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You could almost hear an audible sigh of relief coming from the United States, and echoing around the world, with the news that Joe Biden will not run (“ US President Joe Biden pulls out of the race for the White House ”, 22/7). It appears certain that Kamala Harris will be nominated by the Democrats to run in his stead. But her capacity to beat Donald Trump to the White House is far less certain.
Harris has her faults and, if elected, may not be the most shining light for US democracy. But the alternative would be, if not an extinguished democracy, then one that is considerably diminished. Edward Combes, Wheelers Hill Hope returns I have had an increasing sense of foreboding as the US election approaches.
Now with the welcome news that Biden is stepping down, I feel a small glimmer of hope that we may be spared another disastrous Trump presidency. Elaine Carbines, Belmont The case for Kamala The Republican nominee vying to become the next president of the US, Donald Trump, can no longer talk about the cognitive decline of his opponent. The battle for the White House is now simple – choose between either convicted felon Trump, or the Vice President Kamala Harris, the Prosecutor.
Jessie Mackenzie, Brunswick God save America American politics has kept God very busy lately. One day he is using his divine intervention to protect Donald Trump from an assassin’s bullet. Next he is convincing Joe Biden that his time is up, given the president said earlier that only God Almighty could convince him to drop out of the race.
May well Americans sing God Bless America because nothing else can save them from the next four years of Trump. Nick Toovey, Beaumaris Intervention of another kind Donald Trump says he survived an assassination attempt “by the grace of Almighty God”. With his lack of humanity and ethics, I would say that it was not divine intervention that saved him, but rather “the luck of the Devil”.
Now that Joe Biden has stepped aside from the presidential race and endorsed Kamala Harris, a far younger, more formidable debater and articulator of the Democrats’ political platform, Trump will need more than “the luck of the Devil” against a resurgent, revitalised and unified Democratic Party. Harry Kowalski, Ivanhoe A true choice A presidential election between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris would highlight the polarisation of American politics. To borrow Peter Hartcher’s words, it would be an “identity politics show” (“ Stricken Biden looks Trumped , 22/7), vastly different from a contest between two old white men.
By selecting J.D.Vance as his running mate, Trump has gone “all in” on his core constituency of mainly white Americans wanting to restore national pride, secure orders and economic strength.
Harris represents a different identity: an educated woman of colour. She comes from California, the heartland of US progressive politics. She is everything that Trump is not.
If Trump and Harris contest the November election, American voters can’t complain they were not offered a meaningful choice. Rod Wise, Surrey Hills Identity politics It’s a relief that Joe Biden, who has been and still is a fine president, has bowed out of a campaign he could not win, in favour of Kamala Harris. Peter Hartcher warns that this is just exchanging an “old folks’ home” for an “identity politics show”.
I think Harris will rapidly emerge as the clever, lucid and judicious politician she has quietly been all along. Her race and gender will have enriched her experience, but will not be the sum total of her identity. Anthea Hyslop, Eltham Respite from Trump-land Just one week ago on this letters page ( The Age , 15/7 ), a frustrated correspondent implored the collective Australian media to show some perspective in its relentless attention to elements of US politics.
The past seven days may have sent him in search of professional psychological care after the saturation coverage given to the meeting of a political party, known as a convention but more in the nature of a long parade by members of a messianic cult. While a certain voyeuristic element applies here when the narcissistic cult leader has been found liable for a sexual assault and guilty of falsifying business records, and is swimming in a pool of charges of document theft and inciting what amounted to an attempted political coup, surely Australians have more important matters about which we need to be informed. Bitter-sweet relief came with news and analysis of prolonged grievous behaviour by one Australian trade union, which squeezed coverage of the Republican Party’s party.
While President Joe Biden’s late about-face will doubtless attract our media’s scrutiny this week, there may be a light in the darkness. The next 20 days might focus on sportspeople, both able-bodied and less so, striving to achieve their best on a global stage. The word games in Olympic Games long ago became redundant, and I fear our media’s lens may be heavily shaded by jingoism, but the relative relief from attention to American politics will be warmly welcomed.
