TRUMP: A call for reason

Marvin Miller’s letter of July 22 to The Press coincided with a quadrennial report from more than 1,700 prominent American political scientists. Not only do they consider Donald Trump the most polarizing president in U.S. history, but they rank him in 45th place out of 45 presidents (worst).

Every assertion in Mr. Miller’s note begs for contradiction, but rather than attempting to refute each sarcastic exaggeration, it might be more constructive to ask ourselves how we arrive at our opinions. Why do I believe what I believe?

I recently was conversing with an individual who informed me that anything that disagrees with Fox News is 100 percent a lie. Science, reason, common sense, consideration of opposing views — would that all these would be included as we formulate our opinions. There is no reasonable place for lies, half-truths, character assassination or flights of emotion. Every person should know why he or she believes what they do, and should be able to defend their convictions in a way that makes sense to rational individuals.

JON A. CUTTING

Coeur d’Alene