Letters to the Editor: How Joe Biden’s ‘No Malarkey’ tour evokes John McCain’s ‘Straight Talk Express’

To the editor: While I agree with columnist Jonah Goldberg that former Vice President Joe Biden’s use of “malarkey” and other dated slang is meant to induce nostalgia, I disagree with the source of that nostalgia.

To me, a Biden campaign bus with “No Malarkey” emblazoned on the side evokes nothing so much as the late John McCain’s run for the presidency in 2000. Remember the “Straight Talk Express”? It is, I think, no coincidence that “no malarkey” and “straight talk” are synonymous.

There are worse ways to associate oneself with a heroic figure who also ran for president than by sending a message writ large on the side of a bus.

Joan Walston, Santa Monica

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To the editor: As one of the “nostalgic” senior citizens Goldberg mentions, I think it important to point out to the “woke” among us that there is nothing peculiarly nostalgic about preferring a president (or a presidential candidate) who uses “malarkey” over the more profane version with the initials BS, flubs facts but doesn’t lie daily, knows the political history of Russia and Ukraine, and is decent enough never to have bragged about groping women.

If that’s nostalgia, I’m all for it.

Louis Fantasia, Los Angeles

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To the editor: There’s a big difference between a president and a vice president. The president actually makes the decisions and needs to be inspired, smart, decisive and analytical.

Biden is none of those, which is why that dog won’t hunt. He is not the sharpest tool in the shed, and that’s no malarkey.

Jeff Vaughn, Encino