Letters: Politicians are pandering to fear

Most of the presidential candidates are pandering to the most basic fears and prejudices of a segment of the population rather than providing leadership.

There is not a shred of evidence that sending thousands of troops into the Middle East would have a single desirable outcome, but proposing this sounds macho and “strong” to the uninformed. Dropping more bombs and creating “no fly zones” sounds obvious when you don’t understand the complexity of the situation. And it makes absolutely no sense to keep refugees from Syria, or Muslims in general, from coming to the United States after proper vetting.

Fearful Americans imprisoned Japanese-American citizens and refused to admit Jewish refugees during World War II, to our shame. We charged into Vietnam and Iraq to spread democracy and destroy our “enemies” with disastrous results. When will we ever learn? And when will we expect wise counsel from political candidates?

This story was originally published November 24, 2015 at 12:44 PM with the headline "Letters: Politicians are pandering to fear."