To the Editor:
Re “Biden Picks Team Set on Fortifying World Alliances” (front page, Nov. 25):
Watching President-elect Joe Biden’s news conference on Tuesday brought tears of appreciation, and I wondered why. The voters’ rejection of the dangerous incompetence of Donald Trump is an obvious answer. But it goes deeper.
The usual transitions of power and key positions always represent a changing of the guard, a shift of policy, but nothing to warrant an emotional response like the one I experienced. But Mr. Trump so blew up the norms of how government should work to help solve Americans’ problems that now, with real grown-ups coming back in to pick up the reins and the pieces, I felt such a burst of gratitude and pride.
This is truly Mr. Biden’s moment. He has long waited in the wings and is now center stage with an excellent supporting cast.
Diane Garthwaite
Scarborough, Maine
To the Editor:
Tuesday’s news conference introducing members of Joe Biden’s team reveals the true toll of the Trump presidency. In order to defeat an autocrat, we have had to settle for a Republican-light team calling for a revival of American “leadership” in the world. “America is back,” Mr. Biden said, “ready to lead the world.”
Many of us who had no choice but to vote for Mr. Biden remember all too well what Democratic world leadership meant for Vietnam. We recall Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton voting for the invasion of Iraq.
The world’s nations have not elected our country as their leader. We should form fair alliances, energetically participate in the United Nations and at long last stop boycotting the International Criminal Court. We should be good citizens of the world, not its unelected, self-imposed leader. The very idea of “leader of the world” reeks of arrogance, privilege, ignorance and intolerance.
Neil Mullin
Montclair, N.J.
To the Editor:
Re “A Great Election, Against All Odds” (editorial, Nov. 25):
Republicans fear the will of the American electorate. Not so deep down, they know that on policy after policy the majority of voters do not want what the Republican Party stands for. That is why disinformation is a core strategy. That is why they work so strenuously to selectively prevent people they anticipate making choices counter to what Republicans want through voter suppression and partisan gerrymandering, and when things do not go their way, cancel actual votes.
Put another way, for Republicans in 2020 democracy is not a soaring principle or constitutional requirement. It is an inconvenience to be discarded when it challenges holding on to power.
Arthur H. Camins
Beacon, N.Y.
To the Editor:
The Times still refuses to acknowledge a crucial reality that many of the 73 million Americans who voted for President Trump understand. There is a significant difference between Mr. Trump’s strong but highly defective persona and his policies. His insistence on opening schools is one significant example, when one weighs the benefits of the in-school experience, especially for younger and poorer kids, against the coronavirus risks.
I am dismayed by the considerable damage to our country from four years of wholesale dismissal of “anything Trump” without rigorous evaluation of each policy.
Samuel Bahn
New York
Source: Elections - nytimes.com
