Post-debate Democratic disarray only helps a GOP that rallied behind a convicted felon | Opinion

Unify or cede

Children are taught that failure is a chance at learning something and trying again. That Democrats are in disarray after one bad night is incredible. I can attest to the good President Biden and his administration has done. Yes, he is old, but he at least has experience and doesn’t want to dismantle this country for his own gain. We have already seen the consequences of electing a president who appoints people, such as Supreme Court associates, who will determine our lives for years.

Just like the right unites behind a man with 34 felony convictions and confusing speeches, Democrats must unite for their candidate. Disarray is a gift to Republicans. We nor our progeny (if we choose to have them) will survive a second Donald Trump term.

The Heritage Foundation’s policy proposals, known collective as “Project 2025,” is an alarming threat to us all. Allowing Trump to retake the presidency will thrust us into a dictatorship. We need to pay attention.

Yoana C. Corro,

Miami

Chaplain law

Re: the July 5 Miami Herald online story, “Miami-Dade considers school chaplain program, but many school districts staying away.” How wonderfully ironic to read that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ back door attempt to foist religion on schoolchildren is meeting resistance from the very school districts one would expect to be most receptive.

Sumter County Schools Superintendent Richard Shirley represents a conservative district but is concerned that The Satanic Temple — recognized by the IRS as a religion and “known for its activism in defense of pluralism and secularism in American public life” — has offered to send its chaplains to Florida schools.

Shirley missed a “teaching moment,” as his concern was shared by the founders of our nation and is why our Bill of Rights begins with the Religion Clauses. They knew of the carnage that can come from disagreements over religion.

Michael K. Cantwell,

Delray Beach

Education disconnect

The education gap between what’s taught to our students and what their future employers want them to know is as wide as the Grand Canyon. “When you get a teaching license then I’ll listen to you” is an often-heard expression regarding changes in curriculum. No one wants to waste a single hour learning something they’ll never use when they could be learning something that will help them land a high-paying job.

I wish I could reclaim all the hours of high school PE spent when I could’ve been learning Spanish. I also want back all the hours spent memorizing formulas. Elon Musk never told his SpaceX engineers to figure out how to land a first-stage rocket on a barge in high winds, but only with the formulas they memorized.

What I never want back are the 2,900 hours spent making sure my kids were experts at reading; those were the most precious and rewarding.

Ben Furleigh,

Port Charlotte

Only in America

Coconut Grove’s Fourth of July concert in Peacock Park was supposed to be a celebration of America. It quickly turned into anything but. Just three songs into the performance, the conductor repeatedly chanted “Venezuela!” He was met with cheers from the crowd, as he added that, “we have to play a song from Venezuela,” which the orchestra proceeded to do.

That any Fourth of July event, much less one organized by the City of Miami, would toast a foreign nation and play its music is a disgrace. I left the event immediately. I have nothing against Venezuelans or any immigrant community, but the actions of those in attendance were inappropriate.

My ancestors fought in every major American war dating back to the Revolution, therefore my own Independence Day should be respected. People wonder why “America First” has become such a popular term. This is why. Americans are tired of feeling like strangers in their own country.

That Miami couldn’t even put America first on her own birthday is sad. The city and Commissioner Damian Pardo should be ashamed.

Eduardo Neret,

Miami

Time for change

I agree with many experts that President Joe Biden should step down in favor of a younger, more impressive candidate. This does not belie the factual accomplishments during Biden’s administration: a fast-growing economy, an all-time high stock market, the lowest unemployment level in 50 years, with inflation beginning to fall and illegal immigration now at its lowest level.

Unfortunately, Biden did not capitalize on these accomplishments during the presidential debate. He also neglected to focus on ex-President Donald Trump’s moral and legal vulnerabilities, his isolationist foreign policy, his retaliatory promises, his announced forecast to remove and supplant career government employees with clones of his negative persona and his canoodling of dictators Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin.

If Biden voluntarily stepped down, a more effective presidential candidate would serve the party, the people of our nation and our democracy well. This justifies and behooves the Democratic Party to get a better candidate, while it is still timely, ahead of the party’s convention.

H. Allen Benowitz,

Miami

Presidential power

I taught middle school civics for several years, often teaching the difference between a king and a president. On a board, I would write “King” and under it I wrote “law.” In a column next to “King” I wrote “Law” and under it was “the president.”

This was a simple concept, but at the time of the American Revolution, a revolutionary idea. For thousands of years, the king, emperor, czar, or whatever the person in charge was called made the rules but did not have to follow them.

Now, thanks to the U. S. Supreme Court, we will follow the Richard Nixon statement, “When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.”

Peter Stecher,

Stuart

Joe shouldn’t go

A big thank you to Patricia Lopez for writing the truth in her July 4th op-ed, “Replacing Joe Biden is a fantasy that Democrats must abandon.” After a week of reading and listening to numerous opinions expressed by terrified Democrats and exuberant Republicans, it’s apparent the future of our presidency is on the line.

Anyone who couldn’t see beyond Donald Trump’s projectile lying during the presidential debate is blind. His rat-a-tat-tat lies and deceptive innuendos make for great theater, but none of that takes into consideration the true knowledge and experience of the other candidate.

No one should count Joe Biden out. The president is experienced and compassionate. The welfare of this vastly divided country is his priority. I would rather have a president who knows how to protect my democracy than someone who has to practice rebutting the words of an idiot. As Lopez wrote, “a replacement for Biden will not have the trust and relationships that Biden has built over the decades.”

Deborah Hibbitt,

Miami Springs

Hard choice

Will President Joe Biden run? Will he resign? Will he succumb to the 25th Amendment?

I’m a conservative and also ask these questions. I am not enamored by either candidate. To have this binary choice in a nation of more than 330 million folks defies credulity.

I know that to sit home and not vote is not the answer. Nor is it to vote for a third party candidate. That is the same as throwing away my vote, unless there really is a viable candidate, like Joe Manchin for example. Our country will persevere despite who we elect in November.

But why are we making it so difficult?

Roger Shatanof,

Coral Gables

Powered by China

With heat, storms and floods making life increasingly unbearable for more and more people, we must make global warming mitigation our top priority. If we can get inexpensive electric cars and solar panels from China, we should.

Protecting domestic suppliers isn’t worth the awful effects of climate change. If it takes price support in the near term to make our companies competitive, we should provide that. Survival must be our guide.

Ted Burg,

Pembroke Pines

Still winning

The Florida Panthers’ championship was definitely a breath of fresh air after the presidential debate.

Rita Alvarez,

Miami