Living in Florida is like traveling back in time

Moving south, traveling back in time

I am a lifelong Chicagoan who is lucky to spend the winter in Sarasota. I traveled here for the warm weather in Florida.

Now I find that I am in a state that celebrates the birthdays of Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis. I am in the land of banning books and now Florida has outlawed the teaching of sociology in public colleges.

I knew that I was traveling south but didn’t realize I was also moving backward in time.

Gerald Lasin, Sarasota and Deerfield, Illinois

Biden is bigger threat to democracy

Since the Biden administration has no accomplishments to tout to the voters (see Afghanistan, border crisis and inflation), it appears that his reelection campaign is reduced to two issues: abortion and “threat to democracy.”

The first has been dealt with by the Dobbs decision, which leaves the abortion issue up to the states.

The second is based on the events of Jan. 6, where those who felt that their candidate was cheated acted out to express their displeasure. This was a one-time event that did not alter the process of electing President Joe Biden.

Compare that to the reaction of the Democrats when Donald Trump won the 2016 election.

They refused to accept the result for the next four years. First it was the “Steele Dossier” and the Mueller investigation for two years, followed by two fruitless impeachments of Trump. All to no avail.

These efforts certainly were a challenge to our democracy.

We are now dealing with Biden’s failure to enforce the immigration laws passed by Congress.

So which candidate has been a bigger threat to our democracy?

Artie Reiss, Sarasota

Trump proved his credentials as tough guy

The Jan. 19 edition had a letter questioning former President Donald Trump’s toughness (“Stop crazy talk about tough Trump”).

I would like to cite the following: When Trump took office, ISIS was gobbling territory and committing atrocities. Trump eliminated them in less than two months.

When the Syrians were gassing civilians, President Barack Obama drew a red line and never enforced it. Trump staged a massive attack on the gassing base. No more gassing.

Contrast that to President Joe Biden, who was held in contempt by the British Parliament when he pulled U.S. troops out of Afghanistan and never told our U.K. allies.

Trump has on occasion cited Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un, but to fail to acknowledge the strengths of your enemies is foolish.

There were no wars under Trump. Tough enough?  Yes, indeed.

Richard Paolillo, Nokomis

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Is Florida becoming a backward state?