OPINION/LETTERS: Vulgar Joe Biden sign holder should have better things to do

Tiverton official creates a spectacle

Congrats to Laura Damon’s keen eye to capture the school bus behind Mr. John Sousa, a member of the Tiverton Budget Committee, displaying his legal right to protest in the Friday edition front page above the fold. With a four-letter word on a poster, and our President’s name below, so that every child on that school bus could learn of their First Amendment right before they get to school! She also captured in another historic photo

a Sousa supporter bringing him a coffee. Hopefully they will reach out and get a glossy for family members during the holiday season. Certainly a keepsake!

Sousa, who recently retired, obviously has no children or grandchildren! He says he likes to showcase his sign to the blue-collar workers on their way to work to put a smile on their face. Has he forgotten that every kid in this time zone is headed to school in the morning?

Maybe it is the “new politics,” the art of not getting along or the pandemic, or maybe halftime at the Super Bowl. Not sure! But the last seven or eight years has changed this generation and the next! The next, just don’t know it yet!

Ron Grandchamp, Newport

More should be expected from an elected official

I am writing this letter in response to the front page story in the NDN on Friday, April 29, featuring one Joseph Sousa and his idea of free speech.

I really do not care about what he thinks about our President but do object to his use of profanity on a sign that can be seen by children, He says he hides the sign when kids are near but if you look at the pictures that big yellow thing in them is a school bus and the sign is very visible.

On his sign he has written a word I would never use near children, clergy or any woman or for that matter even my father when he was still here. His total lack of respect for those around him should not have been applauded by your paper but should have been totally rejected.

Joe Biden reaction: A local elected official is using an expletive-laced sign to blame Joe Biden for inflation

His sign reminds me of the signs seen at many intersections saying "Homeless Please Help," and I would bet Joe drives right by them. Yes, Joe, you have the right to do what you want but as an official with the town of Tiverton one would expect much more. There are many other respectful words that could be used if you had the knowledge and really wanted to protest, not just get more attention for yourself.

The Newport Daily News should issue an apology to all those who saw this paper and condemn themselves and Mr. Sousa for his childish actions.

Jack Milburn, Newport

Shame that adults promote hate

As a mother, a daughter and a current Newport School Committee member, I hear many adults saying “kids” need to be more respectful. However, these days it’s the ADULTS that need to wash their mouths with soap.

The NDN article about the flag with the expletive - it is complete disrespect and targeted at our current President! I’m 64 and NEVER SEEN SUCH DISRESPECT and HATE. This behavior was unleashed by Trump and his cronies!

I and my entire family used to be Republicans. These last five to six years have left me in shock! The Trump Lies, the Trump Hate, the Trump Con - it’s the new Republican Party.

There were 61 judges, many Republican, that found "there is no proof of voter fraud." Wake up, change the channel - see the lies, the disrespect and the disinformation you are being told. Civil Discourse GONE! How tragic.

Louisa Boatwright, Newport

Tiverton sign holder can do better

I read about Mr. Sousa's displays not with anger as a Democrat, but with dismay as a Republican. I remember when I was a preteen using profanity was funny. Now it is simply a sign of a poor vocabulary, a vulgar nature and limited maturity.

What is discouraging is that Mr. Sousa feels that his protest has value. No, it does not. What would have value to me as a voter would be if Mr. Sousa came up with some real empirically based analysis of the root of inflation and his plan to lower it. I love to vote for candidates with new and better ideas for government.

This used to be the mainstay of the Republican party. Republicans used to support free trade, balanced budgets, efficient spending, and innovative ways of dealing with problems other than throwing money at them. Now they support an aging real estate salesman, who seems to have publicly broken at least eight of the 10 commandments, started several trade wars and busted the budget several times.

Farseeing conservatives like Benjamin Disraeli, Otto von Bismarck and even Mitt Romney came up with social programs that worked. Massachusetts Republican Gov. Charlie Baker outpolled Rhode Island Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo, which proves that the Republicans, if they try, can come up with good government. Not a travesty of the Sopranos.

Perhaps Mr. Sousa's time would be better spent devising a policy that would require more than a small piece of cardboard to communicate. His positions might attract votes rather than honks.

William Gamble, Newport

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Vulgar Joe Biden sign holder should have better things to do: LETTERS