To the Editor:
On Wednesday Joseph R. Biden Jr. will be sworn in as our 46th president. I am filled with hope and at peace knowing that, whatever the next four years bring, we have as president a wise, caring, gentle and highly qualified leader to take us to a place that felt unreachable just a few months ago.
Imagine news conferences based on facts, addresses to the nation meant to promote harmony and unity, a world awaiting renewed outreach and cooperation, all leading to a better tomorrow.
I no longer fear the future. I welcome it, revel in its promises and believe in its dreams.
Doris Fenig
Boca Raton, Fla.
To the Editor:
I am 76 years old and I feel as if I have basically lost the last four years of my life “waiting on the world to change.” I went from deep anger and depression following Donald Trump’s election to amazement as I watched him do in a cruel and heartless way exactly what he said he’d do: dismantle everything Barack Obama had built. In the process he divided our country, our families and our friendships, but hopefully not forever.
I’d like to see Joe Biden rebuild our country, just as he and Barack Obama rebuilt the economy after the Republicans left it in a shambles in 2008. And then, I’d like to see us truly lean forward!
Janie Morris
Memphis
To the Editor:
Re “Biden Sets Up 10-Day Sprint on Big Issues” (front page, Jan. 17):
What a refreshing change, from President Trump’s rogues gallery of sycophants as cabinet members to what appears to be a faculty guide of stalwart professionals in their fields.
Joe Biden’s appointees have knowledge, experience and a public service ethos toward the herculean task of repairing the tragic calamities of the Trump administration. But also, beyond just repair, they will be able to design new, improved programs and solutions for the many problems facing not just the country, but the world at large.
Rather than another four-year course in Mr. Trump’s psychopathology, the next four years will show what a government of devoted individuals can achieve — free of the “genuflection or propitiation” (“G.O.P.”) of enablers.
Richard Andresen
Sacramento
To the Editor:
Re “Trump’s Base Nurses Anger Over Election” (front page, Jan. 19):
Once Joe Biden takes office, Congress should immediately create a bipartisan Election Commission to investigate claims of election “irregularities.” This commission should include both Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley. The results will allow them to save face and claim that they have listened to their constituents and seen the evidence that it was a free and fair election.
This is the only way to get millions of Republicans to acknowledge Mr. Biden’s legitimate presidency, so we can actually begin healing. They have all crawled out onto a ledge, and we need to help them find a way back in.
Jesse Allen
Santa Fe, N.M.
To the Editor:
President-elect Biden and every Democrat in Congress: This moment calls for boldness. We don’t need another Obama or Clinton. We need an F.D.R. and then some.
It would be an error in judgment to govern as centrists in the hope that doing so will appease your most vocal and violent critics. It never does and never will. Those who subscribe to QAnonsense are too far gone, and the relatively sane Republicans will call you a socialist no matter what.
Help build and inspire a diverse working-class alliance by advancing policies that will transform society. I’m talking about policies like Medicare for All, the Green New Deal and free college. Bring back the Fairness Doctrine. Enact campaign finance reform.
These are the sorts of actions that will garner you enthusiastic, sustainable support. That’s the only way to marginalize the extremists, to ensure their demise.
The pre-Trump status quo will not suffice. American exceptionalism has always been a myth, and there’s nothing that says the United States can’t become a failed state or that fascism can’t take root here. This is a trying time, but I remain hopeful. Be bold!
Garrett Snedaker
Eureka, Calif.