Trump’s lack of pandemic leadership hurt country
How many Republicans does it take to stop a pandemic? Answer: Just One. Imagine where we would be today if ex-President Donald Trump had had the courage and leadership ability to place the country in lockdown, issue mask mandates, demand that everyone wear masks and be vaccinated as soon as vaccines became available.
Imagine!
PAUL GLASSER, DECATUR
Transportation chief Buttigeig failing to ease supply chain log jam
America has a continuing painful transportation problem, with no end in sight. An unprecedented supply chain logjam has ensnared the world’s largest economy, causing delays, disruptions, losses, shortages, and empty shelves, to say nothing of a shortage of heavy truck drivers.
Where is the jurisdiction? The U.S. Department of Transportation. Who has responsibility? It’s Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigeig. His is a cabinet-level, $221,000-a-year position of power and influence. Has he exercised them? Where, when, and how has he used it?
Have we seen his presence at a single congested seaport? At a struggling trucking terminal? At any depot or warehouse anywhere along the struggling supply chain? Ask yourself, was not and is not, his leadership needed at the very sites of logjams.
Meanwhile, he finds time to take paternity leave. He’s quick to speak on the Rittenhouse case. He urges Congress to pass legislation, much of which has nothing to do with transportation.
In America, political accountability is a low priority.
JIM THOMAS, ATLANTA
GOP shows growing affinity for violence
Americans should be increasingly alarmed at the Republicans’ rhetoric of violence and support of extremist groups and their actions. Rep. Paul Gosar’s cartoon video of him murdering AOC and the celebration of the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict are only the latest examples of the GOP’s growing affinity for violence. They refuse to condemn the bloody Jan. 6 insurrection and instead ally themselves with groups that participated in it, like Q-Anon, the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, and a host of armed “militias.” In addition, Trump’s use of inflammatory language during his campaigns and administration continues to be a powerful influence on his followers. They have disrupted school board meetings around the country to protest vaccine and masking mandates in the schools and made death threats to Republicans who have the temerity to disagree with their leader. Unless they renounce the use of violence and Trump’s dangerous extremism, the Republicans will encourage more political violence in the future.
LUCAS CARPENTER, CONYERS
Gas prices not high enough to deter holiday plans
Were folks really serious about canceling Thanksgiving travel because of high gas prices? Just for example, let’s say you are going to drive 400 miles for the trip, and your car gets 20 miles per gallon. Then you’ll use 20 gallons. If gas is $1 per gallon higher than last year, then your trip cost will only increase $20 due to the higher gas price. Is $20 really make-or-break for canceling the trip?
WALTER F. HORNE, WALESKA
