How would Morrie like Mitch Albom’s latest column?

In an opinion piece published last week, the author had many great points. (“What Trump has told us the truth about, and why I’ve made peace with it,” Detroit Free Press, Nov. 7.) He argued that making the claim that Trump is the problem lets voters off the hook, and that’s true. We did elect Donald Trump. We need to do more, as he stated, such as knocking on doors and participating more actively in the democratic process.
He continued with his assertion that Trump is not the problem by stating that he didn’t create the political world we are living in, he merely exploited it. We all have watched this political dysfunction grow for decades and to some extent, with our toleration of it, have allowed it to fester.
I do, however, take issue with one of his points.
He claimed that “voters weren’t misled or duped by Fox News.” They made a “clear-eyed choice.” If the clear choice was to get behind Trump’s racist or sexist rhetoric because they felt the same way, then he was correct. But for many, their vote was based on feeling frightened of marauding immigrants, wanting to go back to a better economy, or keeping transgender operations out of our schools. If any of these issues influenced their vote, then they were indeed duped.
Yes, we the voters need to do better, but our media needs to do better as well. Half of the country gets their “news” from slanted right wing outlets. And in spite of what the author of that opinion piece said, I believe it does make a huge difference.
Bryan Chase
Huntington Woods
Opinion: What Trump has told us thetruth about, and why I’ve made peace with it
I am so much more hopeful for the future of us all after reading this so wonderfully written article by Jeff Wattrick. I choose to believe that our lives will slowly get back to normal with time and this terribly flawed man, who we elected to be president, will be out of our lives for good, hopefully. The damage he will do while in office, I don’t even want to think about, especially to the U.S. Supreme Court. Jeff, thank you for your words of hope.
Maria Leos
Dearborn
Mitch Albom’s latest opinion piece is good fodder to mock universities, Gen Z and “woke” ideology, and I am glad he scored some points kicking those whose emotions were tormented by a Trump victory when they were down. (“Albom: Hot cocoa and safe spaces; Is this how our students deal with an election?” Detroit Free Press, Nov. 10.) But to write an opinion piece like this the day after seemingly thousands of young African Americans got anonymous texts calling for them to report to the plantation to pick cotton shows how utterly disconnected Albom is from some real experiences that people are having in this country.
Yes, elections happen regularly and sometimes your candidate of choice loses. But can you imagine conservatives getting anonymous texts in the wake of a Harris campaign victory? What could such texts even say that would be the equivalent of evoking slavery?
Trump has promised a mass deportation squad and to jail his political enemies. He and his running mate deny that Trump lost the 2020 election and he has called Jan. 6, 2020 a “day of love.” He was claiming this last election was fraudulent before the results were even reported.
There are real and serious reasons to be concerned that the 2024 election results and forthcoming four years are likely to be something more pernicious and harmful than just a normal swing of electoral power between parties.
Glad to see that Albom has his priorities correctly focused on the hot cocoa and canceled classes, because surely these frivolities are more important than the war in Ukraine, protecting civilians in the Middle East, separating immigrant families, women’s access to health care, the pending withdrawal from NATO if Europe tries to regulate Elon Musk affiliated companies or what will happen to our environment and climate change when various Biden policies are rolled back.
Steve Tobocman
Albany, California
Albom: Hot cocoa and safe spaces;Is this how our students deal with an election?
Mitch Albom writes about safe spaces from the safety of his private column.
A man who previously has expressed his desire for a less divided America, one that does not make fun of the elderly, is now ridiculing campuses for providing support to their students in an emotionally stressful time. His regaling of his mother’s uphill-both-ways school challenges lack the introspection that maybe, she would have had an easier time if she was shown more compassion, perhaps in the form of hot chocolate.
The future generations are well aware of the tough time ahead. The fact that they were given emotional support in the form of therapy animals and toys will not affect their ability to instigate change.
Max Lark
Madison Heights
As a former professor at Lawrence Technical University’s architecture program, I think Legos would be a great tool in creatively dealing with the recent election results.
I disagree with the Mitch Albom’s article. There is more to unpack from this presidential election than any other one in my lifetime. I feel younger students (in all grades) are just as confused if not more.
Since Albom’s column deals with wellness — whether in school or anywhere else, and leaves out critically important arguments, we all need to keep up on our mental health.
The country where Albom’s orphanage is located was referred to as a “s—hole country” by the next president of the United States, and our hometown, Detroit was severely dissed by the same guy, while he was speaking in town.
Opinion: Trump takes a shotat Detroit, in Detroit. The joke’s on him.
Albom’s reference to “finger painting” was a good one, but aren’t you the least bit concerned that our daughters are losing their reproductive rights and that our sons, in a Trump-promised post-NATO World, may be shipped off to some distant war soon?
His reference to “just move on”: “It’s an election. It happens every four years. And no matter what the result, we get up and get on with our day.” Did he forget about that violent insurrection that happened on Jan. 6, 2021?
And this one threw me sideways: “Most adults have no choice. And once they graduate, these college students won’t, either. Which is what we should be teaching them now. You cope with things by accepting reality.”
Mitch, sorry, but … what would Morrie say?
Jeff Boes
Birmingham