Is it opposition that weakens or loosens up support, or opposition that stiffens and compacts support?

Sir, many of us Venezuelans have lived trough many years thinking the fall of Chavez/Maduro just to be a question of few days. That it did not happen was in much the direct result of that the opposition, instead of loosening up the Chavez/Maduro support, by preaching excessively to the choir, only compacted it.

So when I now read opinions against Trump I ask myself, does it loosen or does it compact Trump’s support?

Sir, with respect to that what Edward Luce expresses in “Trump and the siege of Washington”, February 20, what would be your own gut feeling… loosening or compacting?

My own opinion is that the more you stick to the issues and the less with the person the better. Of course, as you well know, that is easier said than done.

@PerKurowski

A holier than thou alliance of hysterical extreme besserwisser progressives, is pushing too many into No No Land

Sir, Janan Ganesh opines that visceral/hysterical reaction against Trump no matter how correct it might be, might evidence to many voters that progressives do not share their deeply felt concerns about national security, crime, welfare dependency and similar. “Liberalism can only win if it holds a hawkish line” February 7.

Ganesh is absolutely correct. As a Venezuelan I can testify on that this type of reaction, by a similar holier than thou besserwisser group mostly correct in their opinions preaching to the choir, only made Chavez stronger.

For instance I utterly dislike walls, foremost because you can never be real sure you or your grandchildren end up on the right side of it. But, in the case of the Mexican Wall, much more constructive would a “Yes let’s build it” be. That followed up of course with “The USA puts up the land, the Mexicans the cheaper labor, perhaps the Canadians the materials needed, and the FED, by means of a wall-easing program, buys the 1%, 50 years bonds that are needed to finance it all”. I guess that would bring the emotionally laden discussions about that wall to a more sane level… better for all.

Sir, but Ganesh also writes: “Whenever the state imposes a counterterror measure, especially one as brute as the US president’s, statistics are dug out to show that fewer westerners perish in terror attacks than in everyday mishaps. Slipping in the bath is a tragicomic favourite. We chuckle, share the data and wait for voters and politicians to see sense.”

And that, as you might intuit, irresistibly provokes me to ask the following: When the state imposes a regulatory measure based on something so brutish as believing that what is perceived as very risky is riskier for the bank system than what is perceived as very safe… why does then so few chuckle, share the info, and wait for regulators to see sense?

@PerKurowski