sadly worded
slogans.
The best thing Democrats
could do is stick with their ideas
and hire the Lincoln Project
folks to sell them. The slick and
glitzy slogans that appeal to
parts of the coasts may be cool,
but they don’t play in Peoria.
MARY K. O’NEILL
YPSILANTI, MICH.LETTERSWe’re Divided: What Can Be Done?
Readers offer ideas for healing, urge a pardon of the
president and suggest separation into two countries.
In the spring, when the coronavirus was spreading across
the planet, Americans took steps — slow and uneven as they
might have been — to bring the first U.S. outbreaks under
control. Houses of worship and nonessential businesses
closed. People resigned themselves to wearing masks in
public. They worked from home if they could, to reduce the
risk to those who could not.
The federal government deployed resources to helppeople stay home. Major league sports suspended games.
Broadway suspended plays. Families suspended vacations.
Schools closed. Nursing homes and hospitals banned vis-
itors. It was painful, and in some cases devastating — and it
was still not enough to stamp out the virus in America.
Still, those steps mattered a great deal.
Case counts came down in places where they had beenup, like New York City and Seattle. Surges that followed in
early summer were beaten back, if not wholly quelled. In
time, even nursing homes saw some decline in cases. While
the economy tumbled grievously, the bottom did not fall out.
Newly expanded unemployment benefits, combined with
some $500 billion in federal aid, enabled small businesses to
close or reduce their payrolls without setting off a surge in
poverty rates. Easy credit for big businesses and stimulus
checks for nearly everyone else also helped.
Much more could and should have been done. An egre-gious lack of national leadership gave the virus too consis-
tent an edge, and far too many lives and livelihoods were
still lost as a result. But for all those avoidable losses, we
also gained crucial understanding of how this virus works,
and of how it might be defeated.
At the moment, that lesson appears forgotten. The na-tion is entering its third, and potentially most dreadful, co-
ronavirus surge. Earlier this month, the daily nationwide
case count reached 100,000 for the first time. On Thursday it
passed the 160,000 mark. Hospitalizations are at their high-
est point yet. Unlike previous surges, there is no epicenter.
The virus is spreading everywhere.
Even communities that ought to know better are re-sponding with a mix of apathy and magical thinking. In New
York City, officials are preparing to once again close schools,
while they leave bars and restaurants open for indoor serv-
ice (albeit at reduced capacity). In Texas, the governor has
dithered about closing or restricting businesses, even as
case counts pass the one million mark.
Some people cling to the fact that while case counts are
rising, death rates have so far remained low during this
surge. That’s true. But it’s not that simple: Death isn’t the
only bad outcome of contracting the coronavirus. Debilitat-
ing symptoms can last for months, and some doctors worry
they may lead to permanent disability. Also, lower death
rates are contingent on a high standard of care, which will
be difficult to maintain across the country as case counts
grow. In any case, death tolls are a lagging indicator. They
tend to rise a few weeks after case counts do, which is what
experts warn will happen later this month and next.
“It’s like we survived the Titanic,” says Dr. Umair Shah,health commissioner in Harris County, Texas. “Now we’re
looking at the tip of an iceberg and pretending that the tip is
the whole thing.”
Such wishful thinking and resignation are not difficult
to understand. It seems cruel to close businesses and put
people out of work again, especially when elected officials
from both political parties are planning indoor election cele-
brations. It feels pointless to skip Thanksgiving, when after
a year of such sacrifices, the virus still appears to be win-
ning. Why believe that anything can defeat the pandemic
when so far — in the United States at least — nothing has?
For most of the past year, the Trump administration has
encouraged this mind-set, with a steady beat of delusional
pronouncements: that the virus will go away on its own,
that changing weather or herd immunity will rescue the na-
tion, that however the charts look, things are really not that
bad. Never mind that 240,000 Americans are dead, with
1,000 more dying every day, and the staff of the administra-
tion itself is shot through with outbreaks. It can be difficult
to fathom the end of this thing.
Still, there are clear reasons to be hopeful. Doctors and
scientists know much more about how this coronavirus
spreads, and about how to treat the dis-
ease it causes. Drugs and long-heralded
vaccines are coming through the pipe-
line, and in two months the nation will
have a new president — one who cam-
paigned on a promise not to squander
the sacrifices that have been made and
instead prioritize fighting the pandemic.
President-elect Joe Biden has already
put forth a plan, chock-full of evidence-
based initiatives. He has also assembled a team of profes-
sionals who possess the experience and expertise that could
help clean up this mess.
If Americans want to get the current surge under con-
trol through this long, dark winter, they need to skip indoor
gatherings, including for the holidays. They need to avoid
nonessential travel. They must wear face masks in all public
places. They all need to practice social distancing. They
need to quarantine when they think they’ve been exposed to
the virus and isolate if they get a positive test result, even if
no symptoms emerge.
It’s also clear what state and local leaders need to do:
Promote social distancing and mask-wearing, and consider
mandating masks in communities where case counts are
soaring. Don’t wait to get contact tracing and quarantine
programs up and running. Even if outbreaks are too wide-
spread to find every case now, these programs can still help
get localized clusters under control, and will be crucial to
keeping things in check once the current crisis abates. It
makes little sense to close schools, especially when bars and
restaurants remain open indoors. The latter have been con-
sistently linked to case clusters across the country, while the
former have not.
Closures will be painful. They will be downright cata-
strophic without the right economic support. Congress must
set its partisan bickering aside and immediately pass a new
stimulus bill for the good of the country, and for the sake of
its most vulnerable constituents.
These are not new revelations. They are derived from
months of hard lessons backed by hard evidence — and
those are the only things that can save us now.EDITORIALAmerica is
entering a
difficult period.
The coronavirus
is spreading
everywhere. But
the outcome is
not foregone.ILLUSTRATION BY NICHOLAS KONRAD/THE NEW YORK TIMES; PHOTOGRAPH BY GETTY IMAGESThis Surge
Does Not Have to Be
So Horrific