Let’s do better
Now that the elections are over, and we can watch television or use our emails and social media sites without the constant barrage of political advertising, it would be nice to step back and ask “why?” Oh, I get it that the intent of the advertising is to get the party or person elected, but just why do we waste billions of dollars on advertising that is designed to confuse and divide Americans in order to give one political party an advantage over the other?
Just think how much good could be done with those dollars: better schools, higher teacher salaries, preschool programs for everyone, affordable child care, higher pay for law enforcement and increased training, research on disease prevention and cures, safer highways and streets, cleaner air and water, flood mitigation, free post-secondary education to prepare young women and men for jobs, rebuilding the post office system, infrastructure improvements, installing solar on roofs, bolstering Social Security and Medicare, and even reducing taxes and the deficit. The list is endless.
But instead of using these dollars for the general good, the sponsors use these ads to divide and confuse Americans to their own political advantage. I am calling on our elected officials to do better, to create a system that works without dividing and deriding.
Mary L. Barhydt, Norfolk
Give solutions
Exxon Mobil reported its highest profits in its 152-year history. President Joe Biden gets blamed for high gas prices when he has no control over Exxon — capitalism. Gov. Glenn Youngkin blames the prior governor for closing schools and now low test scores. Did he forget how deadly COVID-19 was before vaccines were available? Scores are low nationwide. Seems playing the blame-game instead of acknowledging the cause and finding a solution is now the political game.
I have yet to hear the solution from the Republicans. All the bills that Biden has gotten passed are addressing these issues: hearing aids over the counter, low cost of $35 for insulin, and an infrastructure bill that was long overdue. Let’s not forget Russian President Vladimir Putin and his war with Ukraine having affected oil and grain prices. Inflation is a global issue, not just in America. Doubt the U.K. is blaming Biden.
It took former President Barack Obama four years to clean up the economy after former President George W. Bush’s White House.
Gloria Ross, Virginia Beach
Condemn it
When is the leadership of the Republican Party going to openly and explicitly condemn the violence that continues to happen as a result of former President Donald Trump denying that he lost the 2020 election? Rep. Liz Cheney has displayed more courage than any of the male leadership in the Senate and House. Wasn’t Jan. 6 enough? Is it going to take a husband or a child of a Democratic leader to be killed or held for ransom? To paraphrase James Brown, the godfather of soul, please, please, please, my Republican friends, come to your senses.
Trump was elected because some of you thought we needed someone in Washington who wasn’t a politician. Just be honest with yourselves and look at what you got: He was impeached twice; criminal charges might be brought against him in Georgia. And make no mistake about this, they are not all “witch hunts.” Some of you elected him because you didn’t want “politics as usual.” Is what you got, what you wanted? A president who might have pulled us out of NATO at a critical time in European affairs, a president who supports celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz, a president who takes top secret documents to his house, and the list goes on. My Republican friends, you have to put pressure on your leadership to denounce what’s going on.
Maury Neville, Chesapeake