Shine won’t last

Dear Editor,

The Left, sorry, the Democratic National Convention, reminded me of a $29.95 Earl Scheib glitzy new paint job over an unpopular old used car (I refuse to insult Edsels by comparing them to this politician).

With Hollywood, the entertainment industry, and most of the mainstream media on its side, the Democratic Party can really put on a show! So what, precisely, are Kamala Harris’s accomplishments to date?

Go ahead, I’ll wait.

What do we get with her as president? The New Kamala — a toothy grin spreading joy with pixie dust and unicorn magic to disguise a curriculum vitae of, on the average, mind-numbing underperformance, interspersed with leftist harebrained policies disguised to “lift up the downtrodden and disadvantaged,” but in fact, accelerating society’s race to the bottom. We get the poster child for crass exploitation. And her VP pick — well, just ask the average Minnesotan, not the Minneapolis-St. Paul leftists, but ordinary folks much like us, what they think of him. Or the members of his Guard unit he abandoned to go to war without him, so he could run for political office.

Anyone who is not a veteran probably wouldn’t fully appreciate how much that act speaks to the content of his character. We also get a platform designed by the same crowd who gave you the Obama-era “new normal” 2% anemic annual growth, barely keeping up with the then-livable annual rate of inflation.

The predictable Leftocrat promises of great gobs of manna with the usual lack of any explanation of how they would be paid for, much less how they will continue to compound the crushing debt burden of future generations, while continuing to build on to the house of cards known as our economy.

Oh, I forgot, we’ll “tax the rich!” That’s worked so well in the past. This same crowd is a modern-day version of knife-wielding Roman senators by their coup de grace on President Joe Biden. A coup that was expertly designed and timed to snatch from the voters a real chance to weigh in on the failed term and policies of the Great Uniter and his puppeteer.

A chance to say no more pandemic shutdowns. No more massive boondoggle spending bills supposed to compensate for the economy they destroyed, thereby making it worse.

A chance to turn the country back to the course it was on before so many voted with their emotions, instead of the God-given sense to see what was plainly obvious.

I could go on and on, but you get it. Happy days are here again!

Ralph Keniston,

Warren

Deciding our fate

Dear Editor,

The choice before us as Americans is clear: what kind of nation are we, and what kind of nation do we wish to become?

One choice puts the fate of our great nation into the hands of a man whose top priority has always been himself, driven by his insatiable hunger for power, wealth, and unquestioning loyalty, adulation and obedience from others. He tells us that America is a “failing” nation, a nation “in decline,” a dark and dangerous place from which only he can save and protect us.

He relentlessly sows fear and division, spews hatred of those “others” who are in any way different from “us,” and cruelly mocks, disparages, bullies and threatens any who oppose him. He admires dictators around the world, and intends to dismantle our democracy and replace it with an authoritarian government where he and his loyalists will wield its power (see their “Project 2025”) to impose their repressive vision of the kind of America they desire upon us all.

Do we really want a leader who has been convicted of 34 felonies, has been held liable for sexual assault, and is facing multiple other criminal charges? One who incited a violent insurrection by claiming that this past election was “rigged” rather than accepting defeat — and is now setting the stage to do this again by claiming that a loss this November could only happen due to the other side “cheating”? A man who believes he is above the laws which apply to the rest of us? One with no empathy or compassion, no kindness, no integrity, no ethics, no moral center, no decency, and no capacity to serve anyone other than himself?

Do we want a leader who brings out the worst in us, who purposefully works to ignite the darker sides of our nature in order to manipulate us into satisfying his own massive ego’s needs and desires — with no consideration for the consequences and suffering inflicted on others, and the damage done to our nation? One who calls our veterans “suckers” and “losers,” has privately called many of his followers “basement dwellers,” and vows “retribution” on his political “enemies” if he regains power?

America deserves better than this. We must demand leaders with character — ones who promote unity, inclusion, and the realization that we are all in this together, rather than division and exclusion; lifting each other up, not tearing each other down; embracing our diversity and differences, rather than dehumanizing and degrading those we may see as “different”; and working together to uplift our often messy but extraordinary democracy to improve the lives of us all.

Ones who bring a sense of hope, optimism, genuine pride and love of America and her ideals, and strive to bring out those “better angels of our nature.” Ones who have shown that they are truly worthy of our trusting them to work for the greater good of all of us.

And may we see that what we have in common far outweighs our differences, and no longer allow those who try to divide us for their own selfish purposes to succeed. May we once again become that “shining city on the hill” whose light cuts through the darkness of our often troubled world, pointing the way toward freedom, hope, and peace.

So, come this November, please step up and do your part by voting for leaders who will help us to become the kind of nation we and our children and our children’s children will be proud of — to uphold the ideals and fulfill the promise of this precious America which we are all privileged to call our home.

America is counting on each of us to do our part. We cannot let her down. History is watching.

Dale E. Buonocore,

Warren