Letter to the editor: Party affiliation not responsible for bad behavior

I am well acquainted with Dave Majernik’s letters; I believe he has a unique way to use everyday words to misrepresent truth. In “Who’s responsible for ugliness in politics?” (Oct. 18, TribLIVE), he lays blame for all things wrong in this country on Democrats.

Let’s look at labor. Problems with jobs? Don’t blame Democrats/unions. Unions came to be because employers were not treating their employees like human beings. Blame corporations for moving their factories to countries whose labor practices are virtually exactly as they were here prior to the birth of unions. Those manufacturing jobs were taken away from American workers strictly for a profit motive. Since 1981, Republican Presidents Reagan, Bush, Bush and Trump had 24 years to turn those policies around. So not just Democrats are to blame.

Ugliness in politics happens on both sides, and this was never more evident than in this last year. The fact that the world was able to witness the events of Jan. 6 and our legislators had the temerity to tell us that we can’t believe what our eyes are seeing is ugliness to the “nth” degree because it is a lie. When any side tells lies and builds on those lies, they chum the water for bad behavior and ugliness.

Both parties are behaving badly, and Majernik continues to chum the water. Not everything has to have a political edge; however, today people have been emboldened to choose to behave badly, lie and refuse to participate in any conciliatory way with those who don’t believe the same way. That, not party affiliation, leads to ugliness.

Diane Klein

Plum