READERS WRITE

YOU MAY WIN EVEN IF YOU LOSE This PASO is not a “winner takes all” election. Even if your candidate doesn’t win the majority, he can become a minority if he/she gets more than 15 percent of the votes in the party of your choice. Becoming a minority means that his/her name will be part of the “lista sabana” in the November election. Let’s bear this in mind when we choose our vote in September.

Luis Spallarossa, via email

PEBBLES OR PRECIOUS STONES? On August 16, thousands of stones bearing the names of coronavirus victims were laid outside Casa Rosada. I asked myself why not flowers but, later on, after remembering ‘On the Pulse of the Morning,’ a poem by US writer Maya Angelou, it dawned on me that stones are much more meaningful and inspiring.

In the poem there is a rock described as a “host to species long since departed” like the masterdon and the dinosaur and, instead of being inanimate, the stone talks to us “clearly and forcefully” reminding us that “history, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.”

Likewise, each pebble deposited by the bereaved family members outside Government House speaks to Argentines, telling them that a lot of the lost lives could have been saved. “Come, clad in peace,” reads Angelou’s poem. The message seems applicable to the Argentines, in need of justice, not revenge, willing to use these rocks as stepping stones for a better future. Adrian Insaubralde, Santa Fe

MAKING THINGS WORSE Health Minister Carla Vizzotti stated that all Argentines (all, she assured) have made mistakes during this pandemic. How does she know, I wonder. How can she be so certain? Is this her strategy to defend her boss, President Alberto Fernández, regarding the controversy over Fabiola’s birthday party at the Quinta de Olivos during the 2020 quarantine? rather weak, I’d say, because Fernández should be a role model, and his “mistakes” are far more serious than anybody else’s. I’ve noticed that each time the Kirchnerites try to justify a wrongdoing, they dig themselves deeper and deeper. And besides, is it really necessary for Vizzotti to fly to Russia so often? It’s not round the corner, is it? Can’t she arrange things in a cheaper way, by Skype, for instance? We are all paying for those tickets and her stays there, aren’t we? What’s more, she didn’t go into quarantine upon her arrival from Moscow. Instead, she gave a press conference right away. Rules are unfair if they don’t apply to everyone. Meanwhile, there are still lots of Argentines abroad who are not allowed to come back home.

Irene Bianchi, Ringuelet, La Plata

THE DAY AFTER The future is rushing up on us. In less than three months time the elections will be over and reality will be dumped on the Argentine people in a variety of ways. Whether the winner is officialdom or the opposition, the gigantic subsidies for public services will start to be reduced, simply because the party cannot go on for ever, hitting everybody’s pockets. And this is just for starters because, thanks to the enormous amount of money printed throughout the pandemic, we can expect inflation to go on spiralling.

This, as far, refers to the economy. The political situation is also bound to become more complicated especially if, as is to be expected, things go really bad for Kirchnerismo. For it is a well-known fact that Peronismo allows its leaders a pass for anything, except losing! In which case the question arises whether the Peronists will have the patience to endure two more years of Alberto The Non-entity as president. We can be sure that his fate will be determined by his party and not by the opposition, which wants him to fulfill his term in office. (Jorge Ferraresi has now suggested that Alberto will stay in office for a full eight years – I wouldn’t bet on this!).

Hopefully the more than messy times which we can expect ahead will force the political body to sit down and hammer out basic agreements because, if not, the chances are that we will be run over by anarchy. Judging by the results of some local elections held around the country in the past weeks, people are so fed up with our politics and politicians that turnout was very poor, and included lots of blank votes. This is a very worrisome detail and, for the sake of our way of life, it is to be hoped that the same will not occur in September and November. Once again, come rain, hail, hurricane or whatever, don’t miss the chance to cast your vote, because “It’s the Republic, darn it”! Harry Ingham, City

BATTLE OF THE BULGE: PART 158 Dear Sirs, Last Tuesday was Jorge Luis Borges’ birthday. If he were still alive, he would be 122 years old. The anniversary is now known as ‘Readers’ Day.’ He famously said that he was not proud of what he had written, he was proud of what he had read. And he was a voracious reader! He also sagely remarked once that the Peronistas were neither good nor bad, they were just plain incorrigible. Elementary, my dear Alberto. Your boys keep repeating the same mistakes, year after year. ‘Attacking capital’ today is just inane. Observe how the Russians and Chinese now venerate the golden calf, particularly that of the crony variety. Get with it, lads, before we all end up on Queer Street. And do hurry up with the vaccines, before we go down the tubes!

Blinken blinked over Kabul? Biden his time? Gory story!

David Parsons, via email