Letters to the editor for Friday, January 21, 2022
Work together to reach agreement
It is certainly nice to see The News-Press print views from people who are not anti-DeSantis or anti-Trump. Notice, in these views, there has been no disparaging remarks about other people's points of view. I would bet that if citizens on both sides were to meet there would be agreement on almost all the controversies we face as a nation. The border fiasco, inflation, lawlessness, foreign affairs, oil dependency, supply chain, etc.. As far as voting is concerned, there is so much confusion from state to state. But, with that being said, the main thing is that people have to show an ID in order to vote. with all the varied restrictions every legal voter has an opportunity to register and vote. In disagreement with the president and his, in my opinion, disconcerting recent speech, all legal voting has an open road to fulfilment. So, rather than separating our country, it sure would be nice to see people on both sides of the aisle work to control excessive spending and get down to the nitty-gritty stuff. Give-away programs have run the course. It is time for people to get back to work. We need love, not hatred.
Anthony Farina, Fort Myers
Can't GOP find more suitable leader?
It was refreshing to read a recent opinion column by Spencer Roach (Jan. 7). His essay expressed an opinion that I have been repeating for the last five years. The idea that all Republicans must follow blindly the groupthink of Trump supporters in lieu of the constitutional principals that their party has espoused for years is one I cannot fathom. As he reported, the RINO label and vitriol aimed at anyone who dares to criticize or express an opinion opposing Trump is the sign of a party descending into authoritarian belief. I cannot understand how the conservative Republicans cannot find a more suitable person in their party who could represent respectfully the ideals that they claim to profess. Is there not a person available who can espouse their policy without mockery and discrimination for those who disagree? Must it be required to rant hatred toward the opponents of their policy? Must they disregard all of the principles of good governance that Congress has practiced for over 200 years?
I confess proudly that I am a liberal Democrat. Yet, I fully understand that many others are not of the same beliefs as me in regard to foreign policy positions, budget priorities or judicial choices. I listen to their thoughts and many times engage in discussions which may or may not change an opinion on a particular issue. I believe our government was formed with three separate but equal branches for a reason. It was to encourage respectful debate on these issues and compromise ( a dirty word these days!) on a solution to the handling of the issue. The current deadlock in Congress, and the inability for any congressperson to talk across the aisle without being labeled a traitor is totally wrong. A free and fair democracy demands a free expression of beliefs, respectful disagreements and a means to compromise for the good of the people....not the good of the party or any one person.
It’s time to reject the current state of affairs and get back to work following the oath they took to follow the Constitution.
Joan Fanelli, Fort Myers
Why are we polarized?
Do we agree that our purpose as a democracy is: to be a more perfect union; to seek justice; to ensure domestic tranquility; to provide for a common defense; to promote the general welfare; to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity?
Do we agree on all of these? Our founding fathers did. These are the introduction, the values and the justification for our United States Constitution as stated in its Preamble.
If we agree with these postulates, why are we polarized?
We share the same common goals and values as our founding fathers. Those founding fathers had differing views, but they placed their trust in a system where differing views were rights. That trust was sacred. Let’s make an effort to return to that trust. After all, WE are the people; we share the same Constitution and the rights which it grants.
Sally Lam, Naples
Idiocy drips from the top down
"Starbucks nixes vaccine mandate after Supreme Court ruling."
That there can be idiocy even at the level of the U.S. Supreme Court does not mean that we have to suborn it.
In response to Plessy v. Fergusuon we boarded the segregation train with relish. Led by the nose, it would take 60 years before we gained sense.
Harold A. Maio, Fort Myers
Many reasons to oppose abortion bills
Two bills now proposed to Florida’s Legislature are copycats: one copies Texas SB8 (no abortions after six weeks, no exceptions, private (vigilante) enforcement), and one copies Mississippi (no abortions allowed after 15 weeks with no exception for rape/incest either). Both these bills are before the SCOTUS. Both are unconstitutional, taking away women’s bodily autonomy. I personally view that loss as a crisis in our collective humanity.
The reasons to oppose these bills are many (harmful to women’s health/wellbeing; harmful to children and families; won’t eliminate abortions except for marginalized women; the majority of Americans, nationwide and in Florida, oppose these bills; enactment would throw out decades of precedent, a pillar of our judicial system forever.
We have much to do in Florida to keep the state a beautiful business-friendly state. Managing the environment, improving education, creating affordable housing, improving our public health and safety, to name just a few goals that ought to transcend politics. Yet some of our representatives once again raise complex divisive issues that are only going to hurt our reputation, increase our divisiveness, and take resources and time away from solving the real and important Florida problems.
Nancy Harrison, Naples
Unborn child the most vulnerable
The trademark of the progressives is the protection of the underdog -- the most vulnerable, the weak and the poor. So who are the most vulnerable?
The unborn child is the most helpless of all humanity, more so than the homeless, the mental patient, the handicapped. The unborn child needs our help and protection.
All children, once conceived, have a right to life.
John Bates, Naples
Running out of patience for unvaccinated
The more people who are unvaccinated the more chances to carry and spread COVID. The more COVID that exists in the bodies of people, the more opportunities exist for this wretched virus to mutate. We all leaned about mutation in biology class! Millions of people died of smallpox centuries ago until vaccinations became a part of society’s expectations. People welcomed the smallpox vaccine as the gift of survival it is. There is no evidence of people resisting the vaccine because of their “freedom” nor of ignorant politicians telling people there is no mandate allowed.
I have tried to express understanding toward those who have chosen to refuse vaccination. That understanding is over. I know there are a few medical exemptions which I understand, but I do not sympathize with those who honor misinformation as an excuse for not choosing vaccination.
Keep on getting sick! Keep clogging hospitals and exposing others! Let the spread of death prevail!
Susan Miller, Pineland
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Letters to the editor for Friday, January 21, 2022
