Gardner must stand with Trump against mail ballots
Re: “Gardner questioned over latest slowdowns,” Aug. 18 news story
Sen. Cory Gardner is certainly in a tough spot on the issue of funding the Postal Service and expanding mail-in voting. He represents a state that has led the way in universal mail-in voting, proving it to be effective and secure. He himself was elected in a mail-in election.
Yet he also represents a party that is no longer able to win elections by appealing to a majority of voters. Instead, the Republican Party relies on a variety of shady tactics to stay in power, including spreading lies, embracing hate and division, challenging the legitimacy of elections, and of course voter suppression.
Reducing mail-in voting is a critical tool in the voter suppression toolbox. Trump himself said so. So where does that leave Gardner? He could choose to stand up for what he knows is a fair and honest system to expand voting rights. Or he could stand with Trump, for whom itap clear that the more people who vote the less chance he has of being re-elected. Gardner has made his choice clear — he stands with Trump in wanting to deny the basic right to vote to millions of Americans who are tired of Trump’s divisiveness and hate.
Gardner says, “I just don’t think Washington, D.C., should be in the business of telling a state how itap going to carry out its elections.” Yet Trump is in that very business. And Gardner is once again proving to be his Colorado patsy.
Anthony Stitt, Golden
Guns and militias on American streets
America has joined the ranks of countries like Iraq, Syria and Lebanon now that we have armed militias patrolling our cities and borders. Whatap next — thugs intimidating voters?
David Wolf, Lakewood
Fighting global poverty is important to our security
To eradicate poverty would not only help make the world a more prosperous place, but it would make the world a safer place too. Many of the world’s most conflict-
ridden countries also suffer from mass abject poverty. War-torn countries suffer from infrastructure destruction, which causes wave-like effects for resource insecurity. Resource insecurity and poverty are directly related to one another. Water insecurity and food insecurity specifically affect civilian populations and hurt those in the poorest rural communities.
For the United States, making contributions to ending global poverty a priority will not only be essential for the planet but essential for U.S. national security. Terrorism thrives off of poverty. When civilians are poor, they are vulnerable to attack and recruitment. The security of states is threatened when conflict and poverty are widespread: protests, riots and coups are just some of the effects of an unstable state dealing with armed conflict and poverty. If the United States wants to secure global stability, looking at our efforts to eradicate global poverty is a good place to start.
Kiahna Stephens, Denver
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