Regarding your insulting editorial cartoon on Monday, May 13, how would your readers respond if that trashcan had Democratic Party candidate on it instead of third party? Interesting how those claiming to value democracy have no clue what it is. The message sent in this cartoon is it’s perfectly reasonable to disenfranchise small parties, their candidates and their voters if the Democrat is in trouble against a demagogue who knows how to take advantage of a party and its president that long ago boxed itself into a corner by abandoning its working class base.

Better to blame people for offering a more progressive choice on the ballot if you lose than to do some self-reflection on why your candidate couldn’t handily beat the orange menace. We are frequently told “now is not the time.” Do you seriously believe this entrenched corrupt power structure intends to ever make it easier to vote its power away? That there will be a magical day when the power brokers running this empire will make it easy and safe to vote their power away? If that’s what you believe, they have you right where they want you. Totally controlled.

The longer we wait to challenge them at the ballot box, the more difficult it will be and the scarier the duopoly candidates will be. The assumption that third parties take votes from Democrats is erroneous. Most Greens polled have said they would not vote Democrat if they didn’t have a Green candidate to vote for. We are bringing voters who feel abandoned by the legally bribed duopoly into the electoral process. Demanding we stay off the ballot doesn’t fix anything. And if you are good with disenfranchising third party candidates, please don’t let me read any more letters on this page claiming you are voting to save democracy by voting for Biden. Disenfranchisement is not what democracy looks like. There is no such thing as a spoiler in a democracy. My vote doesn't belong to Joe Biden. It belongs to me.

Lois Gagnon

Belchertown