After presidential debate, it’s clear U.S. needs different leadership than Biden | Opinion

Debate response

The future of President Biden should be in a long-term care facility, not in the White House. This is painfully apparent to me following Thursday’s presidential debate.

In addition to Biden’s incoherent remarks, he entered the stage as though he needed a walker, wheelchair, or Jill for assistance. President Biden should step down before he falls down and I say this from a health perspective.

The U.S. needs different leadership. As a nation, we deserve much better than Biden.

Julie A Tackett, Lexington

More on debate

I mostly watched the debate for the format, which was effective and balanced, even if the Candidates were not.

The decision for me otherwise was a forgone conclusion. The choice is evident long before any debate. It is a choice between a lying con artist, Putin ally, attempting to install an authoritarian regime with a decided Theocratic zealot fascist bent or an Honest and aged man losing skills of articulation that is supported by honest others that can compensate for such lack.

I don’t like either choice, but I’ll choose Great Grandpa over old creepy flim flam lying sexist racist crook looking to be Putin’s protege everyday and twice on Sundays whether church is involved or not.

The real problem is the “two party” system that limits our choices.

There are solutions, but the two party system is walled against these.

Term limits is one.

But, I really think we should have the right to vote “NO”. Meaning there should be an option for us to vote against all candidates for any particular elected position. If a majority vote against all of them, then “slam” the parties back to the drawing board to present new Candidates. We can let the incumbent remain until the next election that will proceed within no less than 90 days and no more than 6 months from the prior election. It would be the right of “disqualification”. All employers have that right, so should we.

We need too, to separate money from speech. Money cannot equal speech, it distorts the truth, enables fraud, and creates speech as a market, not a free discourse of ideas.

Convict support

Once again, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) has pulled his head back in by supporting the convicted former president, Donald Trump. I dare to surmise that his “brains” have retracted too. As usual U.S. Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky) goes with the flow to keep getting votes. A person seeking political office should have to be born and bred in the state that they want to represent and actually have a true concern for the well-being of the citizens and not their own personal gain.

By supporting the “convicted,” they are showing that they have no more moral fiber than Trump has and don’t deserve the support of Kentuckians. I equate this to Calipari and Pope. Calipari only cared about how many players he got into the NBA, whereas Pope (who played at the University of Kentucky) actually cares about UK’s legacy and not his own.

It was time for Calipari to go and it’s time for McConnell to go. He keeps swallowing the convict’s lies. His alliance to Kentucky and Trump are weak.

Crawl back in your shell McConnell and disappear!

Sara Wellnitz, Lexington

Moral choice

I was raised in the Pentecostal religion. I was told the Pentecostal religion was the world’s only true religion. By the age of 18, I realized on my own that wasn’t true. College classes that taught about the origin of religions taught me that we, human beings of all nations, are all worshiping the same God. What we call the creator of all things, and how we worship him and live our lives, all depend on the geographical location of our birth. In my opinion, we’re all worshiping the same God.

There was a time when people held the concept of morality in high regard. People who would lie, cheat, steal, hurt others physically, and commit adultery were looked down upon. Today’s Republican choice for president proves our nation has drifted so far away from the concept of morality we once embraced, I fear the United States will never be the moral beacon to the world she once was. Bibles worldwide say that criminals and dishonest people should not be the leaders of any land, yet here we are.

America has been presented with a choice. We, the people, must choose between a wannabe autocrat obsessed with revenge, or President Joe Biden.

Yolanda Averette, Lexington

War on education

Those people who vehemently oppose solving the student loan debt crisis and forgiving student loans are the same people who want your tax dollars to pay their kids’ tuition at a private school. A glaring contradiction. The real issue is the Republican War on Public Education.

The Republicans cannot win. If they do, Kentucky and the nation lose.

