Xenophobia: noun; A fear of strangers or foreigners.

Zeitgeist: noun; The spirit of the age, taste, outlook, characteristic.

At the risk of being labeled as an attacker myself, I will relate my feelings regarding Elwood Watson’s opinions.

What Watson and other one-sided spokespersons of the Leftward segment of America fail to account for is simply this: One cannot HONESTLY measure the ZEITGEIST of the past when only applying the standards of today. To narrow your view is to deny the very march of time and the facts of a time past. It strikes me as ironic that Watson is a professor of History! Is his view biased because he also teaches Black Studies and Gender and Sexuality too? Does those facts bias my viewpoint?

Teachers hold an important position in our society and their expressed views form opinions held by their students. Watson’s views of the Right-side’s position can hardly be balanced ones, he labels the Right as consisting of Republicans, Righties, and (yes) Whites! who exhibit XENOPHOBIA.

Watson’s own “lust for power” is aimed at the minds of Leftists (Rightists are not moved one iota) so he too can be considered XENOPHOBIC. HIS fear is of the STRANGERS he meets that don’t agree with his viewpoint.

Also Mr. W., before you label someone else as a Passive-aggressive racially coded dog-whistler, perhaps you should look in the mirror? Sure, TRUMP may have his faults…as does BIDEN…and as has some others; FDR, JFK, LBJ, Clinton and Obama…

Are we still fighting the Civil War to abolish slavery and preserve the Union? Are there countries that practice slavery today and are engaged in their civil wars? Don’t we measure them by TODAY’S standards… by our present ‘spirit of the times?’

Is it possible that the Elwood Watson’s will stop pointing fingers at others and see the real (Democrats?) threat to our democratic ideals?

The continued characterization of the Right as a Mean-spirited bunch of White Guys just doesn’t fly anymore…not with people who can rise above the rhetoric of Watsons.

Elwood, I welcome your expressing your opinions…I trust you will do likewise…

Richard Phillips

New Iberia