Madam, - Recent reports that support for the two main US presidential candidates has narrowed to a barely definable gap is not encouraging.
While I'm a confirmed realist regarding Barack Obama's capabilities, declared policies and his capacity to effect any real change, I believe the Republicans need to be punished for their transgressions under President Bush's disastrously disreputable tenure and the only way to inflict this punishment is to confine them to a spell on the sidelines for the next four years at least.
Illegal acts such as "extraordinary rendition", the continuing affront to human rights that is Guantánamo Bay and the grossly misguided Iraq "adventure" have no place in any society with pretensions to civilised behaviour. Bush was rightly roundly criticised by many commentators for his grossly hypocritical finger-wagging over the questionable human rights records of both Russia and China. Remember, too, his administration's reckless overspending, his lack of response when Hurricane Katrina destroyed a large portion of New Orleans, failure in Afghanistan, total inaction in the face of climate change and the couldn't-care-less attitude displayed by him and his moronic sidekicks like Cheney and Rumsfeld to international disapproval of his policies.
Those who say the election is none of our business are severely misguided. We only have to consider the damage done by the current administration to realise the error of such a view. - Yours, etc,
DAVID MARLBOROUGH,
Kenilworth Park,
Dublin 6.
Madam, - Your Editorial of August 23d, "The task facing Barack Obama", states that two US vice-presidents succeeded to the presidency because the incumbent was impeached. This is not so.
Two Presidents (Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton) were impeached by the House of Representatives; this means they were indicted on a Constitutional charge of "high crime", and faced a trial before the US Senate. But they remained President while indicted (impeached), and neither was convicted (removed from office) by the Senate.
It is true that 14 men who served as vice-president later became president. Eight succeeded on the death of presidents (four by natural causes, four by assassination), one after a presidential resignation, and five won the office in a national election. - Yours, etc,
DAN DONOVAN,
Shandon Street,
Dungarvan,
Co Waterford.
Madam, - "All the way with JFK" was the slogan that energised the Democratic Party in the 1960 US presidential race.
The Democrats now need an equally punchy catch-phrase to inspire support for Senator Obama. Unfortunately, initial ideas, such as "Way to go with BO" would seem to be less about inspiration than perspiration. Another constraint is that any reference to the candidate's youth which rhymes with his home state of Illinois could be seen as a racial slur.
Can anyone suggest a suitably dynamic slogan that avoids these difficulties? - Yours, etc,
MICHAEL DRURY,
Avenue Louise,
Brussels,
Belgium.