Letters to the editor: Trump lacks leadership; there's a reason students are protesting

Trump far from a strong leader

Many people think the country needs a strong, stern leader, maybe even a ruthless leader. A leader that will put America’s and their interests first in speech and deed. History is littered with strongmen, dictators really, that rose to power and then crushed any and all opposition. Just a few of them are: Caligula, Attila the Hun, Henry VIII, Ivan the Terrible, Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, Franco, Mao Zedong, Pinochet, Idi Amin, Pol Pot.

Here’s how Trump, who had no problem firing people face-to-face when it was scripted and all for show, fires people in the real world.

James Comey: Comey saw his firing on TV when 3,000 miles away in L.A. for an FBI meeting. Trump told the FBI not to pay for his return flight to D.C.

John Bolton: In late afternoon Trump refused Bolton’s letter of resignation only to put out a tweet early the next day saying he had fired John Bolton

Chris Krebs: Krebs saw a tweet firing him.

Ronna McDaniels: Face-to-face, McDaniels offered to resign. Trump said that’s not necessary. Two days later he put out a tweet saying she had to go, essentially firing her via tweet.

Among the others who suffered firing by tweet or other indirect means are Sally Yates, Preet Bahara, and Andrew McCabe. Trump made no phone call, sent no letter or email, or in any way tried to communicate with these people that he was firing them. He deliberately let all of them be caught unaware before the very public announcement of their firing.

Wow. What a cowardly way of firing someone. These are not the actions of a decent human being, and certainly not that of a truly strong leader.

Bob Gruber, Camarillo

Students are right to protest

God bless the students who are standing up against genocide in the Gaza Strip and the hypocrisy of the U.S. government that supports it. They are being arrested and penalized with suspension, police beatings and jail for the simple expression of free speech. The myth is being spread by the media and right-wing zealots that being against the genocide and war crimes of the government of Israel represents antisemitism. This is similar to the red-baiting of the 1960s and 1970s, when anyone who challenged the status quo was falsely labeled a communist.

The $94 billion aid package to Ukraine and Israel is outrageous. War is, after all, big business. Both the Democrats and Republicans in Congress are supporting this. While I think that Trump is a skunk, Biden and supporters of the bill in Congress do not smell too good after the passage of this bill. If not bolstered by the U.S. and Europe, Ukraine would have negotiated a settlement early on in the war with Russia, and thousands of lives would have been saved and many more millions spared dislocation, and destruction of their homes.

While the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, particularly against civilians, is rightfully to be condemned, I agree with the 120 countries in the United Nations that that have condemned Israel’s nonstop bombardment of Gaza. Being against the massacre and starvation of innocent children and civilians in the Gaza Strip does not make a person “anti-Semitic.”

Israel’s Mossad is one of the largest espionage organizations in the world, supported by billions of dollars from the U.S. every year. It is almost a given that it has operatives within the Hamas organization. Netanyahu still needs to answer why Hamas was able to enter Israel on Oct. 7 relatively unopposed.

Arturo Casillas, Oxnard

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Letters: Trump lacks leadership; a reason students are protesting