Jill Biden’s Visit
To the editor:
I was surprised to see Jill Biden’s visit covered as if it was some kind of entertainment for the very rich, with guests “in floral prints and summer pastels” [“P’town’s Political Donor Class Gears Up for 2024,” July 27, front page]. It’s wrong to single out people working hard for the good as a wealthy “class” when the phrase “class war” is in the air and when so many shrug and say there’s no difference between Democrats and Republicans.
My friends who’ve attended these events in the past include a retired town assessor and a local schoolteacher. I’ve never gone, but I, too, am of the “donor class”: I send Joe Biden’s campaign $50 a month and the Wisconsin Democrats $10 a month. Wisconsin may be one of the states that swings the 2024 election.
We’ve never had such an important election. The Biden economy is changing lives — middle-class lives. He has detailed a global agenda addressing climate change and artificial intelligence. The Democrats are up against a party so bent on grabbing power that they are perfectly comfortable with the violent coup attempted after the 2020 election. Republicans work with no agenda but to destroy our government and the rights it guarantees.
The fact that we’re lucky enough to live in a small town that has the clout to draw major political figures could remind us of our responsibility to people in other small towns, where Republican governors refuse federal aid for medicine and school lunch, where men and women can be killed for jogging while Black or loving the wrong person. The stakes in this election are sky high, but everyone can join the “donor class” for $5. Everyone can write postcards to voters in other states. I am grateful to anyone who makes the effort.
Heidi Jon Schmidt
Provincetown
What They Wore
To the editor:
There was one “no-no” in your July 27 coverage of Jill Biden’s visit to Provincetown: the description of what she was wearing. [“First Lady Rallies Democrats at Fundraiser,” page A15]. When will the media stop reporting on the clothing of prominent women, a leftover feature of the treatment of women as visual objects.
I am reminded of one wonderful exception to this practice. A New York City newspaper (perhaps, The Village Voice?) reported on Bella Abzug’s 1971 swearing-in as a Congresswoman. Bella’s photo captured one of her trademark wide-brimmed hats, but not a word was said about her attire. The article did, however, mention the presence at the ceremony of her husband, Martin Abzug, wearing a dark blue suit and a red tie (you can fact-check my memory of the colors).
By the way, almost 50 years ago Bella Abzug sponsored the first federal gay rights bill, known as the Equality Act of 1974. Let’s not forget her.
Joan Holt
Truro
Pee-Cycling Accidents
To the editor:
Re “ ‘Pee-Cycling’: One Way of Thinking Outside the Bowl” (July 27, front page):
Great idea. But I’m sorry, looking at the photo of the P-Pod urinal on page A17, all I can think is that I hope the person who’s using that mail slot to pee in is also going to be cleaning up the wall. And the floor.
Susan Abbott
Eastham
