Joyful Feelings as Democratic Convention Concludes

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Vice President Kamala Harris speaking on the final day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.Credit…Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times

To the Editor:

Day 4 of the Democratic National Convention was wonderful. I don’t think I have ever heard the national anthem sung more beautifully than by the three Chicks.

Al Sharpton brought out members of the Central Park Five, men who collectively spent 41 years of their lives incarcerated. Donald Trump paid thousands of dollars to buy an ad in The New York Times to tell the public they were guilty and call for their execution. When the person who committed the crime confessed and DNA confirmed it, the men were freed. Mr. Trump never apologized because he is incapable of an apology. In any situation.

And Kamala Harris accepted the nomination of her party. True to her mother’s lesson of getting to work, she was eager to get past the clapping and, in true prosecutor fashion, list specifically just what Mr. Trump has done to our country. Has there ever been an acceptance speech so free of crowd-pleasing generalities?

Yes, Michelle Obama, hope has made a spectacular comeback.

Sandy Miley
Sherrill, N.Y.

To the Editor:

To preserve my sanity, I’ve spent the last eight years not reading the news. Instead, I’ve filled the empty space watching lots of feel-good dog videos: golden retrievers, of course, and lots of rescues. Witnessing good-hearted people who see the dignity and value of wretched, neglected animals and work to restore their health and essential sweetness. It was the elixir I needed to keep believing in human nature.

Watching the eloquent, venerable, authentic speakers at the Democratic National Convention this week, culminating with the phenomenal Kamala Harris, I felt like the lab beagle in one of those videos who sees grass and sunshine for the first time. Leaving the cage cautiously, confusedly at first, testing the unfamiliar surface under her feet, trying to understand the beauty of what was around her and then finally trusting it all and romping with unbridled joy.

Madeleine Berenson
Avon, Colo.

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To the Editor:

Punditry and polling will not be able to capture the historic nature of the last month in American politics. Perhaps, someday historians will.