Time - International (2019-09-02)

4 Time Sept. 2–9, 2019

AMERICAN TRAGEDY

Re “The TeRRoR WiThin”

[Aug. 19]: TIME has a knack

for timely coverage, and this

well-researched report on

domestic extremism and gun

violence has arrived not a

moment too soon. One won-

ders whether the planet’s

greatest nation suffers from

nationwide mental disease,

inflicting both the deranged

perpetrators of gun crimes

as well as the powers-that-be

who could do much more to

reduce the scourge of ran-

dom public shootings, but

for mysterious reasons will

not act.

Andy Leitner,

haifa, isRael

Changing The seCond

Amendment seems hopeless.

But substantial relief could

be given by a law that forces

each U.S. citizen to wear a

bulletproof vest when he is

in public. That would also

give the rest of the world one

more reason to laugh about

the greatness of America.

Gernot Urschler,

KRems an deR donau,

ausTRia

REBUILDING NOTRE DAME

Re “Rising fRom The

Ashes” [Aug. 5]: I’m appalled

by proposals to replace Notre

Dame’s roof and pinnacle

with something “contem-

porary,” and by claims that

replicating the old design

would be “dishonest.” One

might as well suggest we tear

down the rest of the church,

as not conforming properly

to the zeitgeist of the time. I

recall no suggestions before

the fire to tear down Eugène

Viollet-le-Duc’s pinnacle ad-

dition, and there’s no reason

not to put it back. The archi-

tectural profession has lost

an ability to know beauty

when it sees it. France’s most

significant architectural

landmark is no place to start

fooling around.

Kenneth M. Moffett,

Knoxville, Tenn.

You quoTed a YelloW

Vest leader as saying, “For

stone, we give a lot of money.

For people who are hungry,

we give almost nothing.” Ac-

tually, the total amount of

the social measures decided

by President Emmanuel Ma-

cron in the wake of the Yel-

low Vest protests is, by some

estimates, about $19 billion,

which is not exactly nothing.

François-Michel Fay,

aRzon, fRanCe

MOVED BY HOPE

Re “PueRTo RiCo’s mo-

ment for Change” [Aug. 5]:

This essay brought me tears,

hope and resolve all at the

same time. Pakistan, my

country of 200 million peo-

ple in abject poverty, is also

holding its breath and wait-

ing for its moment of change.

Saima Durrani,

islamabad

DEMOCRATS, TAKE NOTE

Re “sTRife of The PaRTY”

[Aug. 5]: Your article quotes

former Senate majority leader

Harry Reid as saying, “You

will not win an election tell-

ing everybody how bad Don-

ald Trump is.” I disagree.

People are motivated to vote

largely on the basis of self-

interest and principles. The

2020 election is about values,

and on that basis alone, Don-

ald Trump should lose. For

Democrats, the best solution

is to nominate a President

and a Vice President who are

committed to working to-

gether, through humility and

courage, and in a bipartisan

manner.

Scott A. Lang,

CalgaRY, Canada

demoCRaTs need To Real-

ize that Trump was elected

because their policies on

abortion and illegal immigra-

tion were unacceptable to

millions of normally progres-

sive voters.

Robert James,

CanbeRRa

The diveRsiTY of The

Democratic Party is its great-

est strength. But its factions

need to come together to de-

feat Trump. Liberal, moder-

ate or in between, the Demo-

crats will not be able to enact

policy if they lose in 2020.

Kurt Baker,

PoRT huRon, miCh.

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Conversation

SETTING THE RECORD

STRAIGHT ▶ In the Aug. 5 TIME

with... Iceland’s Prime Minister Ka-

trin Jakobsdottir, we misstated the

size of the parliamentary majority

held by her coalition government.

The government has a three-person

majority. The story also incorrectly

described her as Europe’s youngest

female leader. Denmark’s Prime Min-

ister Mette Frederiksen, 41, holds

that distinction. In “A Guide to the

Ides of 50” (Aug. 19), we misstated

where in California the movie Side-

ways takes place. It is set in the Santa

Barbara area.