Editor,

I have always resisted responding to Ed Hickey’s missives in part because they are filled with so much misinformation that it is quite difficult to know where to begin.

Let us set aside for a moment the fact that the president is a misogynist, profoundly racist, willfully ignorant, boundlessly corrupt, woefully incompetent and toxic narcissist. And let us leave Mr. Trump’s miserable response to the pandemic for another time as well and, instead, consider Mr. Biden.

Mr. Hickey questions Biden’s cognitive state, something that I read about just last week in Sputnik news, the Russian state-owned news service. He fears that, if elected, the Democrats will invoke the 24th article of the Constitution.

I know candidate Trump once declared his allegiance to the 12th article, but the last time I looked there were actually only seven articles. Mr. Trump and at least some of his supporters seem to be quite confused with regard to the Constitution, which in Mr. Trump’s case certainly helps to explain many of his actions.

If Mr. Hickey is referring to the 24th amendment, that deals with poll taxes, something which Mr. Trump would likely happily reinstate as part of his broader voter-suppression program.

But let’s move on.

Mr. Hickey mentioned open borders and the Green New Deal. Mr. Biden has of course never advocated for open borders and, while he supports some of the initiatives found in the Green New Deal, he has not fully endorsed the program. Mr. Hickey maintains that Democrats, which I assume includes Mr. Biden here, are pushing for a “Marxist/Socialist” country.

Really? Socialism requires that the means of production, distribution and exchange be owned and controlled by the state, a state in which there is no private property. I challenge Mr. Hickey to show me where in his platform Mr. Biden calls for the abolition of private property and the nationalization of industry and transportation.

Can’t find it? Neither can I.

As a rule of thumb, if you don’t really know the meaning a term, it is probably wise not to try and use it in a sentence.

Dr. Bernd J. Fischer

Oak Harbor