Letter: An answer to fearmongers

At last, a voice of sanity and compassion calling out the hate-promoting, fear-mongering rhetoric of politicians that throw vulgar, unfounded cheap shots at their opponents.

Whether it is infamous national figures spewing lies like Marjorie Taylor Greene or U.S. senators calling each other and respected judges names just to grab media attention, we are being bombarded with baseless accusations and name-calling that begs for immediate debunking. Yet how to do that?

A brave senator from Michigan who was recently the victim of such abuse showed us a better way to respond. When her opponent falsely accused her of terrible things, Mallory McMorrow eloquently questioned the attackers’ baseless allegations and motivation beginning with these comments:

“I am a straight, white, Christian, married, suburban mom who knows that the very notion that learning about slavery or redlining or systemic racism somehow means that children are being taught to feel bad or hate themselves because they are white is absolute nonsense.”

After pointing out her attackers’ baseless allegations, McMorrow concluded by giving us all a challenge:

“Call me whatever you want. I know who I am. I know what faith and service mean, and what it calls for in this moment. We will not let hate win.”

When fanatics fling toxic waste, we all need to question the attention-grabbing lies and deceptive assumptions. Ask yourself: Where is the proof of such a claim? Let liars know you will not vote for someone who uses such tactics. Look for candidates who discuss the many real issues facing this country, instead of giving any credence to those who resort to name-calling and emotional bullying. That is indeed how we can stop the hate.

Joan Davis

Huntley