To the Editor:
Re “The Fire of Stupidity Cannot Be Contained,” by David French (column, June 2):
As a historian, I welcome Mr. French’s warning that our ignorance of the past is dooming us to repeat its tragedies. But he does not mention one key dimension of our blindness: our retreat from the commitment to multiracial democracy that was the crowning achievement of the civil rights movement.
The overwhelmingly white Republican Party in the South has greeted the Supreme Court’s destruction of the 1965 Voting Rights Act with glee, threatening to disempower Black Americans and embracing a politics suited to the era of Jim Crow. This dangerous turn toward an era of searing injustice should be decried alongside the other echoes of the past Mr. French describes.
I grew up in those terrible years. We must ensure that those who come after us do not forget them.
Drew Faust
Cambridge, Mass.
The writer is a university research professor and the president emerita at Harvard University.
To the Editor:
David French’s powerful column captures the challenges that our 250-year-old democratic experiment faces, including the two central threats that could lead to a collapse: younger generations who have no experience with what authoritarian or Communist governments really are and a collective amnesia for the rest of us.
Preying on the hard truth that democratic institutions have left many behind in societies seemingly rigged to benefit the rich, the second iteration of Donald Trump’s presidency has cravenly pressed its authoritarian mission to tear down democratic institutions in the name of bringing the oppression to an end. Millions of citizens, young and old, either with zero experience or ignorant of the horrendous outcomes, have forgotten the lessons from our war-ravaged past.
But as Mr. French suggests, the blatantly overt corruption at the core of what is happening now may just be the denouement of this administration’s effort to destroy what has been built over these last 250 years.
Let us all have hope that this is so.
Edward Shohat
Miami
Trump’s Tax Burden
To the Editor:
Re “Win for Trump in a Long Feud With the I.R.S.” (front page, June 7):
Contrary to this story’s assumption, neither President Trump nor his administration is empowered constitutionally to confer civil tax immunity for himself or his family from Internal Revenue Service investigations or tax penalties. No president can tie the civil law enforcement hands of a successor under Article 2 of the Constitution.
In contrast to criminal law enforcement, no statute endows the executive branch with authority to immunize people from civil law enforcement, which is beyond the president’s pardon power. Mr. Trump’s retroactive immunity from I.R.S. audits is as valueless as a munificent bequest in a pauper’s will.
Bruce Fein
Washington
The writer is a former associate deputy attorney general under President Ronald Reagan and the author of “Constitutional Peril: The Life and Death Struggle for Our Constitution and Democracy.”
Time to Rebuild Trust
To the Editor:
This year marks the 250th birthday of the United States, a time to reflect on where we began and where we stand today. For me, this became personal when I learned that my ancestor John Morton, a delegate from Pennsylvania, cast the deciding vote for independence in 1776. His courage helped shape history.
The founders, despite their flaws, risked everything to build a system based on law, balance and limits on power. Critics argue that in recent years, especially under Donald Trump, important norms have been tested, with concerns about the rule of law and weakened checks and balances.
At the same time, many Americans feel that money and media influence distort truth. Trust in institutions has declined, and citizens increasingly treat each other with anger instead of respect. Around the world, America’s image has suffered.
And yet, giving up is not an option. The spirit of 1776 still lives. Rebuilding trust will take honesty, courage and a return to fairness and accountability. I am proud of my ancestor, but I will be prouder of those who hold onto the hope that America can still become a stronger, wiser nation for all.
Deborah Metke
Franksville, Wis.
