Regarding the Jan. 21 online news article “Trump’s Greenland crusade pushes European allies to a breaking point”:
President Donald Trump’s statement that NATO has done nothing for the United States was incredibly ignorant. In fact, the only time that NATO Article 5 was ever invoked was on behalf of the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Article 5 provides that an attack against one member is an attack against all members, and its invocation triggers the obligation of collective defense.
Our allies did not shrink from this responsibility after the Sept. 11 attacks. More than 1,000 soldiers from NATO allies lost their lives during NATO’s combat operations in Afghanistan, with Britain and Canada both suffering heavy losses. Trump’s shocking statement desecrates their bravery and their memory.
R.E. Brevetti, Washington
Name-calling is counterproductive
Megan McArdle’s Jan. 26 op-ed, “There’s a way to stop Trump. First, drop the fascism debate.” was right that calling President Donald Trump a fascist is counterproductive. McArdle’s contention that most Americans are not prepared to have an academic discussion about right-wing ideology is true, but we should take the argument one step further.
When one accuses supporters of the president of being fascists, they likely hope that Trump supporters will realize they’re wrong and immediately change their ways. This is not a realistic outcome; people change their politics gradually and mostly subconsciously. Nobody considers themself to be the bad guy, so heated accusations of wrongdoing are not likely to sway people. At worst, direct accusations of “fascism” risk recreating the “deplorable” situation of 2016, where the term became a badge of honor among the accused.
You can’t scold people into agreeing with you. Though I sympathize with their instinct, if Democrats want to move voters, they need to become much less accusatory.
Adam Colborn, Alexandria
South Carolina’s role in the Revolutionary War
The slogan South Carolina has placed on some of its license plates, “Where the Revolutionary War Was Won,” seems to imply, as do some authorities quoted in the Jan. 14 news article “Was the Revolutionary War actually won in South Carolina?,” that the war was not only won in South Carolina but also won there by South Carolinians.
Whether the war was won in South Carolina is debatable. It is clear, however, that non-South Carolinians had an extremely important, maybe even the decisive, role in the Patriotic victory in the Palmetto State.
The two battles cited to support the slogan are Kings Mountain and Cowpens. The Patriots who won the Battle of Kings Mountain included militiamen from South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina. But they defeated an army composed almost entirely of South Carolina Loyalists.
The victorious Patriots at the Battle of Cowpens included militia and state fighters from Georgia, Virginia and North Carolina as well as militia from South Carolina and Continental regulars from Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. Their successful commander was Virginian Daniel Morgan.
Ted Pulliam, Alexandria
How to save the Nats
Regarding Barry Svrluga’s Jan. 24 Sports column, “Gore trade shows Nats’ rebuild has a ways to go”:
With the glory of the 2019 World Series fading into distant memory, it seems that we Nats fans have been condemned to a lifetime of mediocrity.
The Jan 23 Sports article “Dealing an ace” noted that “one MLB scout said this deal probably puts the Nationals in the conversation as one of the top five farm systems.” This suggests that the Nats will be competitive as a minor league team.
So, here is a proposal to save us Nats fans (and the fans of the many other MLB teams that seem similarly doomed to perennial purgatory):
In the upcoming labor negotiations, how about restructuring MLB into a system similar to the relegation system of European soccer? The Nats could be relegated to the minor leagues until they are able (and ownership is willing) to compete again at the major league level. At least Nats fans would be able to enjoy a team that might actually be competitive instead of having to suffer through season after season in or near last place.
Jerome P. Akman, Washington
Best in show
Regarding the Jan. 20 Style article “At the Astras, award goes to top dog”:
Indy, a Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever, won best performance in a horror or thriller at the Astra Film Awards. But this is not the first time a dog has won the most votes for a top film prize. At the first Academy Awards, in 1929, Rin-Tin-Tin, a German Shepherd, got the most votes for best actor, according to the Independent. Sadly, the Academy went with human actor Emil Jannings.
Jannings had come to the U.S. from Germany to make silent movies. When talkies ended his Hollywood career, Jannings returned to Germany and made Nazi propaganda films, but his Academy Award still came in handy. According to lore, when Allied troops marched into Berlin in 1945, Jannings allegedly ran toward them, “clutching his golden statuette and yelling: ‘Don’t shoot, I have won an Oscar!’”
Ken Letzler, McLean
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