On Memorial Day, remember veterans paid for our freedom with their lives

On Memorial Day, honor our war heroes

Memorial Day 2024 is observed today, May 27, as always on the last Monday in May. The purpose of the day is to honor the American men and women of the armed forces who died while serving during all wars, starting with the Revolutionary War.

We also thank the devoted families of our veterans.

It is so important to remember and honor our heroes for their outstanding commitment to freedom during all wars. Because of the brave, we have our home of the free.

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On Memorial Day, I urge you to join members of the Daughters of the American Revolution and Sons of the American Revolution and other citizens and pay tribute to those who died in devoted service to our great country.

Wave our beautiful flag and attend parades and ceremonies.

Yes, a grateful nation does remember! God bless America, one nation under God.

Jean Maxwell Catsakis, Sara De Soto Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, Sarasota and Purcellville, Va.

Elections chief must be qualified, unbiased

Kudos to Michael Bennett, a rare, honest politician in Manatee County.

I served as a Manatee poll worker for 14 years, 13 years as precinct clerk. I received the mandatory training before each election and received guidance from Bennett, supervisor of elections.

I was aware of his many years as a Republican in the state House and Senate, but there was never a hint of political bias. He brought his knowledge and experience to the training sessions.

After his retirement announcement, the county commissioners played the political card with the state and governor to appoint a totally unqualified individual to the position. They ignored the supervisor's recommendation that his chief of staff, with 20 years of experience, succeed him.

They needed a political pawn.

My years as a clerk taught me that we have an uninformed electorate. Voters have not read the federal or state laws on elections and do not research positions before coming to the polls.

Trained and unbiased election workers are key to our election process. Appointment of someone who is totally ignorant of the process is an insult to Manatee citizens.

The county lost the last honest politician when Michael Bennett retired.

Tom Schwartz, Sarasota

Irrational world drowns out rational

It’s hard to keep your thoughts positive when you’re trying to understand the lies, nonsense and ridiculousness that confronts us daily.

It usually starts while reading the paper. May 20 was no exception.

The A section had an article about former President Donald Trump laying the groundwork to contest the next election. It’s clear he’ll continue to lie about the previous elections, and even if he wins the next one, he’ll accuse elected officials of reporting fewer votes than he actually won.

Then there was the article in the C section about Sarasota Memorial Hospital being asked to post the state surgeon general’s anti-vaccine nonsense on its website.

Fortunately, the board chose to protect SMH’s reputation for high quality care by rejecting this foolish proposal by member Vic Rohe and his “medical freedom” cohorts.

I quit reading after the article outlining our governor’s claims of privacy over his travels. It’s ridiculous to think any elected official’s activities should be considered private.

We elected them to represent us. It’s axiomatic that they report their activities to us.

The paper does report the views and events of some who seem to understand the rational world still exists.  It’s just harder to find it nowadays.

Kyle Quattlebaum, Sarasota

Cutting off arms to Israel no ‘high crime’

George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley had an op-ed in the Herald-Tribune on May 17 that was spot-on (“Why the latest GOP ploy to impeach Joe Biden badly misses the mark”).

Turley had warned Democrats that if they trivialized what should be a rare and solemn event by impeaching President Donald Trump, they were virtually assuring that when they no longer had House leadership a Democratic president would be impeached.

We are now seeing a Republican congressman instituting articles of impeachment against President Joe Biden for withholding arms from Israel. Many disagree with his decision, but it fell within Biden’s purview and does not rise to the level of a “high crime,” required by the Constitution for impeachment.

Brilliant ex-defense secretary Robert Gates warned in 2014 that “… Biden has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue for the past 40 years.” The voters have the remedy for future decisions: Vote out that faulty decision-maker. The whole world would be better off.

Richard D. Paolillo, Nokomis

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Memorial Day: Because of the brave, we live in home of the free