Want a better president? Stop blaming and start screening
According to former National Security Adviser John Bolton’s book, “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir”, President Donald Trump once asked, “Is Finland part of Russia?”
Trump asked this question ahead of a 2018 visit to Helsinki and before meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Also according to the book, Trump, in a meeting with former British Prime Minister Theresa May in 2018, was unaware that the United Kingdom had nuclear weapons, asking, “"Oh, are you a nuclear power?”
Trump is clueless and that’s exactly how he was when elected.
Although some may claim he has business acumen, it was clear that his understanding of foreign affairs, public policy and the impact of science in society was minuscule.
However, we placed the world in harm’s way by electing him to be president of the most powerful nation on earth.
Instead of blaming and criticizing, why don’t we do something to ensure this will not happen again?
If every job candidate on Earth is expected to be scrutinized and to comply with a list of minimum requirements, would it be too much to expect similar vetting for a person who aspires to lead the free world?
In our democracy, we elect the president of our choice; however, this individual should have, at least, minimum qualifications to decide the fate of 328.2 million people and to represent us in front of the world.
Requiring that all presidential candidates undergo a screening process to assure they meet minimum essential knowledge for the position, months prior to primary elections could, at least, offer some measure of a candidate’s potential capability.
– Gladys A. Barrio,
Miami
VOTE FOR FREEDOM
As an older person, I want to be able to vote by mail and be safe. I thank the Herald for continuing to highlight what the president is doing to the postal service to manipulate the results of the November elections.
I have lived in the United States for 60 years. My family left Cuba because a populist became a cult leader, destroyed fragile institutions and made of Cuba a place where only his self-interest mattered. Fidel Castro made alliances with anyone who supported him and his self-interest, regardless of the consequences to Cubans.
I am now having flashbacks.
If we have four more years of Trump, I will again have to endure the destruction of my country by a man whose self-interest is the core value of his government. Trump’s alliance with a Russian dictator is simply a convenience despite drastic consequences for our democracy.
I am still hopeful we have a choice — if we are allowed to have a democratic election and the postal service is able to deliver my ballot on time.
– Martha Pelaez,
Miami Beach
ARCTIC DRILLING
Today, I weep for our Mother Earth after reading about Trump’s plan to open parts of the Alaskan Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. Most other counties are aiming for cleaner, more climatefriendly, sustainable forms of energy. But the Trump administration wants to secure America’s “energy dominance” over the rest of the world by drilling in one of the last remaining wilderness areas in the world, and the largest in the country.
These lands have been protected for 60 years.
This administration’s disregard for the land, the wildlife, and the few remaining indigenous people, in favor of greed and dominance, is shameful. Our love of America includes protecting its most valuable assets.
I probably won’t live long enough to see the destruction actually happen, but for our children, our children’s children, and their children, I hope and pray we have something left on this planet to leave as a legacy.
– Charlotte Miller, North Miami Beach
PATRIOTIC ACTS
President Trump is manipulating the United States Postal Service to prevent mail-in ballots from arriving in time.
His manipulation denies our active duty U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard members from voting.
Why doesn’t he care about our service members?
During my service in the army, I could never afford to go home to vote and always did so by mail.
My first vote was for
Dwight Eisenhower, while I was overseas.
Voting every election and military service are the most patriotic things American citizens can do.
– Thomas M. Gallen,
Bradenton
CUTS BOTH WAYS
President Trump’s press conferences often include how well the Dow Jones Industrial Average is doing. The implication is that the upward momentum is a result of how well the president’s economic policies are working.
What he fails to realize is that the strength of the Dow Jones is a result of the opinion polls showing he will not be reelected.
– Richard Jacobs,
Miami
A DIFFERENT MEASURE
The president and vice president keep bragging about the economy, touting record levels in the stock markets.
Is that what the economy is and how it can be measured?
Or perhaps citizens should consider: Business closures, number of unemployed, ever rising sick/ death toll, uncertainty of recovery, and food banks feeding the hungry.
The metrics of the wealth of our nation can’t be appreciated if it is a minuscule few standing on the backs of the many.
– Bruce Shpiner,
Miami
COVID-19 AND POVERTY
The extreme impact of COVID-19 on the United States has caused the federal government to reconsider national security and restructure employment opportunities. However, its impact on the environment has not been addressed.
Due to the virus, half a billion people are at risk of falling back into extreme poverty. Poverty’s impact on the environment contributes to overpopulation. With high death rates come high birth rates, and more strains on Earth’s resources.
If half a billion people fall into extreme poverty, what will be the repercussions for Earth and its resources?
Should we be even more concerned than before COVID-19, and what can we do help?
– Rachael Osman,
Kendall
HALT POLITICAL ADS
A quick and easy solution to solving the mail-in ballots question: Just stop all political mailings for three weeks before the national election. The postal service will then have more than enough time to deliver the ballots.
– Michael Shea, Kendall
VOTE IN PERSON
Doctors, nurses and first responders are dealing with COVID-19 infected people daily.
Our military are fighting on our behalf around the globe. If we can’t go to the polls in person to vote in the most important election of our lifetime, we don’t deserve the right to vote.
– Ileana de la Torriente,
Miami
KUDOS TO TRUMP
Despite all the obstacles the Democrats have erected, including the failed impeachment and the Mueller probe, President Trump continues to perform for the American people.
His announcement of the historic Isreal /UAE deal will help bring peace to the Middle East.
He built the most robust American economy in modern history. His advocacy for reopening the economy safely and as soon as possible will bring it back!
No COVID-19 patient who needed a ventilator failed to get one and there were plenty of hospital beds when they were desperately needed in New York.
He revitalized our antiquated CDC testing capability and now we are doing more tests than any other country.
The only recommendation Biden has contributed is to require a farmer in the middle of a 20-acre field to wear a mask.
Further, Trump’s “Warp speed” initiative to produce several hundred million doses of a vaccine before year’s end will happen.
Nancy Pelosi, with her usual partisan rhetoric, referred to the virus as the “Trump Virus”.
I wonder if she will refer to this new life-saving vaccine as the “Trump Vaccine”.
– Andrew Poiter, Pembroke Pines