Bill Adkins, Williamstown

Future Shock

The future Trumpian world: women throw out the briefcases and put on an apron, get in the kitchen where you belong. Principals, get out the dusty “board of education” so you can, with the 10 Commandments on your wall, bring back old fashioned discipline the way God meant it to be. But be careful with those unruly students that a teacher already pistol whipped. Use the empty room formerly called the library. Mass shootings by gun nuts? Hey, it’s just modern life. Chill out and buy more guns to delude yourself into thinking you are safe. Insects will be wiped out by chemicals, but the WASPs will rise again. Vulgarity in speech, clothing, music will not be allowed except by the GOP leader. Gays, start refurbishing your closets. The cost of utilities will go sky high since the communistic energy saving appliances will be against the law. No more cheap immigrant labor, and no more cheap imported clothing, so find your oldest living relative for pointers on how to live efficiently and frugally.

To get in the right frame of mind watch “Leave it to Beaver” reruns, if your 10 children don’t crowd the screen.

Sally Wasielewski, Lexington

2020 Hindsight

There is no denying that in the last two presidential races plus the current one, a number of colorful characters have emerged. But between Hurricane Hillary (Clinton), Incompetent Joe (Biden) and Felon Donald (Trump), I’ll take the felon any day.

President Joe Biden falsely claims that inflation was 9 percent when he first took office yet I recall that it was a mere 1.4 percent.

As Ricky from “I Love Lucy” might say, “Pinocchio Joe, you’ve got some ‘splaining to do’!”

David Tulanian, Henderson

Curran affairs

Professor of “Revisionist” History Robert Curran wrote in a recent Op-Ed that U.S. Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky) barely beat Amy McGrath in 2018 and would likely have lost to her if she ran again in 2020.

The truth is that Barr beat McGrath 51 percent to 48 percent which is a pretty typical win in modern politics. What happened in 2020? Well, Barr beat his next opponent, Josh Hicks, by over 10 percentage points while Mitch McConnell mopped the floor with McGrath by nearly 20 points.

Yet, Mr. Curran’s real expertise seems to be parroting the talking points of the lunatic fringe on the left. He spends paragraphs on the Jan 6 committee — the very same committee that refused the members appointed by the minority party and instead opted for rabid haters of former President Donald Trump U.S. Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), both of whom are now far removed from Washington, D.C. Then, just to prove that the whole committee was political theater, they hired a Hollywood producer and aired the hearings in primetime just in time for the 2022 elections.

If we want to understand how higher education got to the point where radical, violent, anti-Western mobs are taking over entire sections of college campuses, we need look no further than the hyper-partisan rantings Curran’s students must have been subjected to all these years.

Doug Reed, Lexington

Vet program

As widely reported, there is a nationwide veterinarian shortage. Vet school acceptance rates are very low due to high demand and a small number of schools. Kentucky is the horse capital of the world and our state has no vet school. The University of Kentucky already has an equine science and management program in place. All this considered, it would make sense for UK to open a vet school.

John Harralson, Louisville

We’re confused

This country’s economy is great but our inflation is terrible. Ok then, would high unemployment help bring inflation down?

We are angry about all the people coming into this country illegally. What? Don’t we have a worker shortage in this country?

Climate change is fake. Ok then, why is it so damned hot?

President Joe Biden is too old. Does that mean that former President Donald Trump is too young?

We believe in state’s rights. Does that mean we should again allow slavery?

Trump actually won the election. Why then does Biden occupy the White House?

Biden is corrupt. Why then are there so many Trump followers in jail?

Fox News is my news source. What? Didn’t Fox News say they aren’t a news organization?

Our economy is terrible. Goodness, aren’t we the envy of the world because of our strong economy?

Don Rapske, Lexington

Tourism give-away

Why in the world is Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority approving $16.5 million in incentives for the privately-owned Hyatt hotel renovations?

This is not for a new project that might attract additional visitors to Lexington and the state, but simply to renovate a high-end hotel whose owners have apparently neglected to keep up with upkeep on their own.

I can think of many more useful investments than this give-away.

Howard Stovall, Lexington

Compiled by Liz Carey