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

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The only Republican candidate I would call up from the minors is Carly Fiorina.

To the Editor:

Steven Rattner’s article encourages a much-needed discussion; however, data alone says only so much. As a millennial who is part of that data, I have one of the stories behind the numbers.

I began working at 15, as soon as I could legally hold a job. After working through high school, I attended a (cheaper) state college. I graduated in 2009, during the Great Recession, and struggled mightily to find work. For three years I applied to countless full-time positions, leading to 14 failed interviews.

In the interim, I worked simultaneous, temporary part-time jobs, including handling packages, manning the front desk at a hotel, making cold calls, manufacturing water pipes and doing field work for the 2010 census. I saved and saved. I lived with my parents, forwent big-ticket items and wore my clothes until they were socially unacceptable. Though I tried to consolidate my college loans, I received a higher interest rate, 6.9 percent. I certainly could not have bought a house or started a family, and still can’t.

Now 27, I work a full-time job plus a part-time job to afford my rent. It sickens me to read story after story about income inequality, stagnant wages and the disappearing middle class. I am part of a generation of devalued people with a poor sense of self-worth. Our recession officially ended many quarters ago; why hasn’t it ended for everyone?

BRIAN T. ROBINSON

Exton, Pa.

Note from KBJ: What do you suppose Brian T. Robinson majored in? I wonder why he didn't tell us.

I had a terrific July on the bike. I pedaled 496.3 miles. The miles came in the first 27 days of the month, so I averaged 18.3 miles per day (128.6 miles per week) during that period. Katherine and I just returned from eight days in Michigan, where the temperature was significantly lower than in North Texas. We had a great time. I'll post pictures in the days and weeks to come. Tomorrow, in blistering heat, I get back on the bike. I missed it.

This blog had 5,160 visits during July, which is an average of 166.4 visits per day. A year ago, the average was 157.1.

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To the Editor:

Joanne B. Freeman (Op-Ed, Aug. 4) provides some interesting comparisons between 21st-century political “bunkum” and the 19th-century variety. But she doesn’t make an obvious point about the more recent variety: Every example she cites from this campaign involves an idiotic comment by a Republican.

Political idiocy today is asymmetric; it is found overwhelmingly in one political party. While Democratic candidates sometimes make misleading comments or exaggerate the truth, they almost never say anything as truly idiotic as what Donald Trump, Mike Huckabee, Ted Cruz and Ben Carson—all cited by Ms. Freeman—have said.

ALAN ABRAMOWITZ

Atlanta

The writer is a political science professor at Emory.

Note from KBJ: This is the exact opposite of the truth. The overwhelming majority of nutjobs in politics today belong to the Democrat Party: Al Gore, John Kerry, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, John Edwards, Bill DiBlasio, Charlie Rangel, Chuck Schumer, Harry Reid, Jimmy Carter, and on and on and on. Good work, Emory University! You are hiring smart, disinterested, temperate scholars.

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