Samantha Pak’s editorial last week was filled with conditioned-reflex reactions to the election.
She made clear her reaction is “worry” and “fear.”
That makes clear she swallowed whole what the media as a whole provided in its coverage. A letter can only provide limited examples (so I will only note one), but Pak, in identifying what worries and fears she has about Trump identified his “to ban Muslims from entering the country.” That identifies her not taking the time to look at the evidence behind this. First, that Trump stated a “temporary” ban was necessary, and the context of that comment was that he made it immediately after the San Bernardino mass shootings. And today that comment may look even more advisory given the mass killings in Florida and the knife attacks at Ohio State University.
And she might have given some credit to fact that about half of the electorate felt a political change in direction was desirable.
Instead she just repeated the drumbeats of fear and rejection without analysis, something too prevalent this time around.
Richard Pelto, Kenmore