Opinion | A Nation on Edge, a Presidency in the Balance
To the Editor:
Re “Key States Up for Grabs as Trump-Biden Battle Extends Late Into Night” (front page, Nov. 4):
A blue wave. A landslide victory for Joe Biden. As Election Day came to a close, I quickly came to terms with the reality that neither was going to happen. Perhaps the most devastating reality was that so many Americans really love President Trump. So many of my fellow citizens found his lies, his braggadocio, his handling of the virus, his attack on those who dared to contradict him, his abusiveness totally acceptable, even admirable.
Are my values, my morals, my ideals, my respect for my fellow man no longer in vogue? Is my hope for a greener tomorrow out of date? Do Black lives really matter? Does the Constitution still uphold freedom and justice?
Every presidential election leaves one side questioning its tactics. But this election leaves one side questioning just what America is, what it stands for and what its hopes for tomorrow really are.
Doris Fenig
Boca Raton, Fla.
To the Editor:
In his election night speech, President Trump effectively declared war on American democracy. He baselessly proclaimed victory and falsely asserted that the election was being stolen from him through fraud. He demanded that the counting of votes continue in Arizona, where he trailed, but then said “we want all voting to stop” in the undecided states where he narrowly led at the time, and vowed to go to the Supreme Court to bring that about.
In essence, Mr. Trump was demanding that the normal counting of legally and timely cast ballots be selectively halted in states where they could tip the presidential election in favor of Joe Biden.
While it is doubtful that he can actually disenfranchise voters as he wishes, his very suggestion and unprincipled rhetoric underscore his lack of respect for the Constitution and for the institutional integrity of our democratic system of government.
Stephen A. Silver
San Francisco
To the Editor:
Polls showing Joe Biden with a sizable lead have again incorrectly predicted the presidential election. The American people still don’t want high taxes or job-killing government restrictions. Nor do they want open borders or sanctuary cities. Americans support law enforcement and the military and don’t want a socialist government that will lead to bankruptcy and the loss of our freedoms.
They don’t want political bias in the media or censorship, and they don’t want to be lectured about social injustice by professional athletes or movie actors. Americans do not want to give up their right to bear arms. We are tired of identity politics and a counterculture movement that strives to destroy our nation. We reject the politicization of everything from pandemics to the rioting and looting in our cities.
This populist movement that Donald Trump started four years ago cannot be stopped by a corrupt establishment, and no amount of spin by those who control the information in our nation can stop it. The left will delay the inevitable by dragging out the final outcome for as long as they can, but this revolution goes on for four more years.
Charles Michael Sitero
Ormond Beach, Fla.
To the Editor:
I was surprised but not shocked by Donald Trump’s victory four years ago. Working Americans had been on the losing side of the growing income gap in this country for too long and many were understandably willing to take a chance on the outsider who promised to upend the established order.
But I am shocked by the way the 2020 election seems to be turning out. After four years of President Trump’s chaotic rule, I expected him to be clearly rejected by the majority of the voters in favor of the somnolent but stable Democratic alternative.
I was wrong. Whatever the final results, one thing is clear from this election: “Red” and “blue” represent more than colors on a political map of the United States. We live in two different countries.
John E. Stafford
Rye, N.Y.
