How We Will Judge the Biden-Trump Debate

To the Editor:

Donald Trump has a very low bar to meet in the presidential debate on Thursday in order to please Republicans. He needs only to take turns answering questions, not interrupt President Biden and not make offensive remarks. The more boring he is, the greater the victory that Republicans will claim.

There must be a great deal of anxiety among Mr. Biden and the moderators given how unpredictable Mr. Trump can be. Let’s face it, the muted microphone when the other person is speaking and the lack of an audience are intended to try to establish some limits on Mr. Trump’s behavior.

As far as policy issues go, Mr. Trump cannot get beyond talking points, and shifting ones at that, especially on abortion and contraception.

Mr. Trump has one strategy that will probably be on display before and after the debate: gamesmanship. He will complain that the rules were unfair, the moderators were hostile to him, the questions were rigged in Mr. Biden’s favor, the lack of an audience favored Mr. Biden, Mr. Biden was “jacked up” on a drug, etc.

Mr. Trump cannot help himself and will no doubt go off the rails at some point. And his willing sycophants will repeat his complaints. They are already doing so.

George Magakis Jr.
Norristown, Pa.

To the Editor:

Re “What to Look For at the Biden-Trump Debate,” by Frank Luntz (Opinion guest essay, June 25):

While Mr. Luntz offers an insightful analysis of how candidate performances will affect voters’ impressions, he does not mention the larger symbolic role the debate plays in American democracy. As the only forum showing the candidates standing side by side discussing issues in real time, unfiltered by the media or the candidates’ handlers, debates offer voters an important opportunity to judge how the candidates will handle the pressing problems that roil the country.

But the opportunity will be squandered if the moderators fail to ask questions about existential issues like climate change, as happened in 2016, or shy away from challenging candidates when they utter falsehoods.

I disagree with Mr. Luntz that what matters in the debate is how the candidates make voters “feel.” What matters is whether the debate gets voters to think, and then think some more afterward about whether our candidates are truly confronting the crucial issues that face America.

Richard M. Perloff
Cleveland
The writer is a professor of communication and political science at Cleveland State University and the author of “The Dynamics of Political Communication.”

Putin and Trump

To the Editor:

Re “Putin Has Tainted Russia’s Greatness,” by Serge Schmemann (Opinion, June 21):

Mr. Schmemann writes that Vladimir Putin’s “attempt to ‘restore Russian greatness’ through violence and hatred has tainted Russia’s real greatness for years to come.”

I hope that Donald Trump, through his MAGA movement, is not allowed to do the same to America.

Ray Mueller
Byram Township, N.J.

The Radical Right’s Denial of Science

To the Editor:

Re “Meteorologist Given a Rule: Stay on Script” (front page, June 21):

Reading the article on the Iowa weatherman who was forced to stop using the term climate change, I was struck once again at how far the right will go to eliminate facts from public discourse.

When the weatherman, Chris Gloninger, defended his position by saying “It’s not a political agenda. It’s science,” he failed to understand the agenda of the new radical right: Science is the enemy.

Facts are dangerous. Whether it’s denying Covid, denying the efficacy of vaccines, denying the correlation between guns and mass casualty events, or denying the ties that oil and gas consumption have to climate change, the new right isn’t allowing reality to interfere with catering to billionaires, making sure those with the most money also have the loudest voice.

Even as auto manufacturers began the switch from gas to electric, Donald Trump publicly ridiculed electric vehicles. As the number of cities that experienced their hottest summers on record began to increase, Mr. Trump and the right claimed this was all part of a natural cycle.

This undermining of science will continue, following the usual script: Repeat the lies so often that they begin to sound familiar. Once something sounds familiar, it sounds rational. Once something sounds rational, it sounds safe. The truth is, there’s nothing safe about climate change.

Matt Emrich
Cottage Grove, Ore.

The Dangers of Hiking in Hot Weather

To the Editor:

Re “Tourist Found Dead in Greece Amid Heat” (news article, June 26):

The tragedy of those hikers in Greece should be a lesson to us all about the dangers of hiking in hot weather (anything above the mid-80s).

I lived in the California desert for 50 years and belonged (with my late husband) to the local hiking club and went on many hikes — but never in hot weather. Too many times, hikers who believed themselves invulnerable had to be rescued from trails because they didn’t listen to warnings.

So, people, please don’t go hiking alone. Always carry your mobile phone and enough water. Let your family or friends know exactly where you will be and what time you plan to return. And, above all, stay on marked trails, and think of the lives of search-and-rescue teams that will be put in danger if they have to hike out to rescue you.

Rosemary Fletcher-Jones
New Milton, England

Justice in Pregnancy

To the Editor:

Re “Pregnant, Addicted, and Finally Receiving Help” (front page, June 17):

Indeed, long-term investment in treatment for pregnant women who suffer from substance use disorder is sorely needed. The Great Moms clinic is a model for non-stigmatizing, non-punitive care. Unfortunately, pregnant women with substance use disorder often face the specter of criminal or civil charges for “child endangerment” or “child neglect” (rooted in dangerous fetal personhood ideology), which understandably discourages accessing needed care.

Pregnancy Justice has found that the vast majority of the nearly 1,400 pregnancy-related arrests across the U.S. from 2006 through June 2022 involved allegations of drug use. This includes taking prescribed medications to treat opioid use disorder.

Approximately one-third of the arrests originated in “trusted” medical settings, where pregnant people and their newborns are frequently drug tested without informed consent. And two in five arrests involved the presence of child welfare workers, creating a hospital-to-child-welfare-prison pipeline.

With overdose a leading cause of death during pregnancy and the postnatal period, accessing substance use treatment could be lifesaving. But its full potential will never be realized if states continue to prioritize criminalization over treatment in the name of fetal personhood.

Lourdes A. Rivera
New York
The writer is the president of Pregnancy Justice.

A Clever Use of the Ten Commandments

To the Editor:

Re “In Louisiana, Commandments Required in Public Classrooms” (front page, June 20):

I compliment Louisiana’s governor and legislators for requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in public classrooms. What a clever, and surreptitious, method to encourage judgments of the public conduct of officials and those who seek office.

Mark G. Winiarski
Great Neck, N.Y.