Readers write: Trump, Ford and Kavanaugh; Trump's taxes; immigration policy; men and women; Paul Molitor

The president of the United States stood on a stage at a political rally in front of thousands of his supporters and openly mocked a woman who claims that she was a victim of sexual assault, while singing the praises of the man who she claims sexually assaulted her, and his adoring supporters cheered and laughed. Let me repeat: His supporters cheered and laughed.

The online dictionary defines "deplorable" as "deserving strong condemnation" and "shockingly bad in quality."

This man and his supporters are deplorable, period.

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How can Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith believe Judge Brett Kavanaugh's accuser with no evidence and not believe U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison's accuser, who has submitted evidence of harassment and abuse?

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Those who would reject Christine Blasey Ford's testimony regarding her accusation of sexual assault by Brett Kavanaugh (especially President Donald Trump) because she does not remember the details surrounding the assault would do well to listen to Dr. Richard McNally, a Harvard psychologist who specializes in the effects of trauma on memory.

In a recent National Public Radio interview, McNally says, " … the stress hormones that are released during a terrifying experience tend to render the central features of that experience vivid and memorable … the central features are typically retained … and sometimes at the expense of the peripheral details." He goes on, "With traumatic events, [memories] are fairly stable … you find this with war veterans, rape victims, victims of torture or natural disaster. They don't forget these things. They tend to be recalled quite vividly. … They're often the most threatening, the most terrifying features of the experience; where the day in which it happened or the house or address or the day of the week it happened — these things may get scrambled up, forgotten because they're not really the ones that you are attending to at the very moment of terror."

Because Dr. Ford does not recall these peripheral details in her moment of terror ("I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me.") does not render her testimony any less powerful.

Effective leadership over the long term requires trust based on integrity ("NYT: Trump took part in tax schemes," Oct. 3). If Trump wants the trust of his fellow citizens, then it is (past) time for him to release his tax returns. If his attorney's statement that there was "full compliance with the law" is accurate, then there is no reason to delay their release. As U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis noted, "Sunshine is the best disinfectant."

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The truly disturbing news about the Trump's-a-tax-cheat story is not that. That Trump lies and cheats is no revelation. What is most disturbing, in fact sickening, is the failure of the IRS to protect us from wealthy tax cheats. The schemes sound so elementary: undervaluing real estate; bogus markups on goods. Really? A fifth-grader should be able to figure it out. This story reminds us how we're the dupes once again, dutifully filing and paying our taxes while the wealthy avoid them and laugh up their sleeves.

Another disturbing piece of this Trump's-a-tax-cheat story is the reminder of the tax dodges that Congress has gifted the wealthy. How do our representatives and senators look at themselves in the mirror? Finally, if I were a hardworking taxpayer who voted for Trump, I would be enraged that he could play up to me as if I were his buddy, while I paid the bill and he skated.

In regard to the article "Immigrant policy shift stoking fresh fears" (Oct. 2), the photo is heartwarming and sweet, but that shouldn't have an effect on the official immigration policy of the United States. Le Wang would like to bring his mother to the U.S. to keep his family intact. She must be in need of special services because he had intended putting her on publicly funded benefits. Now he "fears" he won't be able to take advantage of our generosity.

It was presumably he who chose to "tear apart" his family by moving to the U.S. If keeping his family intact is his main goal, I have a suggestion: All of his family can live together in China. The most shocking, unintended part of this story is that our policy before the recent changes was to bring foreign nationals here with the express intention of milking the system.

This change was long overdue.

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The immigration article was void of any attempt to give readers an opposing view. Provide an alternative point of view and let readers decide. There are readers who believe the new policy is long overdue.

David Banks paints a grim picture in his Oct. 3 commentary ("Messages for men and boys, then and now") of needing "girls and women to, point-blank, show me the way" after insulting them in various ways and at various young ages. He comes to the conclusion that men must "simply listen" and "when the opportunity arises, learn." No, Mr. Banks, you must go a step further: Act. Speak in defense of women — and men — as your male middle-school cronies did not after you demeaned their peers in your childish stories. Female victims are rapidly running out of the patience and willingness needed to charitably teach their male aggressors life lessons, especially after generations of doing so has "rewarded" them with such aggressors in the White House and in line to ascend to the Supreme Court.

Thank you, Paul Molitor, for your service to the Minnesota Twins and to the sport of baseball ("Class dismissed," Oct. 2). No one will judge you harshly for finding a different team to coach. To the Minnesota Twins' front office duo, your feckless action is responsible for where the Twins are — not Molitor — and everyone knows it. I'm casting a vote of "no faith" and calling for your replacement.