To the editor:

Recently, I watched woman after woman praise Joe Biden for his work against domestic violence. And as I was watching and listening to them, it occurred to me that Biden’s opponent is in a different place: He is domestic violence.

But the incumbent’s actions are not merely antagonistic to women, and they are not just domestic. The incumbent supports violence across a broader spectrum. Either overtly or by terrible inference, he supports violence against people whose color and whose creed, whose education and whose country of origin, whose parents, whose party and whose principles are different than his own.

Where Americans of ordinary intellect and common understanding see racism and brutality, he sees “good people on both sides.” When these Americans see helpless children being torn from their parents’ arms, he sees vindication for his immigration policy of exclusion. As these Americans shrink from his foreign policy and from his disdain for our military, policies that mock courage and abandon our friends, he craves the company of our most brutal enemies. His call to “Stand by!” is issued not just to white supremacists, but to all those who advance hatred in place of healing.

If the United States looks different to you today, if it feels different, and if it sounds different, look to the White House. If you are greeted with condescension — not encouragement, look to the White House. If the sound of fury drowns out your cry for fellowship, look to the White House. Violence lives there.

Bill Sampson,

Lawrence