How to decide how to vote

Dear Editor, Blind loyalty is the enemy of truth.

Galileo was put under house arrest when he reported his telescopic observations. Those in power refused to look through his telescope referring to it as a tool of the devil. P.T. Barnum is quoted as saying, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Abraham Lincoln said, “You can fool all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time . ... ”

It is clear that the recent Senate hearings have no basis in truth, but are an exercise in blind loyalty. The senators, instead of keeping to the issues, do their best to divert viewers’ attention to other issues.

Perhaps, if we know what we want we should vote for the candidates that support us. If you believe that insurance should cover pre-existing conditions, that laws should support a minimum living wage, that abortion should be allowed in cases of rape, incest and threat to life, that actions should be taken to slow climate change, that background checks should be done for all gun sales, that children brought here at a very young age (dreamers) should be allowed to remain, that — like all other modern countries — we should have universal health care, that we should regulate Wall Street to prevent careless handling of the country’s wealth, equal pay for men and women doing the same work, that laws should prevent any suppression of the vote, that gerrymandering should be illegal, that insurance premiums for men and women should be equal, that federal funds should support Planned Parenthood for non-abortion care, that Social Security should be taxed equally for all citizens, then you should vote for Democrats.

If you oppose all these issues, you should vote Republican. William Hayes Saugerties, N.Y.