A feminist for Bernie

ISSUE | CAMPAIGN 2016

A feminist for Bernie

As a 68-year-old, 50-year feminist, I find the derisive comments by Gloria Steinem and Madeleine Albright about women supporting Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton instead of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders incredibly offensive ("Why Sanders appeals to young," Tuesday).

Steinem's comment, "When you're young, you're thinking, 'Where are the boys?' The boys are with Bernie," is patently offensive to all women. Adding insult to injury was Albright's comment, "There's a special place in hell for women who don't help each other."

Young women face obstacles that Steinem and Albright (and I) did not face, including a declining middle class and crushing student debt. Older women face poor employment opportunities, insufficient retirement savings, increasing health-care costs, and unaffordable housing.

Sanders is addressing all of these issues, while Clinton is not. That's why we support him.

|Karen Porter, West Chester

Supporting Sanders

What's so bad about being a democratic socialist?

Is universal health care such a bad idea? Ask seniors.

Is free tuition to public colleges, financed mostly by a tax on the Wall Street transactions that morph our stock market into a casino, such a bad idea?

How about electing a president who will push for a carbon tax and research on alternative fuels to address global warming? Doesn't the future of our grandchildren mean anything to politicians in the pocket of fossil-fuel barons?

What about equal pay for equal work, collective bargaining for all, and trade deals that encourage the creation of more American jobs?

Bernie Sanders is authentic and will fight to shrink the outrageous wealth gap between the top 1 percent and everyone else. He deserves the support of every thoughtful American citizen who values substance over empty rhetoric.

|Lawrence Uniglicht, Galloway, lrunig@gmail.com