Thursday's letters: Time for Democrats to choose a new leader

Replace Biden with new standard-bearer

President Joe Biden must step aside for the good of the country and the Democratic Party.

Let him become kingmaker (or queenmaker). His credibility is gone (“I never talked to my son about business …” and much else), as well as any leadership abilities. He stumbles and stutters as he visibly ages.

Some good policies have come out of his administration, but now it’s time to take advantage of a golden opportunity for the Democratic Party to create a new, dynamic, energetic, responsible leadership role in American politics, especially now, while the Republican Party is in disarray and disorganized under the traitor Donald Trump.

Write to us: How to send a letter to the editor

Do it now, before it’s too late to shift the path. Biden’s image has become almost a comic one, but tragic in its worldly importance. Running a world power, especially today, is serious business and must be met with vigor, intelligence, good judgment and visible determination.

Change the course of events now and change the course of world history.

Andy Voikos, Venice and Barnstable, Massachusetts

No doubt Trump must be prosecuted

I had to respond when I read the absurd column Sept. 6 by Jonathan Turley (“Prosecuting Trump carries risks. Here’s why we may regret it one day.”) This article contains several logical fallacies.

First, Robert Califf, FDA commissioner, is correct when he says that “misinformation is a medical risk.” I believe most doctors would agree with that.

Second, Turley states “in pursuing Trump, progressives are citing the same legal authority once used to justify imprisoning socialists and union organizers.”

That’s comparing apples and oranges. Those people were not trying to subvert a national election. And the J6 Committee was bipartisan.

Make no mistake: Jan. 6 was not organized by the Democrats. Trump must be prosecuted and barred from office by the 14th Amendment, since he sat on his behind for four hours while the attack on the Capitol unfolded. There is no getting around that.

Further, every member of Congress who attended one of the Dec. 14, 2020, meetings, held in seven states to choose fake electors, should also be barred from holding office under the same clause. This includes Reps. Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene.

And no, the Democrats are not “weaponizing the DOJ.”

No one should ever vote for someone too willing to instill or approve of dictatorship. This has nothing to do with the Democrats, but with right versus wrong.Erika Veit, Venice

Rein in home insurance rates gone wild

We live in the “free” state of Florida. It allows insurance companies “free” rein to charge whatever they want to homeowners and homeowners associations.

I live in a condo community in Bradenton. Just a few short years ago, our association insurance was $295,000. Our insurance projection for 2024 is $1,646,000. That is more than a 500% increase.

Our legislators and our governor in Tallahassee have done virtually nothing to address this crisis. Oh, they did restrict insured homeowners’ and HOAs’ ability to sue the insurance companies for failing to provide coverage that was promised.

Homeowners insurance: Why are premiums in Florida rising faster than anywhere else?

We were told that would lower our rates in a few years. From sky-high to almost sky-high? Why haven’t our legislators and governor done more?

Well, insurers, despite claiming they are going broke in Florida, still manage to make substantial contributions to the campaign funds of many of our legislators. “Pay to play” in the “free” state of Florida.

Can we expect any new legislation?  Not if we keep sending the same political hacks back to Tallahassee. I urge voters to tell their local politicians that they need to represent their constituents, not the insurance companies.

Kris A. Perry, Bradenton

Let Buffett’s death serve as warning

Most of you know by now that legendary singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett died Sept. 1 at the age of 76.

I’ve been a Buffett fan for decades, ever since I heard “Come Monday” for the first time, in the ’70s. If you are familiar with the song then you’ll know what I mean when I say that I, too, wore Hush Puppies back then.

I’ve seen hundreds of tributes to Buffett and it has been said, “He lived his life like a song till his very last breath.”

What I haven’t seen much about is the cause of his death, a very rare form of skin cancer called Merkel cell skin cancer. It can be deadly, but like many cancers, early detection is the key.

Dr. Manisha Thakura, director of the Merkel Cell Carcinoma Clinic at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, said, “It is a potentially curable cancer if caught early.”

As we enjoy Jimmy Buffett’s songs, let’s also use his death as a warning to all of us. Get checked out by a dermatologist regularly.

Howard Schapiro, Sarasota

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Replace Biden with vigorous new leader