Hire Robert Mueller, if Donald Trump fires him: Readers sound off
Letter to the editor:
Here’s a plan to make sure President Donald Trump is not shielded from the long arm of justice by certain spineless senators.
If Trump fires special counsel Robert Mueller, why not have Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., hire the former counsel to work for the House investigation he’s launching? That way Mueller wouldn’t have bosses who want to keep him from doing his job. The House could subpoena Mueller’s records so that he doesn’t lose any vital evidence. Mueller’s scope could be widened — for instance, he could demand Trump’s tax records and investigate accusations that Trump laundered “yuge” sums of Russian money through Deutsche Bank.
Thus, Trump would be severely punished for a possible unjust firing that further obstructs justice. It’s a simple solution, and I hope someone who can make it happen has thought of it or seriously considers it.
Michael R. Burch; Nashville
Talker: What Michael Flynn's memo means
Trump keeps proving he’s unfit for office
Letter to the editor:
Before Donald Trump became president, USA TODAY’s Editorial Board ran a controversial editorial on Sept. 30, 2016. headlined “Don’t vote for Trump,” which spoke to the many reasons why Republican presidential candidate Trump was “by unanimous consensus of the editorial board, unfit for the presidency.”
Related: USA TODAY's Editorial Board: Trump is 'unfit for the presidency'
Now, two years later, I reread my saved copy of the paper only to find the main arguments of the critique to be spot-on. The editorial warned of Trump as an erratic, ill-equipped, serial liar who doesn’t level with the American people. That was proven to be true. It described Trump, the Republican candidate, as a person who “speaks recklessly” and “has a checkered business career.” True again. Sadly, Trump exhibits — on a daily tweeting basis — how unfit he is for the office. Hopefully, the truth and the conclusions of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation will set us all free.
James K. Benson; Portland, Ore.
A reproductive oasis in the Midwest
Letter to the editor:
Illinois women, and the men who support them, are proud that Illinois remains committed to women’s reproductive rights as other states push back against them. This is evidenced by the steady stream of nearby women into the Prairie State for safe, legal and affordable abortions. Illinois’ progressive approach to reproductive health likely contributes to the decline in abortions among Illinois women.
But women in need arrive from Iowa, where they face a 20-week limit on the procedure and a disgusting three-day waiting period. They arrive from Wisconsin, which has just three abortion providers, serving an average of 424,000 women. They arrive from Missouri, which has just a single provider, due to an onerous law requiring abortion providers have admitting privileges at a local hospital. Illinois has 25 clinics, each serving around 120,000 women.
Related: I'm a Catholic obstetrician who had an abortion. This is not politics or religion. It's life.
Illinois legislates against their neighbors’ pushback, increasing state financed abortions for the poor and for state workers, as well as legislating that repeal of Roe v. Wade will not threaten abortion legality here. While Illinois appreciates the flow of travel money from out-of-state women out of local options, every Illinoisan of good will longs for the day such women can get the most basic right of full reproductive health right in their own back yard.
Walt Zlotow; Glen Ellyn, Ill.
What’s taking McDonald’s so long?
Letter to the editor:
USA TODAY’s story, “McDonald’s outlines plan to cut antibiotics from its beef supply,” rightly points out that “McDonald’s received an F in a report that examined the top 25 fast-food burger chains’ antibiotic policies” in October of this year.
There is another “F” they are receiving, though. When it comes to animal welfare, they also get a failing grade.
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For example, chickens raised for McDonald’s restaurants are bred to grow abnormally fast and grotesquely large, suffering crippling injuries. To make matters worse, they live in cramped, barren warehouses for the duration of their short, yet miserable, lives.
Competitors, including Burger King, Subway and Chipotle, have committed to specific animal welfare policies that meaningfully address the well-being of the chickens in their supply chain. Shouldn’t McDonald’s be doing the same?
Eleni Vlachos; Philadelphia
Amazon is committed to diversity and inclusion
Letter to the editor:
I was surprised by the column "Men's club: New HQ2 projects offer Amazon chance to stop excluding and underpaying women" accusing Amazon of "systematically undercutting women." As an HR leader at Amazon, I’m proud of our work to support people from all backgrounds. We are committed to diversity and inclusion. This is a belief held across Amazon, from our senior leaders to the 40,000 employees who are part of our employee affinity groups. We are always looking for ways to improve, and are honored to have received the 2019 American Foundation for the Blind Helen Keller Achievement Award and recognized on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, the NAACP Equity, Inclusion and Empowerment Index, and the Disability Equality Index.
We have pay equity among women and underrepresented minority employees. A review of compensation at Amazon found women earn 101.5 cents for every dollar that men earned in the same jobs. We are growing the number of women and people of color in senior roles, and have women running significant businesses — Prime Now, Amazon’s delivery experience, Amazon Studios, our fashion business, Global IT, and our global accounting team, among many others.
We have also invested in retaining diverse talent through efforts like our generous parental leave policy that provides up to 20 weeks of paid leave — which all of our hundreds of thousands of employees, from hourly associates to senior execs enjoy. We are investing in the next generation of diverse talent — recently we launched a kindergarten-to-career program, Amazon Future Engineer, to help millions of students annually from underrepresented backgrounds build careers in computer science. We still have a lot of work ahead of us, but we’re committed to making meaningful impacts.
Jenn Boden, Amazon HR Director; Seattle
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hire Robert Mueller, if Donald Trump fires him: Readers sound off
