Bill Belichick

Like the great coaches before him Tom Landry, Chuck Noll and Don Shula, Bill Belichick’s run as the coach and general manager of the New England Patriots needs to come to an end. Belichick has failed to adjust to 21st century offensive football as his draft picks in the last five years have proven. N’Keal Harry and Mac Jones are two of the biggest draft pick busts the Patriots have ever had. If Robert Kraft wants the Patriots to contend again first for playoff spots and hopefully another Super Bowl title he needs to hire a general manager to pick the players and a coach whose only job is to coach the team.

It’s too complex of a sport for one man to do this job. Eventually the Patriots and Bill Belichick will mutually agree to part ways. Bob Kraft already screwed up once letting Tom Brady go for nothing and he cannot afford to hang onto Bill Belichick whose refusal to let anyone else pick the players is why the Patriots have been on steady decline the last four years. My choice for the new coach is so obvious: Michigan head football coach Jim Harbaugh.

Paul J. Baranofsky

Waltham

Voting by mail

I am writing to voice my opposition to Vote by Mail. I have serious concerns about the ability to ensure the legitimacy of this form of voting. I have actually used it myself during the COVID pandemic and was happy to have it then. I think it has outlived its usefulness and the ability to monitor it.

Sending postcards to everyone on the voter list (which may already unknowingly have some invalid addresses of people who have moved etc.) and allowing anyone to send in the postcard to get a ballot is rife with problems. We should go back to the previous Absentee Ballot process that worked for so many years.

Also please mandate showing a valid Driver’s License or State ID at the polls. Let’s ensure our voting in Massachusetts is legal and transparent!

I know our Secretary of State, Town Clerks, town employees and volunteers work extremely hard to ensure all rules are followed and our voting is accurate. I simply think we have undermined the process to a point where that is no longer able to be insured.

Joan Gonfrade

Ashland

Freedoms

President Biden’s speech says “Freedoms are on the ballot.” Seem like he has taken away many of our freedoms already. Does he have a few more he wants to take away like what type of toilet paper we use?

Paul Quaglia

Billerica

Editorial cartoon by Joe Heller (Joe Heller)