Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

To the Editor:

A Sept. 16 letter writer says he has become more religious because he prays to God every day that Donald Trump will not be our next president.

Remember the adage that God helps those who help themselves. So to your letter writer I say: Don’t just pray; get involved in the campaign. Make phone calls, go door-to-door in a get-out-the-vote drive, give money, do whatever you can to make sure that your prayers come true.

JUDITH TULLER

New York

Note from KBJ: By all means, elect the harridan.

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This Was (1968).

To the Editor:

I heartily disagree with J. D. Vance. We are spending all kinds of time and ink trying to gentrify ugliness, because these belief holders are our relatives, our neighbors or our friends. We cannot face the simple notion that these attitudes framed by Donald Trump and embraced by his followers (Mexicans are criminals, Muslims are terrorists, blacks are lazy, etc.) are simply racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, cruel and hateful.

I sit in deep blue California at restaurants, social settings, bars and gatherings and listen to the things people say when they are liberated from social niceties and decorum, and I can confirm that a really disturbing number of people you would call financially comfortable and educated believe these things are true. There has always been dissatisfaction with the job, the government and so forth. What Donald Trump has tapped into is not that. He, with the aid of the media, has sought to popularize hatred.

NANCY HUGHES

San Francisco

Note from KBJ: When did Donald Trump say that "Mexicans are criminals, Muslims are terrorists, blacks are lazy, etc."? Are you making this stuff up, Nancy? Surely what he meant, even if he said those things (which, to my knowledge, he did not), is that some Mexicans are criminals, some Muslims are terrorists, and some blacks are lazy, all of which are patently true. With all due respect, Nancy, it sounds like you're the hater.

Gorgeous autumn weather in North Texas. The temperature was 72º when I left the house on my bike ride and 78º when I returned. The sky is bright blue. Today's ride of 34.3 miles gives me 583.1 for September (in 17 rides), which is an average of 19.4 miles per day. I now have 4,777.3 miles for the year, with three months to go.

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According to Karl Rove (a.k.a. Bush's Brain), Donald Trump's "retorts" during Monday night's presidential debate with Hillary Clinton were "flip and undisciplined." Has this man not been paying attention? Donald Trump is where he is (viz., the Republican nominee for president) because he's not your standard politician. He was terrific during the debate. He did everything he needed to do and more. Was he polished? No, but that's what people hate about politicians. Was he steeped in facts? No, but that's not what we expect (or want) from our president. (We want character, management ability, and leadership.) Was he composed? Yes. No normal person would stand idly by when aspersions about his or her character are made, and Trump didn't. He exuded manliness, which, in our feminized culture, is refreshing.

Does Rove not realize that the main thing people like about Trump, and the reason many of us support him, is that (pardon the vulgarity) he doesn't take shit from anyone? How could someone not know this at this late date? Let me say it again: Trump wiped the floor with Clinton. She came across as Nurse Ratched (to use Rush Limbaugh's apt comparison). She's shrill, smug, contemptuous, and, frankly, boring. Yada yada. Trump proved that can hold his own with a lifetime politician, and that makes him the winner of the debate.

Outa Hand (1983). This song played on the radio in 1983, shortly after I moved to Tucson to attend graduate school at the University of Arizona. I have always loved it.