Regarding the letter by John Wright, “Radicalizing from the left,” published in the Tribune on May 16, I have a few comments.
He uses the phrase, “In my opinion,” a couple of times. That’s a good thing to say, because his accusations about the Democratic Party are pretty offbeat, and many of his statements are simply not true. I’m not going to repeat them here.
The Democratic Party has been described as a big tent, and the people who describe themselves as Democrats have a wide variety of values, opinions, and viewpoints. Those values, opinions, and viewpoints can be described in a few words and phrases: Equality, voting rights, education, healthcare, reproductive freedom, empathy, clean air and water, environmental protection, free speech, separation of church and state, due process of law, international leadership, and loyalty to our allies. Not every Democrat agrees with all of these phrases, but that’s part of the big tent.
Our democratic system works best when we have two vibrant political parties. Sad to say, but the Republican Party has become, for many, something like a cult, with its members following their dear leader no matter what he does or says.
Incidentally, the correct term is the “Democratic Party” not the Democrat Party. That’s like referring to the “Republican Party” as the Republic Party. The original American parties were the Federalist Party led by John Adams and Alexander Hamilton and the Democratic-Republican Party led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. There’s a little history lesson for you.
— Conrad Gaunt,
Chowchilla