I am a lifelong Democrat because the Democratic Party usually stands more with people who are poor, with people who are working class, than the other party does. I’m definitely not a fan of the current Republican candidate.
Nevertheless, I am not an enthusiastic Joe Biden supporter. My stance has nothing to do with his age, which is something he can do nothing about, but because of stands he has taken or failed to take; my politics are more progressive.
But I am appalled, reading so many opinion pieces equating age with incompetence. Judge Biden on his accomplishments, or lack thereof, and his plans, not the date on his birth certificate.
— Diane O’Neill, Chicago
What about Biden’s drone strikes?
Regarding the column “Five decades after Watergate, the Supreme Court has given us the ‘Imperial Presidency’” (July 3): Clarence Page quotes Justice Sonia Sotomayor in worrying that the decision to give the president immunity over the president’s “official actions” will lead to “evil acts” such as sending Seal Team 6 to kill their rivals. Somehow, Page and Sotomayor are missing the point that immunity is only for official actions, not unofficial actions. I don’t think courts will look kindly on using the military to kill a political rival.
Without immunity, could Biden or Barack Obama be taken to court over their drone strikes when citizens or noncombatants were killed? Of course, presidents have some immunity, or they could not make those decisions.
Or would Page and Sotomayor prefer that if Trump were to become president, his Department of Justice take Biden and Obama to court for not giving those drone strike victims due process?
— Ken Nelson, Chicago
Rally around President Biden
Honestly, what is wrong with Democrats? Biden has a great State of the Union address, and everyone praises him. Biden has one bad debate performance, and Democrats are calling for him to step aside. Donald Trump continues to lie and spout ridiculous things, but are Republicans asking him to step aside? No, in fact they rally around him even more. Half this country supports Trump. Now, Democrats are splintering Biden supporters so it becomes more likely Trump will win the election. Do they honestly think that a subgroup of Democrats can sway the public to a different candidate?
Take a lesson from the Republican Party and rally around Biden. There really is no other choice at this point. If Trump wins the election, the Democrats have only themselves to blame.
— Mike Swift, Chicago
Biden needs to show ferocity
In the few days since our Supreme Court established the United States as a monarchy, I received more than a half dozen anxious appeals for money from President Joe Biden. I find them even more disappointing than the outcome of his so-called debate with Donald Trump. The tone of these messages is one of panic and suggests a serious disconnect between the Biden campaign and its constituents. We don’t need more frightening reminders of what we already know. What we need is a leader who instills confidence rather than fear.
Moreover, Biden doesn’t need more $25 donations to defeat Trump. He needs ferocity. He needs to make it clear he understands that we are already at war. He needs to demonstrate to voters that in our defense, he is willing to act as ruthlessly as his adversary.
The Supreme Court did not award unbridled power to Trump. They conferred it upon “the president.” Biden is the president. If he cannot imagine a way to use that immense power to protect us from a despot, then he does not deserve the office.
— Michael Brandt, Arena, Wisconsin
Time to make way for young
We have the two most underqualified people running for president of the United States. They, like most politicians in Washington, are past their times. They are concerned with their own agendas.
Young men and women need to get involved and find someone for the right leadership from our young generation to start running for this great country.
Time is short. The conventions are coming soon, and it is never too late to start. Find these young politicians, send them to the conventions and force the old politicians to nominate a young candidate.
Please wake up and look around at what is happening in the United States with the presidential race. Both Trump and Biden do not belong in office. We should look to the youths for the future and make the right choices.
— Karim Rattani, Schaumburg
President should bow to reality
Joe Biden is likely nearing the end stages of his life. Even if he were able to live through another high-stress four-year term, no one doubts that he would have much time left afterward. I don’t want a president who will not live through the crises I will live through. I want a president who will be alive when climate change becomes unbearable for the current world order. I want a president who has a selfish interest in thinking about the future.
The world almost ended in 1983, yet very few people at the time knew it. Yuri Andropov, general secretary of the Soviet Union’s Communist Party, was months away from death. His paranoia was such that he was convinced the U.S. would soon launch a nuclear attack. When faulty Soviet satellites detected a missile launch, war was averted only due to a quick-thinking Soviet Air Defense Forces engineer, Stanislav Petrov, who reasoned that the U.S. would likely send an all-out nuclear attack rather than what the Soviet satellites were showing. Although Andropov was gone from the world less than a year later, the young people of that time would have had to live with the nuclear wasteland that would have followed such a war.
In a previous letter to the editor, I noted that U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein rudely told a group of schoolchildren advocating for climate policy that she knew what she was doing and that she had been in politics for 30 years. Well, Feinstein is no longer with us, yet here we are with the continuing effects of climate change. This is to say nothing of the similar circumstances of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death and her replacement.
Biden is not long for this world. Denying it is delusional. We have seen the effects of this denialism. Amy Coney Barrett is on the Supreme Court. Feinstein was unable to solve climate change. Andropov would have likely ended the world, save for the actions of 44-year-old Petrov.
I expect to be alive well into the second half of this century. It is unlikely that Biden will make it to 2030. I have had enough of the false promises and empty leadership of those who are so obviously nearing death’s doorstep. My deep hope is that Biden resigns in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris, but I’m not holding my breath.
— Ethan Feingold, Chicago
Do right thing for the nation
As a working senior, I understand the physical and mental adjustments we must make as our minds and bodies start to deteriorate. Memory, speech, strength and mobility begin to decline, but we see ourselves as vigorous as we were in our peak adult years. In the past decade, we have seen a Supreme Court justice, several senators and a sitting president refuse to acknowledge their physical and mental decline.
For example, the refusals of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein to step down voluntarily when their physical and mental health declined hurt our country. It was clear that their health issues showed they were fooling themselves into believing they could perform as well or as long as they needed.
I hope President Joe Biden, his family and his advisers see the parallels between his issues and his contemporaries, and he does the right thing for the country he has served loyally and loves.
— Hank Seifert, Wilmette
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