In his column urging us to vote against the GOP in the upcoming midterm elections (Tribune, June 24), George Will makes a persuasive case against President Donald Trump, the “Vesuvius of mendacities,” and his congressional enablers. But while urging voters to remove “the president’s poodles” from office, Mr. Will remarks that a Democratic congressional majority would be “a basket of deplorables.”
It is disappointing that Mr. Will, a Pulitzer-winning columnist and best-selling author, sees fit to punctuate his opinion with such a gratuitous gibe. That broad insult is just as inappropriate issued against Democrats as it was when candidate Hillary Clinton applied it to Trump supporters.
It is convenient and easy, I suppose, to sweepingly discredit and insult people based upon their political party affiliation — just as one might do so based upon race, religion or occupation. That way, no individual office holder or candidate need be considered upon the actual merits of her or his positions on the issues. I submit that by his comment, Mr. Will is both committing and advocating intellectual laziness — which, indeed, is a deplorable way to address the multiple and often complex issues facing our country. We all should be better than that.
J. Kevin Murphy, Salt Lake City