Views from readers: Opening the schools + mail-in voting
Divine rights
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the kings of England and France declared they ruled by the divine right.
This meant that they were not answerable to the people, but only to God. Therefore, in the name of God, they freely pursued the policies, taxes and governing according to their own will. These kings increased their power and wealth exponentially.
In a recent campaign trip to Ohio, President Trump said the former vice president was “against God.”
Not only is this statement bizarre, it is false.
Mr. Biden is a lifelong practicing Catholic. He said many times that he has sought and received great consolation from his faith, particularly when he lost his wife and daughter in an accident and then a son to brain cancer.
Politically, our president is drifting toward the divine right of presidents by proclaiming that Mr. Biden is “against God.” In 1776, the American revolution rejected the divine right of kings and, in its place, adopted the U.S. Constitution.
On Nov. 3, we, the people, choose in which direction to steer the future of this country.
Charles A. Boggs
Long Beach
Mail-in voting
I’d like to express some thoughts on mail-in voting.
Our president believes that mail-in voting would lead to massive fraud and a questionable election result.
Personally, I don’t believe this alarmist attitude is justified, and there is no historical basis to support this conviction.
But I do believe that the logistics of processing a staggered onslaught of mail-in ballots will be problematic, especially in terms of providing a timely election result. I wonder if some hybrid version of mail-assisted voting could be a viable option?
What if we mail the ballots out to our citizen’s homes? There they could complete the ballot and seal it in an envelope. On election day they could drive-by their normal polling location and place their completed ballot in a receptacle. Then the election workers could crosscheck the validity of the ballots, and begin the process of counting the votes.
There could still be a small, in-person voting area for people who believe that they wrongly didn’t receive a ballot, hopefully the exception and not the rule. This method would prevent the possible spread of COVID-19 in a crowded polling place.
This is just an idea that I’d like to share. We have time to implement something like this, if acted on quickly.
Manuel Winfred Woodall III
Biloxi
Opening the schools
I realize that folks have concerns about schools reopening. However, I work at a retail grocery store and we have the same concerns at the store. But we open every day.
How would that go if we pushed back opening the grocery stores?
We take as many safety precautions as possible for ourselves and the customer. The schools will do the same. We are around thousands of strangers weekly and we somehow manage to open and take care of our customers.
I personally have a hard time understanding all the fuss about opening schools back up!. Do what needs to be done at the school level and keep the schools open. Simple as that. Kids need to have as much normality as possible.
Shane Stockstill
Picayune