To the editor:
I am alarmed that many people are giving credit to Trump for having delivered words of compassionate support and understanding to the people of this country. That is not what I saw or heard.
Anyone who is familiar with the Trump M.O. would have recognized the expressionless, dispassionate delivery of words that were put before him on a teleprompter, thoughts and phrases that any normal president would deliver, usually inspired by genuine feelings and a thoughtful mind.
I’d bet anything that Trump’s message was carefully delivered with the caveat, “Do not go off script.” Those who wrote that speech did a masterful job of giving Trump a bare-bones message to impart to the country, knowing most of us are well aware of his true mind-set and inclinations to speak what he really thinks.
His attempt to deflect and direct blame for the heinous acts onto video games and mental illness are predictable diversions, which he has employed throughout his tenure. Trump will never accept blame, ever—count on it.
Mass killings as we’ve seen in recent times are usually not indicative of a mental illness, but they are a sign of hate, a mind-set in which “others” are regarded as inferior and the killer is correcting what he perceives as a wrong.
Don’t be fooled by Trump’s single act of humanity.
Sylvia Lewis Gunning, Thousand Oaks
Note from KBJ: Stop projecting your guilt onto President Trump, Sylvia.
