Sounding off: Post-election, politics still on readers' minds

Both Trump, Biden should retire

If former President Donald Trump truly believes in making America great again, he will become the patriot he has asked others to be and will announce that he will not be a candidate for president in 2024. One of the last things this country needs is a vindictive narcissist in the White House.

Because I thought that both major parties nominated flawed candidates in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, I voted for Trump because I believed the political philosophy of his administration would be more closely aligned with mine. During the early years of his term, when he had strong, competent Cabinet members, his administration took many steps to get this country headed in the right direction. His desire, however, to replace those Cabinet members with sycophants, his actions during the last year of his term, and his actions since he left office have convinced me that he should never be returned to the highest office in the land.

While I have spent most of this letter addressing Trump, I have the same message for President Biden. Mr. President, please save us further economic pain and suffering by announcing that you are retiring on Jan. 20, 2025. A rerun of the 2020 presidential election can only exacerbate the tension that currently exists in this nation.

Somewhere in this country there must be someone, whether Democrat or Republican, who possesses the leadership necessary to heal this country’s divisions and guide it toward being the prosperous land of freedom and opportunity that our children and grandchildren deserve.

John F. Hose

Greensburg

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Voters voted for democracy

I am so optimistic and encouraged by Tuesday’s election, not because of Republican or Democratic wins, but because of the voters themselves. Voters across the country stepped up in unprecedented numbers to vote for democracy, the Constitution, civility and the rule of law. They chose both Republican and Democratic candidates who supported truth, not lies; fact, not fiction; and the freedom for women to choose (whether that be abortion or something else), and guarded the safety of our children and the LGBTQ community, along with supporting the right for everyone to marry who they love.

Doing the right thing for all prevailed over doing the right thing for a few on Tuesday. With hope, perseverance, hard work and support, I am optimistic that those elected across the country will continue to carry out the will of the voters who put them in office. Our job as citizens is to remind government there is no place for conspiracy theories and personal agendas.

We all must be ever vigilant in finding the truth and holding our elected officials to that standard, too. We all must be willing to listen, compromise and empathize if we are ever going to create a society where in fact we can all live safely, equally, comfortably and happily.

JoAnn Seabol

Hempfield

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Pa. voters’ Forrest Gump choices

As the legendary Tom Hanks character Forrest Gump said, “Stupid is as stupid does.” This is certainly the case when the majority of Pennsylvanians choose to keep the same party in power that has over the course of only two years caused record high inflation and thrown the U.S. economy into a recession that may take years or decades to correct, allowed illegal immigration at an unprecedented level and are much more concerned with indicting Donald Trump than reducing real crime.

Dr. Mehmet Oz did his best and was the better choice to bring more moderation to the Senate; however, he could not overcome the constant personal attack advertisements, some filled with lies, from left-wing super PACs. The last-minute sucker punch by Oprah Winfrey’s endorsement of Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (which the Trib was more than happy to spotlight on its website for days) also hurt his candidacy.

Fetterman touted himself as a reformer, but I think that is a lie; he will become another Democrat rubber-stamp vote just as Sen. Bob Casey has been for years.

Congresswoman-elect Summer Lee is a socialist Democrat who I predict will quickly become the newest “Squad” member and help push the Democratic Party even further to the left. I know registered Democrats who voted for Lee simply because she is a Democrat without knowing anything about her background. Again … Forrest Gump.

A.J. Abate

Elizabeth

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Fetterman will overcome his health issues

Many famous and successful individuals have had health issues and other problems that they were able to overcome.

Franklin Roosevelt survived polio and could not walk and was elected president of the United States four times.

Bob Dole survived war wounds and served in the U.S. House and Senate.

Vietnam veteran and triple amputee Max Cleland served in the U.S. Senate.

John McCain survived serious injuries in Vietnam and seven years in a POW camp and went on to serve in the U.S. House and Senate.

Tammy Duckworth lost both legs in combat in the Middle East and serves as a U.S. senator.

I believe John Fetterman will join the ranks of these famous Americans and do an outstanding job for his state and his nation.

Jack Frank

Indiana

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Electing the dead is not so unusual

According to Newsweek magazine, there have been a number of people elected to office despite the fact that they were dead. Newsweek identified Simon Silva as the winner of last Tuesday’s election for city attorney in Chula Vista, Calif., despite dying a month before the election. In Tennessee, a Memphis area state representative named Barbara Cooper (who died two weeks before the election) defeated her opponent for her seat in the Tennessee State House. Earlier this year, residents of Palmhurst, Texas, voted to keep their mayor despite his death before the election.

Newsweek cited other examples in earlier years in Wyoming and North Dakota. So your Nov. 14 editorial cartoon is wrong.

Sheryl Stolzenberg

Squirrel Hill

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Maybe Oprah will have something for us all for Christmas

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman made Oprah Winfrey’s Christmas list this season. He’ll be under the tree we can’t afford without all the presents that won’t be there. And forget about going to Grandma’s, because gas is too expensive.

Maybe Oprah will have us all over to Braddock for her 12 days of Christmas giveaway, and give us a house for a dollar so we can fill up all the abandoned ones there. We can gather together and fight crime and brag about it 10 years later. Oprah, Joe and Jill Biden, Kamala Harris and Barack Obama can serve us our holiday meal in the soup kitchen. We flipped over Dr. Mehmet Oz not being a true Pennsylvanian, so I wonder how Oprah will like her suite in Hotel Braddock?

What has this country come to? Reality TV is minor in comparison.

Cheryl Koloshinsky

Latrobe

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Thoughts from the Trump rally

I got to President Trump’s rally in Latrobe at 2 p.m., and there was a long line waiting to get in. A reporter and her cameraman passed by and I asked what channel they worked for. She said, “CNN.” Well, everyone around me backed up at the same time and there was a big empty space around me and the reporter. It was hilarious.

The reporter asked me questions like, “Why are you here,” “What do you like about Trump” and “Who are you going to vote for.” I told her that Trump was good for the economy, inflation was down, gas was two-something a gallon, I kept getting raises at work and my investments kept going up. Then she asked me to tell her my name and where I live, which I did. After she left, everyone around me said, “Oh they’re never going to air that,” and they never did. I looked it up. It seems CNN only airs interviews where people talk bad about Trump. I find them very biased.

I took a lot of food with me, Cheetos, pepperoni rolls, Baby Ruth bars, and when the Secret Service guy searched my bag, he said, “Oh, you have the good stuff.” There was a lot of news media there, yet you didn’t see the rally on TV. Only Newsmax broadcast it. Sen. Doug Mastriano and Dr. Mehmet Oz were there. They didn’t win the state, but they did win Westmoreland County. I had a good time, but it was a lot of standing.

Susan Stiles

North Huntingdon