Pretending that Americans will thrive only on kind language ignores the urgency of their material needs in a season when their president is using hate speech to distract us all from the vast material harm he is visiting upon our land, our government, our infrastructure and the most vulnerable people .

Mary Breasted

Tamworth, N.H.

The writer is a former reporter for The New York Times.

To the Editor:

As much as I admire and respect David Brooks’s analyses, I have to disagree with him on this one. President Trump is boorish to be sure, but he definitely has an agenda and woe to those who get in his way. And his agenda is not bad.

He has reinvigorated the economy, has created hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs, is correcting trade imbalances with China, has forced NATO partners to start to carry their part of the load, is establishing opportunity zones in inner cities and has defeated ISIS.

These are all big things. Is he boorish? Yes. Is he a wheeler-dealer? Yes. Can he be rude and impolitic? Yes. Progressives are enthralled more with having a pleasing personality than making significant gains for the American people. So I disagree with Mr. Brooks. Sometimes you need a bulldog to cut through the baloney and get things done, Freud and St. Thomas notwithstanding.

Daniel Dziedzic

Rochester Hills, Mich.

To the Editor:

I ’m a loyal fan of David Brooks, and his column regarding the wisdom of Marianne Williamson makes sense to me. Mr. Brooks mentions some of her “wackadoodle” ideas, but what can be more absurd than President Trump’s total disrespect for the moral values that have always sustained our nation? Basic decency is totally alien to him.

But what disturbs me even more is the silence of our populace, especially those who hold spiritual and moral leadership roles. It was Dante who penned, “ The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.” Let’s not sit on the fence anymore.

Peggy Devlin

Marlton, N.J.

The writer is a Dominican sister.

To the Editor:

David Brooks claims that the Democratic Party is focused on one problem — “material want.” Does Mr. Brooks think material want is not a moral issue? When what you want is a better life not for yourself but for others, especially those less fortunate than yourself, then “material want” is a moral issue.