Wanted: A Peace Candidate

I’m glad to see John Nichols bringing up our costly wars with a Democratic presidential candidate [“Beto on the Costs of War,” April 29]. Imagine if we cut our annual military budget by $200 billion, closed our hundreds of foreign military bases, and used that money to make a down payment on rebuilding our country’s failing infrastructure.

I hope Nichols is able to get all of the candidates on record.

Edgar Gehlert
hyde park, n.y.

They’ve Had Their Turn

I agree with Kai Wright’s column “Apologies Owed” [April 22], but I’d go further. Way further. Our last 45 presidents have been men. Women and girls—half the country!—have never seen anyone in the White House who’s like us in this most basic way. Male candidates: Close your eyes and take a few seconds to imagine what that would be like. Now tell me: Why on earth would anyone who wants to build a new, better America work to install Male #46 there in 2020?

Bernie, Joe, Beto, et al.: You’re great, we love you, but we don’t need you for this. There are amazing female candidates for president—progressive, smart, experienced fighters! If you want to show true leadership in a party dedicated to reform, drop out of the race and support one of these stellar women. Wright’s closing paragraphs say it beautifully: “These inequities are not aberrations; they reflect deliberate choices made throughout our national history…. We cannot build a new, better America unless we learn how to deal with the white-male supremacy that built the one we’ve got.”

Guys, you’re not going to overcome male privilege by wielding it, no matter how noble your intentions. This can’t wait. We need male leaders with the guts and humility to work for a woman in the White House.

Kathy Frugé Brown
maple valley, wash.

Not My Candidate

I am so disappointed in The Nation for doing a puff piece on Kirsten Gillibrand and giving her the cover of the magazine [“Kirsten Gillibrand Isn’t Afraid of Anything,” April 29]. So disappointed that I am considering not renewing my subscription.

I think Gillibrand is a shallow charlatan, and I believe lots of center-to-left-leaning Democrats feel the same way. She jumped on the #MeToo bandwagon to further her career (bad move, I think) and led the hounding of Al Franken from the Senate. She should not be forgiven.

Beyond this callow opportunism, Gillibrand has no record. She only has a Senate seat because Hillary Clinton vacated it in 2009. Any Democratic nominee would win that seat in New York State. Gillibrand is merely muddying the Democratic primaries and will never get my vote. In fact, for what she did, if I were in New York, I would vote Republican. And if Gillibrand succeeds in her quest for the Democratic presidential nomination, I will sit out the election. I wouldn’t vote for Trump, but I could never bring myself to vote for her.

Michael Walsh
montclair, n.j.

Acknowledgment

We failed to acknowledge that Bryce Covert’s article “Everyone Must Go!” [May 6], on the activism of laid-off retail workers, was funded in part by the journalism nonprofit the Economic Hardship Reporting Project. We appreciate the support and regret the oversight.