LETTERS.

• Date: 01 June 2022
• Published date: 01 June 2022

Biden and the Alternatives

Ruth Conniff does an excellent job explaining why it makes sense for progressives to stand behind Joe Biden ("Biden in the Breach," April/May issue). We know he was not the dream candidate of the American left; I myself voted for Sanders in the Democratic primary. But it's not clear that anybody else could have attracted the votes of both wings of the Democratic Party--including independents, the undecided, and people of color--necessary to get our country out of the nightmare of the Trump presidency.

Biden's appointments since his election and his often ambitious proposals, while not all approved or passed, have been in the direction of a more equitable society. Our skewed and lopsided electoral system has deprived him of the votes he needs in Congress to carry out his policies. That's not his fault.

I conclude as Conniff does: Think of the alternatives and give the Republicans and their reactionary friends no ammunition.

--Leo Laventhal

New Orleans, Louisiana

What a breath of fresh air it was to read Ruth Conniff s column. Finally, a cogent look at what has been accomplished in a really short time. As a nation, we are not there yet. Teachers are being told how to teach history by fools. Workers are being told they are not worth a higher minimum wage by people who never did an honest day's work in their entire lives. We just escaped four years of an idiot who claimed he knew everything while proving he knew nothing. There are still people out there who think he was the greatest President ever, and they vote.

This only...