Pious Trash: The Reign of Hubris
The letter below appeared in the Los Angeles Times on May 21, 2020. It was in response to the article, “Trump Lashes Out with Distractions and Disinformation.” The letter was reprinted in Yahoo News under the headline: “Letters to the Editor: Why America tolerates a lying, hydroxychloroquine-hawking president.”
“To the editor: Kudos for an insightful report on how President Trump’s relentless disinformation campaigns serve him so well despite his administration’s chaotic malfeasance. The fact that such deceptive stratagems have not proved effective in many European democracies speaks volumes about our electorate.
Why might American voters be so singularly gullible? I suspect two primary reasons.
First, in recent decades, American educational outcomes have slipped markedly compared to those of our European counterparts.
Second, Europeans have become increasingly secular in contrast to the pervasiveness of religious affiliation among Americans. Consider how a willingness to take Trump on faith, especially among most evangelical Christians, keyed his 2016 election. 
The ever-darker cloud of disinformation hovers menacingly over our nation. As is said, democracy dies in darkness.”
Devra M., Santa Monica, CA
Who is responsible for the “slipped educational outcomes”? It is parents, teachers, teachers’ unions, school administrators and school boards. Our education system’s schools and results reflect their values and priorities; and those of the secular elites who help shape finance, media and policy.
Who is responsible for Trump’s election as president in 2016? Evangelical Christians, or the secular elite that sipped their $8 lattes and cortados, checked their iPhones and shrugged off the dire and hopeless economic situation of many working-class Americans. Feeling their contempt or indifference, they retaliated at the voting booth. 
What happens in the 2020 election and beyond depends on how the 30 million unemployed Americans, small businesses and others negatively impacted by this pandemic are treated by Americans working from the safety of home, ordering out, getting groceries delivered, and writing letters to the editor about Donald Trump.