Alan McLean, Queenscliff Blind followers The term cult refers to a group of people who surrender their will and intellect to one charismatic leader who controls the beliefs, behaviour and customs of all the other members. A cult leader will actively discourage questions, criticism and independent thinking. He will encourage hero-worship, distortion of unacceptable truth and conspiracy theories.
The Trump cult is dangerous. His followers are prepared to back him no matter what the cost to themselves may be. Think January 6.
America, be afraid. Jon Smith, Leongatha A survivor, not lone No, Donald Trump, you did not “take a bullet for democracy”. For reasons that remain unclear a 20 year-old loner who was apparently nominally conservative took a potshot at you with his dad’s AR-15 rifle.
Yes, you survived the assassination attempt through sheer good luck. But in doing so, you’ve now joined the club of thousands of other wounded Americans who have survived shooting events – not that you’ve shown any kind of empathy or sympathy with them. Who could forget your lack of action on gun control after meeting with the survivors of the Parkland high school shooting.
I would suspect that none of these thousands of wounded Americans thought they were taking bullets for democracy. Jeremy de Korte, Newington Still in it Bruce Wolpe says that Donald Trump looks to be unstoppable on the path to the White House ( Comment , 19/7). This is not so, for two reasons.
Concern among ordinary Americans that Washington is full of corruption is not something new. It has existed since at least the 1930s when the hugely influential movie Mr Smith Goes to Washington was made. The Democratic Party can combat Trump’s messaging on that – they have done it before.
Secondly, the proportion of the American voting age population that typically have not registered to vote or just do not attend a polling station is kind of beyond comprehension for Australians. We are talking 80 million people, or a third of the voting age population in 2020. The Democrats can address that too.
There is no reason to write the Democratic Party off. Not yet. Alun Breward, Malvern East Cynical about advances Someone unable to open a fridge due to the global IT outage (“ We can no longer blindly trust tech ”, 22/7) suggests we have gone way too far in embracing the digital age.
Fridges do not need to be connected to anything other than the electricity supply. My TV came with a remote, no buttons with just a central wheel and + and – signs to enable endless scrolling. Much easier to use a proper remote.
My 85-year-old neighbour needed to replace her 3G phone. The new one, for “easy use by older people”, also had just a central wheel button to scroll through endless menus, and was basically unworkable. She just wants a phone to make phone calls.
I embrace modern technology, but with a very cynical eye. I was not surprised at the global IT outage – more surprised that it took this long to happen. Louise Kloot, Doncaster Mistakes inevitable As a member of the tech industry for nearly 60 years, I have been dreading this.
Staggeringly, IT is the only engineering discipline that does not enforce operation under, and compliance with, well established standards. The habit of pushing software out, ill-tested, for the public to find the bugs has always been outrageous, and as this last disaster demonstrates, is punishable incompetence. Chris Waters, Ormond Ban has benefits Kerri Sackville’s account of her various social media addiction faux pas and accidents (“ Look up, there’s danger before your eyes ”, 21/7) make for relatable and humorous reading.
But for an impressionable young person, the impact of such an addiction is often much more serious and long-lasting than a bruised ego. Sackville dismisses the idea of banning social media for under-16s, claiming it would only “delay the onset” of addiction. But a ban would also seek to shield young people from its damaging effects at such a crucial stage in their development.
For me, this alone makes the idea worthy of a closer look. Justin Shaw, Ringwood East A second look Our family has multiple insurance policies, dating back many years, with a well-known insurer. Along with everyone else we have been horrified by the extreme price hikes this year.
Some ringing around for better prices then a call back to our usual insurers achieved a better offer in each case. That one should have to bargain over insurance, and not be given the best rate in the first place, particularly as a so-called loyal customer, is disappointing. I encourage everyone not to accept that insurance premiums have to be quite so inflated.
Fiona White, Alfredton Safety measures Not for the first time has a pram moved unintentionally, this time with a tragic outcome (“ ‘Hero’ father and daughter killed by train, twin survives ”, 22/7). Some might be thinking that we redesign the station platforms and signage, or more safety pages in the operators’ manual, or that it’s someone’s fault. Yet, my self-propelled lawn mower can’t take off without the manual closure of a lever, which immediately opens if you let go, immobilising the mower.
