Letters to the Editor: There isn’t a ‘vibe shift’ in politics. It’s more like a deadly earthquake

To the editor: Jonah Goldberg asks about Donald Trump being president again, “Did you feel the vibe shift?”

I felt a temblor stronger than the Northridge earthquake of 1994. Four years of unfettered “rule” by Trump will take decades to recover from, if we ever do.

In another op-ed article about Thomas Paine’s concern with unchecked authority expressed in the 1776 pamphlet “Common Sense,” the elements described by writer A.T. McWilliams seem to be present in our country today for the president to act like a king — similar to the perfect confluence of conditions that led to our recent fires.

With unchecked authority, executive orders could and will overrule the rule of law. Trump has already ordered the release of more than 1,500 Jan. 6 convicts, put enforcement of the TikTok ban on hold and attempted to override the Constitution’s birthright citizenship provision.

To expand on Goldberg’s conclusion about a moral arc of the universe not bending in our direction anymore, perhaps Americans would prefer an ethical arc bending from coast to coast.

Paul Milberg, Oak Park

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To the editor: Goldberg is certainly correct that there’s been a vast change evident in our politics through this election.

To the horror of half our citizens, the other half made peace with misogyny, control of women’s bodies, abuse of asylum seekers and an attack on the U.S. Capitol and the police trying to protect it.

I can only hope that those who supported Trump did not hold these horrors dear but merely regarded said horrors as the “lesser of two evils.” It’s hard to see how that math adds up.

Betsy Rothstein, Long Beach

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To the editor: I feel the need to nitpick one factoid in Goldberg’s otherwise excellent column on the “vibe shift” in U.S. politics.

He states Trump “won the popular vote by 1.5 points.” Trump garnered 49.8% of all votes cast, meaning 50.2% of Americans voted against him.

Yes, he won the popular vote against Harris by 1.5 percentage points, but he lost the overall popular vote by a slim margin, winning only a plurality. (The small number of third-party votes brings us to 100%.) Thus it is slightly frustrating to hear all the MAGA talk of a “mandate.”

Going forward, let’s remember: Last November, more Americans went to the polls and voted against Trump than voted for him.

Bill Crovella, Los Angeles