Remember, our fellow citizens are not enemies

With the election just days away I wanted to remind everyone that no matter what the candidates say, our fellow citizens are not our enemies. There was a time in this country when our political differences did not define us. It was just another small piece of who we were; a time when Republican and Democratic members of Congress actually socialized and worked together for the betterment of the country. We need to find a path back to those days.

I’ve preached this idea over and over to everyone I know: Stop watching political commentary, stop reading social media posts on political commentary, and start reaching out to people you know on the other side of the political spectrum. Most of them are just like you; they want to be able to feed and clothe themselves and their families and they’d like to earn enough money to make life easier for them.

For several years, our conservative friends in Arizona had no idea that my wife and I were progressive. When they found out recently, they were shocked. But it didn’t change our relationships at all (well maybe they thought we were nuts, but they didn’t say so). We knew all along where they stood politically, but it was never important enough to change how we felt about them; we all raised our kids together, complained about finances and spouses together, and went on vacations together. Don’t buy into the rhetoric that regular people on the other side want to destroy our democracy. Find ways to unite with our fellow citizens rather than separate from them. There are enough smart people in this country to figure out how to do this. I just hope it’s not too late.

— Michael Clinton, Longmont

The choice to uphold democracy is still ours

Mr. Trump offers a challenge to each voter who wants to preserve our democracy.

Of concern is that Mr. Trump blurs the lines between church and state. He peddles and profits from “his” Bible, printed in China, which includes a Judeo-Christian Bible and American founding documents, all of which he might well read and follow. He also promises Christians voting for him they will never need to vote again and to blame Jews if he loses the election. A theocracy could ensue.

Of concern is that Mr. Trump surrounds himself with people who are more loyal to him than to our Union and threatens to target those who disagree with him. He discourages bipartisanship and claims to be the “protector” of women with life-threatening pregnancies. He admires dictators, saying he will be a dictator “on day one, but only on day one.” Even one day is anti-American. An autocracy could ensue.

On the line is the survival of our democracy that allows for the separation of church and state with a president who abides by the Constitution and serves all the people, not just his or her select groups.

Theocracy, autocracy or democracy? The choice for democracy is still ours. May we accept the challenge Mr. Trump presents and vote for Kamala Harris.

— Carolyn Kesterson, Longmont

It is time for Harris to distance and distinguish

Our future President has shown a deep understanding of human nature. Specifically, her public recognition of her own fallibility, her promise of inclusivity, her appeal to stop “finger pointing,” and her refusal to engage with her opponent. All this provides the space to disarm the oppositional mind … now and in our hopeful future.

The current President understands none of these things. His recent response to the Puerto Rico “joke” shows he is not on message. Not with the program. In fact, his words are counter-productive to encouraging open hearts and suggests to the cynical that the Harris campaign engages in the very kind of sideways and cowardly communication that the “joke” exemplifies.

It is time for our future President to examine the limits of compassion and protocol with respect to President Biden. The are good reasons he has stepped aside. The opportunity to follow the path forward must not be sacrificed by well-intentioned impulses to ignore the unskillful stumbling of our elders. For the greater good of the nation, it is time to walk the path with the same elegance, firmness and honest leadership that has laid it out. An appeal to the Harris campaign: It is time to distance and distinguish. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.

— Basil Beltran, Longmont

We must have learned something from history

I am angry because I have lived 88 years and now come to witness a low point in the history of my Country. We may survive this challenge; but, the fact that we have sunk this low is depressing. There is a significant part of our population that is so uninformed that they are seriously supporting and may indeed elect a dictator who will, as he has promised on day one, begin to round up for deportation some one million people per year. The cost would be so high that I believe that the authorities in charge will quickly conclude that it would be more cost-effective to do as an old-fashioned dog-catcher would do, instead of building expensive camps to hold them. After all, we must have learned something from history!

— Don Bryan, Boulder