Why can’t prams be designed with the brakes automatically on unless a spring-loaded lever is manually closed? Same with walking aids for the elderly. Simple safety is more certain. Clyde Ronan, Yarrawonga Donation rules It was disappointing to read that the federal government has decided to continue allowing donations to building projects in private schools to be tax deductible (“ Private school charity status sacrosanct despite calls to scrap it ”, 18/7).
State schools are well known to be currently grossly under-funded compared with private schools. Wouldn’t it be a more equable idea to allow the tax deductions only if equal amounts were donated to private and state schools? Jenny Callaghan, Hawthorn Losing it I drive a Mini and have nearly lost it in the many potholes on our roads. When is the Victorian government going to realise that they are extremely dangerous – if you swerve to miss one of these potholes, you could well cause an accident.
Rita Reid, Port Melbourne Protect the space Ivanhoe is indeed beautiful place (“ The gracious, spacious suburb you never leave ”, 20/7). Sadly, some inhabitants do not treat the space with grace. Firstly, in my part of Ivanhoe, we are overrun by neighbours’ cats.
I have seen one with a blue-tongue lizard in its mouth. Secondly, many residents seem to be illiterate. On my walks along the river I regularly see dogs running free in spite of the signs stating that dogs must be on leads.
According to the rangers, there are wallabies there, and a friend took a lovely photo of a wombat. I once saw a man with eight dogs running free. On another occasion, I saw a man throwing sticks into the billabong to encourage his dogs to chase the waterbirds.
Thirdly, there are those who move to Ivanhoe because it is leafy and green, but then knock down the house and build a massive mansion, leaving no space for garden. Finally, we have smog in winter. The log fires everywhere harm our children’s health.
Please treat the space with grace. Chris Goddard, Ivanhoe Fairer sharing Ross Gittins makes the point that there are super-profits to be had in the construction sector, so it’s natural for unions to ensure a chunk of that goes to labour ( The Age , 22/7). So what’s the problem? By drawing equivalence between the two “factors of production” he overlooks two very important points that go to civil society.
Firstly, on governance. It’s much easier to impose probity standards on large corporations than unions. Secondly, the distributional effects.
As Gittins reminds us, the profits from many of those construction projects flow – in part – to a broad swath of society via the superannuation system. In contrast, profits captured by a small number of workers are not widely shared. In the words of one CFMEU member, “First-year apprentices are going to get Raptors.
” That is not a good outcome for society. Gregory Hill, Brunswick Credit: Matt Golding Kamala Harris A highly intelligent, articulate Afro-American woman versus a rabble-rousing convicted felon. It should be a lay down misere, shouldn’t it? Phil Alexander, Eltham Articulate, relational, dynamic and intelligent – everything Trump is not.
Go Kamala! Julie Perry, Highton The Democratic nominee for the US presidential election, whoever it is, will have an uphill battle from a standing start this late in the contest. Reg Murray, Glen Iris Joe Biden Ironically, Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race reveals in simple terms why he was a better president. Biden: selfless; Trump: selfish.
Barry Miller, Kyneton Joe Biden has done the decent thing. He saved America from the inanities, inconsistencies and pomposity of Trump. Well done, sir.
David Baylis, Drouin East An exceptional career and decision from Joe Biden. Kenny Rogers said it best: “Know when to walk away, know when to run.” Robyn Stonehouse, Camberwell Donald Trump It may well be that Donald Trump was spared “by the grace of Almighty God”.
On the other hand, the Almighty may well have been delivering a salutary clip across the ear. Gary Heard, Bullsbrook Trump missed a bullet, but debating Kamala Harris will be a tad more difficult. Michael Brinkman, Ventnor Republican supporters who said someone in his 80s was too old to be president have got their way.
Remind me, how old will Donald Trump be in 2026? Geoffrey Petrie, Safety Beach Furthermore Ross Gittins is right. Trade unions are a needed creation and part of the capitalist system. Malcolm McDonald, Burwood If rich nations gave as much attention to their climate targets as they do to their Olympic medal tallies, the world would not be on track for 3.
5 degrees warming in our children’s lifetimes. Jenny Smithers, Ashburton T he Opinion newsletter is a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform your own. Sign up here .
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