Letters: Biden shouldn’t use tragedy for political gain; Let SCASD students learn in person

Don’t use tragedy for political gain

As a Democrat, every time I see Joe Biden‘s political ad incorporating the tragic death of his wife and children, I am saddened by our choice of candidates. What kind of unprincipled person uses such deep personal tragedy for political gain? What kind of party supports, or perhaps drives, this kind of messaging?

The message of concern about health care for all of us is not only ingenuous, it is emotionally manipulative. If you have suffered a loss, you know. After so many years in Washington leadership, surely Biden can find accomplishments to campaign on, instead of callously leveraging the loss of his wife and children.

Let students learn in-person

Every day without in-school learning, State College children fall further and further behind. The school district should provide the community with an explanation for why it is safe to attend an athletic practice each day, but it is not safe to go to school. If students are not safe in school, then they are not safe in sports.

An explanation should also be provided for why when SCASD is all remote, there is no synchronous instruction on Wednesdays. When “in-person” instruction occurs, teaching occurs on all five days. What is the difference? There are some students that are remote synchronous every day, so why are the children losing more instructional time?

The community is tired of ambiguity and hypocrisy. Students are safest in schools. Let them learn.

Leadership requires understanding of all issues

This election season is filled with issues that arouse passion: the pandemic; Black Lives Matter; the climate crisis; the economic crisis; the Second Amendment; abortion; rampant student debt, among other hot-button issues. But in this election, much more is at stake than any single issue. We need a president who can navigate multiple urgent national issues simultaneously, and with a calm, unifying objective and a set of clear policy initiatives to address our unprecedented challenges.

Is the new flock of pro-life judges worth the lives of 200,000 (and still counting) Americans lost to COVID? Are defenders of our Second Amendment okay that we don’t have adequate laws to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous, mentally ill people, domestic abusers, or hate group members? Do the working families of America enjoy trading employment for MAGA hats? Are we all happy with our head-in-the-sand approach to climate change, while watching the West Coast burn and the Gulf Coast sink into floodwaters?

Is our current leader offering any real plans — or is he too busy watching his favorite hosts on Fox News, golfing and tweeting?

Joe Biden has laid out reasonable plans to approach these weighty problems. Our current leader has offered none. Please consider the magnitude of issues we face when voting, not just one.

True leadership requires a deep understanding of these issues — and actual policies. Off-the-cuff-tweets don’t qualify as policy statements.

Draining the swamp?

In 2016, GOP Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell denied a hearing for Merrick Garland, who had been nominated to fill the Supreme Court seat made vacant by the passing of Justice Antonin Scalia.

McConnell, in fact, claimed that he’d refuse any hearings for any of President Barack Obama’s nominees whatsoever because it was an election year. It was a specious argument that, with nearly a full year left in this term, the sitting president somehow lacked the consent of the American people.

Now we know that this argument wasn’t just legally baseless but an outright lie. With only two months until Election Day, Senate Republicans are vowing that “President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.”

It was never about the American people, after all. It was a lie based on political expediency. It was one of the boldest deceptions in U.S. Senate history.

This is precisely the kind of dishonest, corrupt double-speak the so-called “swamp” is made of.

Obama was robbed of a qualified nominee. Full stop. If Republicans truly care about political honesty and integrity, they’d right this wrong and fix what’s been broken. GOP voters would at least demand consistency and hold off filling the late Justice Ginsburg’s seat until after the election in November.

This is your moment to prove that you are serious about bringing honesty and integrity back to Washington — that you are serious about draining the swamp.