Unfortunately, I feel it necessary to respond to Gerard Simonette’s statements in his Oct. 29 letter to the editor regarding his misconceptions about my last column on the subject of “Little Boxes” [“Little Boxes and modern politics” Oct. 22]. I’ll keep this short and simple.
First, I never stated or suggested that people refrain from voting. It is not wise to attribute words or thoughts to others that don’t exist.
Second, I was not referring to candidates from different parties having “all the same” ideas. Most speak a good game. Words are cheap. What I am referring to is that when they are backed into a corner, they will not take responsibility for a mistake to not offend “The Party” and lose their job. When was the last time a politician from any party admitted s/he was wrong?
Third, both Pete Seeger and Malvina Reynolds were wise, intelligent performers who used the song in a humorous way, employing the tried and true technique of overstatement, hyperbole, or any other preferable synonym, to poke fun at middle-class values. (I do believe that both were well aware of different forms of architecture.) Jonathan Swift in “A Modest Proposal” and Mark Twain in “Life On The Mississippi” used the MO often.
Fourth, though I’m no Swift or Twain, or Seeger or Reynolds for that matter, it was obvious they were using overstatement to make their point; hence, so was I.
Finally, I do agree with the letter writer that Trump is the worst president in my lifetime (perhaps ever), but Nixon finishes second in a photo finish.
Jonathan Kahane
Westhampton