Letters: Republicans appeal to our worst instincts

The Republican presidential debates have suggested revised versions of some of the most venerated phrases in our national lexicon: “The only thing we have to offer is fear itself” and “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free … as long as they are Christians.”

America long has been a beacon of freedom to the world. Many of our citizens have sacrificed to keep us that way, defeating Nazi Germany and Japan, liberating South Korea and Kuwait and winning the Cold War.

But these candidates are not appealing to that America. They are hoping against hope that America has degenerated into a nation of sniveling cowards, ready to abandon our most cherished ideals, and quivering in our homes in terror from a small cult of suicidal jihadists. It is the only way any of them can be elected.

This story was originally published January 12, 2016 at 12:44 PM.