Dem strategy is my wife’s strategy
America used a proven, time-honored method to light a fire under the Biden administration. America told an old man that he was too old to do a job. It’s the same method my wife uses when she really wants something done!
— Jim Dempsey, Edgewood
Inflation update good for Harris
The Consumer Price Index rose less than 3 percent in the 12 months through July, the smallest annual increase in over three years. It’s the latest confirmation that the inflation shock is likely over. While prices are not actually falling, the rate of increase has greatly eased, and this is good news for Kamala Harris’ bid for president. Republicans have tried to tie her to the higher inflation rates. However, as vice president, she had only a minimal impact on any policies that may have exacerbated the inflation problem. When this data is combined with new polls that show Harris is slightly better than Trump for “managing” the economy, this news looks even better for her. This inflation report will provide even more wind under the wings of her campaign and lift her closer and closer to realizing her ambition to become our next president.
— Ken Derow, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Hard to imagine Harris handling dictators
I fear we are experiencing the same dilemma with our presidential election as we had with the Baltimore mayoral election: corruption vs. incompetence. Bottom line, I cannot comprehend Kamala Harris dealing with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
— Don Colburn, Havre de Grace
Politicians in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones
I was amused to read JD Vance’s criticism of Tim Walz’s 24 years of National Guard service, during which Walz attained the highest enlisted rank available. This is in stark contrast to the non-service record of Vance’s running mate, Donald Trump, who received four educational exemptions and one spurious medical exemption for heel bone spurs to avoid serving in Vietnam. According to testimony before a congressional committee, Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen quoted Trump as saying that he made up a fake injury, “because I wasn’t going to Vietnam.” In a Truth Social post, Trump slammed Walz as a disgrace over his military career. Perhaps Trump and Vance should heed the sound advice that “people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”
— Beryl Rosenstein, Pikesville
Why this Republican started voting for Democrats
I was an Iowa-born, straight-ticket voting, multi-generational Republican. My values aligned with the party’s values and candidates. But, over time I came to realize I did not agree with it. My tipping point was Sarah Palin, I could no longer be associated with whoever thought she should be a heartbeat away from presidency (and now they have done it again with JD Vance). When I now see what various Republicans are railing against — Bud Light, immigrants, gun safety, librarians, childless couples, Centers for Disease Control, women’s health, Disney, crowd size, election officials — I am even more convinced I made the right choice. Having now selected Donald Trump, it is no longer a party of values, simply a cult. To begin to understand him, just look at people he chose who then went to jail, who he backstabbed, who wrote tell-all books about him or now campaign against him. Trump certainly WANTS to be president, but he has already demonstrated to the world he has no idea how to actually BE president. Those who think he’s a leader should research the original meaning of the term “drinking the Kool-Aid.”
— Nolan North, Pasadena
Is Biden or Walz more dishonorable?
At first glance, 24 years of military service is highly admirable.
As I understand it, Kamala Harris’ Democratic vice presidential running mate, Tim Walz, reenlisted in the Army National Guard for a six-year term immediately after the al-Qaeda terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
While stationed in Italy in early 2005 as an acting command sergeant major, his battalion was notified of possible mobilization to Iraq within two years as part of the United States’ global war on terror.
By this time, Mr. Walz was entertaining a run for Congress. However, he’s contemporaneously quoted as saying he was committed to readying his troops for war and serving as their enlisted leader should that deployment letter come, which it did several months later in July 2005. However, Mr. Walz had already taken a two-years’ premature retirement in May.
Soldiers were reportedly “shocked” and demoralized by the sudden departure.
I’d have to take some time to consider which of the following is more objectively despicable:
1. August 2021: President Biden, anxious to return to his Rehoboth Beach chaise lounge, sneaks a peek at his watch as 13 dead American soldiers are unloaded from an Air Force cargo plane that has just landed from Afghanistan.
2. May 2005: Acting Command Sergeant Major Tim Walz abandons his troops.
Dishonor can’t be rationalized.
— Scott R. Hammond, Baltimore