Letters to the editor for Friday, November 26, 2021
Solutions not likely to be realized
If our president would like to reduce gas prices and at the same time reverse his declining poll numbers, all that would need to be done would be: To announce the reopening of the Keystone pipeline, along with a lifting of the ban on exploration and drilling on federal property. Announce the actual closing of the southern border and the installation of the border wall materials.
Given that these simple solutions (only two examples) are not likely to be realized, it becomes obvious that the current environment in which we live was not achieved by accident.
Richard Jury, Naples
Thanks for the good work
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I want to thank the Naples Daily News for the wonderful Sunday supplement on Nov. 14 entitled "Seven Days of 1961." Clearly the product of lots of interviews and research, it was hard-hitting and powerful -- and, may I suggest, should be required reading in our schools!
I also want to propose a toast to Harriet Howard Heithaus. Week after week, year after year, she presents us with information about concerts and fundraisers and art exhibits. A lesser writer might lose steam over time. But Ms. Howard Heithaus consistently approaches her work with imagination and energy, drawing us in time after time. She is a true treasure. Cheers!
Melanie Chadwick, Naples
QAnon Republicans defy understanding
Can anyone imagine there are Republicans who believe in QAnon, that’s where they really believe many Democrats in Congress are “child-sex-predators” that kill and drink their blood? Hundreds of these sick people lined some streets in Dallas, Texas believing John Kennedy Jr. would be driving by, and then join Trump on the ticket in 2024. Kennedy Jr. died in a 1999 plane crash.
Some of these QAnon Republican traitors were in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. They are also some of the same cowards that threaten our wonderful school teachers, school board members and election officials, who are only doing their jobs.
E.L. “Bud” Ruff, Naples
What’s in it for Florida?
After Governor DeSantis derided the infrastructure bill, calling it “pork barrel spending,” now he is complaining that there’s apparently not enough pork in it to suit him now that the bill has passed.
Both Florida senators and all Florida Republican representatives voted against the bill. However, enough other Republicans put the needs of their states above partisan politics and the popular bill passed with bipartisan support.
The Infrastructure Bill provides Florida with $13.1 billion to repair and improve more than 3,500 miles of highways rated in “poor condition,” $245 million for bridge replacement and repair, $16 billion for additional major improvement projects, $2.6 billion for public transportation, $198 million for an EV (electric vehicle) charging network throughout the state. $100 million to improve broadband and bring internet to all regions in Florida where it is lacking, $36 million to protect against wildfires, $29 million to protect against cyberattacks, $1.6 billion for Florida clean water infrastructure, and $1.2 billion for airports.
Florida is growing rapidly and state spending is not keeping pace. All Floridians should welcome this investment.
Alan Donahue, Cape Coral
How did we get here?
As a self-confessed news junkie, this week provided the most chilling, disheartening combination of stories I’ve ever witnessed, all happening simultaneously.
There were two murder trials, one in Wisconsin, the other in Georgia, in which civilian vigilantes who had no police power, shot and killed unarmed men and then claimed self-defense as an excuse.
The case in Wisconsin involved a 17-year old kid who killed two men during the unrest in Kenosha, claiming he was there to “help people and protect property.” The Georgia case involved three white men killing an unarmed black man whom they thought might have been burglarizing their neighborhood.
On the same day, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to censure and strip from committees one of its own members who had published an animated cartoon which had been doctored to show him killing another member of Congress from the other party and then attacking President Biden. Normally, the party of the offending congressman would take action to discipline such an egregious act, but the current feckless leadership of the Republican minority refused to even say the act was inappropriate. Speaker Pelosi had no choice but to push the censure because doing nothing would have said that the entire House condoned the act.
All three of these stories are related and what they say about where we are as a society right now begs me to ask, “My God, how did we get here?”
Jay Light, Fort Myers Beach
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Letters to the editor for Friday, November 26, 2021
