Today's letters: Readers comment on Gov. DeSantis, 'Dilbert' and guns

Study in hypocrisy

The administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis can best be described as a case study in hypocrisy.

When President Biden mandated vaccines, the governor was outraged that the federal government would dictate to the individual states what they must do, that the states know what is best for their residents. However, the governor then issued his own mandates to the elected local officials or school boards regarding the wearing of masks or vaccines. The governor has decided what the local official policy must be and not local control.

The governor piously states that the mask policy is what is in the best interests of the children. However, the governor has withheld a portion of state funds to those school districts not complying with his mandate who will now have less money to educate these very children he claims he is protecting.

The top health official of Orlando has been suspended because he sent a memo to his staff suggesting, not mandating, that they be vaccinated. So, the top health official whose job is to protect the health of the people can no longer give his medical opinion unless that opinion matches what the governor states.

The governor touts that Florida is a free state that allows companies to operate free of mandates or undo government interference. However, when The Walt Disney Company broke with the governor over his recent social legislation, the governor was outraged and wanted to punish Disney by withholding special zoning/taxing provisions that were enacted in 1967 to encourage Disney to continue its expansion. So, companies are free but only if they support the governor.

I would conclude that the axiom “do what I say, not as I do" would certainly apply to DeSantis.

John Hakkio, Ocala

Censoring ‘Dilbert’

I was rather disappointed in your paper's exclusion of a timely theme in the “Dilbert” cartoon. It seems the current theme, of the mythical company hiring a Black person to satisfy diversity goals (who then says he identifies as white) has not been shown. Rather, you are reverting to other, older reruns.

This has all the appearances of censorship in that you are not allowing the reader to decide for themselves. I see that you regularly publish the far-left orientation of “Doonesbury” in the Sunday comics. That comic is insulting and demeaning to anyone who does not follow the extreme leftist point of view, yet you censor a light-hearted, office-environment cartoon.

That doesn't appear to be a very balanced handling of a minor part of the paper. It does, therefore, make me wonder about your handling of more substantial news items.

Ray Thomas, Ocala

Gun statistics

Ryan Miller's recent column on the editorial page is really disingenuous!

First of all, it’s not those “damn guns” that are the problem.

Killings of young Black men are up in “blue cities” all over the country. Please note the rise in those numbers since many of these cities wanted to defund the police or how many attorneys general are not locking criminals up!

Suicides are up? How about separating the numbers based on the unnecessary lockdowns of our schools since the pandemic?

If we enforced laws already on the books, that might be a good start! Giuliani’s success in New York City was started by paying attention to broken windows — catching crooks while they were getting started and letting them know crime will be punished!

Gerald Couch, Ocala

Write to us

Send a letter to the editor (up to 250 words) to osbletters@starbanner.com. Letters must include the writer's full name and city of residence. Guest columns of up to 750 words are also accepted on a limited basis. More information on submitting letters and columns can be found at bit.ly/starbanneropinion.

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: May 15 letters: Readers comment on Gov. DeSantis, 'Dilbert' and guns