‘Joe Biden should not be our president’

In response to “Between the Lines: Biden’s Electability Argument is Crumbling.”

I have to say I agree with this. I don’t agree with being “mean” about it all, but objectively, Joe Biden should not be our president … It is pretty clear to me, based entirely on what I’ve seen of him on the trail so far, that he is not ready for this … I’m sure he’s more ready than me, but I’m just a struggling musician and restaurant worker. So what do I know…?

— Tobey Sol LaRoche, Facebook comment

A lack of mental sharpness, a startling disregard for facts, and an antiquated view on race …. Sounds presidential to me.

— Rick Beaupre, Facebook comment

Please stop this foolish tearing down of the frontrunner just because he isn’t promising a pile of free stuff that’s never coming.

Let’s be very clear:

A moderate Republican governor gave Mass. its healthcare system (Romney; not Liz W. — who I like as a senator BTW). The local and state politicians of Vermont (not Bernie) created both their healthcare system and their public education system … The path to a president other than 45 v.2 is “don’t divide the house by permanently damaging other candidates.”

Vote your conscience in the primaries but support the nominee in the general election. Don’t tear down the party, its candidate or frontrunner because you didn’t get your way. Because if you do, you’ll once again get the government you deserve.

— Jim Cameron, Facebook comment

Can we just admit that the DNC wants Biden to win the nomination because he’s the easiest candidate to manipulate?

— René K. Meade, Facebook comment

Not to mention we have other candidates that are not only doing well in polls in general are doing as good or better in important states like Iowa and New Hampshire. No need to settle for less. Why would we??

— Lyn Horan, Facebook comment

What the 2nd Amendment actually says

The gun enthusiasts are reading the 2nd Amendment incorrectly and the rest of us are not calling them on it. It reads, “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” The militias were mainly employed to catch run-a-way slaves. People joining militias needed to bring their own guns since there was no standing army that could issue weapons. Militia are a thing of the past since we no longer have slaves and do have a permanent army.

What were the “arms” they were referring to? It was muskets where you put gun powder down the barrel followed by a bullet. Then you had one shot. If it was a double barrel rifle you had two shots before needing to repeat the process. The 2nd Amendment did not guarantee each citizen the right to own all the advanced weaponry that has been invented since 1776 such as nerve gas (sarin), personal nuclear weapons, biological weapons, rocket launchers, assault weapons, 100 bullet magazines or exploding bullets that destroy a person’s organs. It only entitled us to own muskets with one or two shots and only as a part of a militia.

These mass shooters are not part of a militia but are law-abiding gun owners without a criminal record or history of mental illness. We can’t predict who will go on a rampage next. We will never stop the massacres by building more mental hospitals as Trump wants to do or getting rid of certain video games. Mental health experts say that mentally ill people are not aggressive shooters. The only thing we can do is what other countries have done which is to take away the assault weapons, large capacity magazines, and exploding bullets. The 2nd Amendment does not give us the right to own them. We need to give the victims a chance to escape or overcome the shooter. The problem is that the NRA and gun lobbyists have so much money to influence Congress. The House has passed bills to correct this but they die in Mitch McConnell’s waste basket. Let’s start reading what the 2nd Amendment actually says and stop these ever increasing massacres.

— Malita Brown, Wilbraham