In his opinion piece “Dig a Little Deeper” (Nov. 5), Mr. Fonzi mentions how Democrats lobbied and filibustered against the Civil Rights Acts of the early 1960s. He fails to mention the fact that those Southern Democrats, also known as Dixiecrats, eventually joined the Republican party.
Richard Nixon and Barry Goldwater created a strategy to woo the racist Dixiecrats to the Republican party. It was called the “Southern Strategy.” It totally changed the political landscape of the South.
Mr. Fonzi again uses cherry-picking of history to present a distorted view of reality. This technique of omissions, distortions, and outright lies is what has helped get us into trouble around the world. Remember the false and dubious intelligence about weapons of mass destruction supposedly held by Saddam Hussein. How about the years of false intelligence reporting out of Vietnam?
I am a Vietnam veteran who spoke out against the war after I returned from ‘Nam.
To paraphrase a great radio commentator, Paul Harvey: Now you know more of the story. Good day.
Dave Shoemaker
Morro Bay
This article appears in Nov 19-29, 2020.