Views from readers: Trump’s words + flawed candidates
Flawed candidates
In 2016, we faced a choice between two flawed candidates.
I picked Donald Trump.
I stand by that decision in spite of how poorly he has performed as commander in chief. He has done well with the economy but is divisive and erratic with regard to international affairs and his ability to retain good advisors. He prefers quislings to competent advisors.
Today, my inclination is to vote for Joe Biden. The only problem I have is that he likely will not fulfill his term. In that event, we risk having a vice president chosen because of race and gender, rather than competence.
That’s a scary proposition.
Bill Curtis
Ocean Springs
Mail fraud?
Just before a California special election earlier this year, an 83-year-old lady was found to have 89 mail-in ballots in her mail box, all with different names. Someone in the complex noticed and called the authorities. Luckily they were smart enough to call federal authorities.
The ballots were sent to the wrong address by the California Democratic Party in an effort to reshape the outcome of a U.S. congressional seat. This is just one of many examples of voter fraud and mail fraud in our country.
Absentee ballots should be restricted to service members who are away from their respective districts, and handicapped or disabled people who are unable to physically manage to make it to the polls. Period.
The special election in California was to replace a Congresswoman who resigned after a sexual misconduct scandal. Our rights to vote for the candidate of our choice shall not be tampered with or denied, and not delivered out of the trunk of someone’s car because they “discovered some new ballots” printed illegally to sway an election.
Malcolm McBee
Gulfport
Pick your words
President Trump’s sole talent is a gift for gab.
He’s a motormouth. It’s easy to spout verbiage when you’re untethered to truth.
At press briefings he interrupts questioners and shifts the narrative to praise himself.
Trump uses flashy-sounding but meaningless, over-the-top subjective words to brag about his made-up accomplishments. Listen for “incredible, unbelievable, tremendous, fantastic, amazing, wonderful, spectacular and beautiful.” He used “incredible” four times in one rambling sentence.
These are the glittery words of a carny showman, not a president. Showy on the outside, hollow on the inside.You hear them in TV product pitches designed to separate you from your money.
He uses these fuzzy words as camouflage, shiny objects to throw out while tap-dancing around the facts. Facts to Trump are like the crucifix to Dracula.
Trump accompanies his empty verbiage with sweeping arm and hand gestures, as if he’s trying to hold the attention of an audience of toddlers. It’s an affectation designed to divert your attention.
The press should be calling Trump out on his avoidance efforts. Instead, I’m now hearing TV journalists themselves mindlessly spouting Trump’s favorite show words “incredible” and “incredibly.”
They are unknowingly helping to legitimize Trump’s use of such words, the opposite of what they should be doing.The danger is that these showy throwaway words tend to slip by our awareness and suck the air out of what’s real.
Richard Harkness
Ocean Springs