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

Marc Thiessen’s March 22 column, “Let’s All Settle Down: Those Who Disagree Are Not Our Enemies,” was, on the surface, soothing and sound advice, and goodness knows, we desperately need more civility in our public discourse. As a rock-ribbed liberal who wants Republicans to lose control of Congress as soon as possible, I am perfectly willing to socialize, debate and interact politely with those of a conservative bent. As I always say, if everyone thought about issues the same way that I do, it would be a very dull world.

The elephant in the middle of Mr. Thiessen’s rhetorical room is, of course, Donald Trump, whom he mentions, glancingly, only twice. Here is where Mr. Thiessen and I part ways. Conservatives are not my enemies, but those who voted for, tolerate and enable Mr. Trump’s scapegoating, Islamophobia, racism, misogyny, xenophobia, mockery and mendacity are not my friends. Those attributes I just used aren’t up for debate; we only have to go to the video or Twitter, Mr. Thiessen.

It’s nice that Mr. Thiessen feels the way he does about his mother, but that’s an easy call to make since, I’m assuming, his mother, though a liberal Democrat, doesn’t share Mr. Trump’s personal traits. It’s a shame that Mr. Trump didn’t come to Mr. Thiessen’s mother’s defense as well.

Tax policy, trade tariffs, school vouchers, defense spending, gun control, etc. are all legitimate topics that require civil engagement from both sides of the political spectrum. Both the left and right are fallible. However, Mr. Trump and the disciples of the political style he represents are, in fact, the enemies of our republic, a nation ruled by law, and the nation Mr. Thiessen’s mother (an immigrant!) sought refuge in after battling against the forces of anti-Semitism, hate and intolerance.

Let’s all settle down? Let’s not.

WILLIAM STEEN JR.

North Side

Note from KBJ: After eight years of thuggery, Islamophilia, racism, xenophilia, and mendacity, Donald Trump is a breath of fresh air. If you don't get some help with your Trump Derangement Syndrome, Bill, you won't last another seven years.

THE SECOND AMENDMENT WILL NEVER BE REPEALED! As much as Democrats would like to see this happen, and despite the words yesterday of former Supreme Court Justice Stevens, NO WAY. We need more Republicans in 2018 and must ALWAYS hold the Supreme Court!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2018

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Here.

Here.

I predict that Donald Trump will not fire Robert Mueller; nor will he ask the Department of Justice to terminate the investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 election. His primary motive always has been to attack governmental institutions and the media, thus undermining the eventual findings of the Mueller investigation. This, I suggest, will allow Trump, contrary to his current claim that he “would like to” testify, eventually to declare that he refuses to testify because the entire matter is both a sham and politically motivated. No doubt he will continue to reference the conclusion of the Republican-controlled House Intelligence Committee, that there is no evidence of collusion between Trump’s campaign and the Russians. Trump may also say that, while he would like to be interviewed by Mueller, his legal team advised him not to.

So, at the end of the day, there will be a legal battle that is resolved by the Supreme Court. Given the current composition of the court, there is no guarantee that Trump would be forced to testify. It is also possible that the president will take the Fifth, refusing to answer questions. The issue in this scenario is: What would happen then?

It is even clearer now that the 2018 elections will matter, perhaps providing the only effective check on Trump.

Richard Cherwitz

Austin, Texas

Let me conclude with a few words about the centrality and one might even say priority of religious freedom among the basic civil liberties. Observed from a certain perspective, any basic liberty might be assigned a kind of priority: free speech, for example, which is so essential to the enterprise of republican government (and, in truth, good government of any kind); or freedom of association and assembly; or the right of self-defense and defense of one's family and community. The collapse of any of these rights would place all the others in jeopardy.

Still, there is a special sense in which freedom of religion has priority or at least a sort of pride of place. It is rightly labeled in America "the first freedom," not only because it is listed first in our Bill of Rights and because of its foundational historical role in establishing free institutions but even more significantly because it protects an aspect of our flourishing as human persons that is architectonic to the way we lead our lives. Religion concerns ultimate things. In the focal cases, it represents our efforts to bring ourselves into a relationship of friendship with transcendent sources of meaning and value. Our religious questioning, understanding, judging, and practicing shape what we do not only in the specifically "religious" aspects of our lives (prayer, liturgy, fellowship, and so forth) but in every aspect of our lives. It helps us to view our lives as a whole and to direct our choices and activities in ways that have integrity—both in the moral sense of that term and in the broader sense of having a life that hangs together.

Religion is not the only basic human good; nor are the other basic human goods mere means to the fuller realization of the good of religion. But religion is an intrinsic and constitutive aspect of our integral flourishing as human persons and also a good that shapes and integrates all the other intrinsic and constitutive aspects of human well-being and fulfillment.

(Robert P. George, Conscience and Its Enemies: Confronting the Dogmas of Liberal Secularism, American Ideals and Institutions Series, ed. Robert P. George [Wilmington, DE: ISI Books, 2013], 113 [italics in original])

Trade talks going on with numerous countries that, for many years, have not treated the United States fairly. In the end, all will be happy!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 27, 2018

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Here.

Here.