Tone down rhetoric? It starts at the top

I read with interest your “Our View” column recently urging people to tone down the rhetoric. Both sides? Do you not remember the chaos of the first Trump administration, especially after he lost the election? The Jan. 6 riot? Have you not been paying attention since last November?

This President is a small, insecure, but dangerous man who thrives on disorder and confusion. He has never been a uniter and never will be, because it’s not in his DNA. His go-to style of leadership is to pit one side against the other. Never before in recent history, even during the vigorous debate over Vietnam, have we seen our nation so divided that longtime friends no longer talk to each other, that families have to post “No Political Discussions” at family gatherings, if they’re gathering at all.

I’ve lived a long time. Before Donald Trump, there were always serious discussions, even arguments, about serious issues. But they weren’t hate-filled diatribes. And you stayed friends and colleagues.

But that’s not Trump’s way; his heart is dark, his worldview is dark, the people in his orbit and the world leaders he reveres are dark and he has made it acceptable for that to become the cornerstone of the American political landscape.

Shame on him. And shame on leaders on both sides of the aisle for letting it become normal.

Yes, the rhetoric could be toned down, by the chief executive and those he has been put in positions of power. But until that happens and it is unlikely that it will, you can bet that the opposition will not sit quietly. Nor should they.

Tom Dillivan

Schaumburg