Letters to the editor for Saturday, December 3, 2022

Forced to live in damaged house

I heard a story today that upset me. A person who owns a house badly damaged by Ian is forced to live in the damaged building. FEMA denied assistance because she has insurance. The insurance company has not paid her claim. She is ill from the mold in the house. She has pets so rentals are out. She is stuck and goes to work sick.

Who can help her? Our elected representatives seem unavailable. Bob Rommel, our state rep, is nowhere to be found. Brian Donalds is everywhere on Fox News, and our governor is counting the state surplus then boasting about all who want to move to Florida. There is something wrong with this picture.

Peter Fagan, Naples

Repercussions of evacuation, mask choices

The commonality between evacuation orders and mask mandates is that authorities with scientific knowledge of danger and possibility of death advise an action to avoid injury and death.

I don't believe that "for better or worse" should be the choice here, especially if you are endangering others' lives, such as first responders or rescue crews by choosing not to evacuate or exposing others to death or disability because you choose not to wear a mask.

Perhaps it's time for Florida to act like other states and charge for evacuations like New Hampshire, Maine, Oregon, and Hawaii. In California a rescue of over $100 can be billed. Officials determine if negligence is a factor. Why should Utah's Grand County, population of 9,500, pay $200,000 or more for rescue operations due to negligence? Why should taxpayers, state or federal, pay to rescue someone who wants to "ride out the storm" or get a few good pictures to brag about?

Regarding masks, if you want to disregard masks or vaccinations despite medical advice, perhaps you should be held accountable for all or part of your hospital bill. Its estimated that 319,000 COVID-19 deaths could have been avoided if adults had gotten vaccinated; 29,200 from Florida died unnecessarily. Our state was second only to Texas (29,773) but they also have a larger population than we do.

So yes, it's your choice, but act like a responsible adult and factor in the repercussions from your decision, especially as it affects others.

Chris Friedrichs, Fort Myers

Toll transponder stolen from totaled car

Warning: One of our cars was totaled in Hurricane Ian. It was picked up by the insurance company and they gave us a check. Great, no problems.

Two days ago, we had a replenishment charge on our credit card for the transponder for that car. Someone had apparently stolen the transponder and decided to use it. We immediately cancelled the transponder with SunPass and fortunately had less than $20 in toll fees.

But if you had a car totaled and hauled away and you had a toll transponder in the car, you better cancel it immediately.

Dwight Sedgwick, North Fort Myers

Who we are

In our majority-rule democracy, it doesn’t just direct our legislative decision-making, it also defines who we are as a people.

Therefore, the majority-rule definition of who we are as Americans is that we are sane, compassionate, empathetic, inclusive, patriotic and justice-loving.

Let’s not think for a minute that the insane minority, whose outrageous behaviors garner the lion’s share of media attention, defines us.

Sanity is not newsworthy, but it’s -- overwhelmingly -- who we are.

J. Cant, Naples

Majority favors background checks

With the unending crisis of mass shootings in the only country where guns outnumber the citizenry, why a federal law mandating background checks cannot get through Congress is mind boggling.

A majority of the country, including gun owners, wants this law. The fact that the Second Amendment is the second of all amendments is telling in that it was written when our country was in it’s infancy and gun owners were in possession of musket rifles. Even at that it was mainly aimed at well regulated militias.

Most of the mass murders are perpetrated today utilizing AR type rifles with body shredding ammunition. The fact that loved ones of the victims need to check DNA data to identify their murdered family members, relatives or friends in lieu of a simple visual inspection is indicative of why we need to outlaw these types of weapons and their inherent ammo in addition to the aforementioned common-sense background checks. If a state’s laws prohibit these guns, the buyer simply needs to drive to an adjacent commonwealth to purchase one. In many states, you can also get these at 18 years of age. Other than worrying about their NRA scores, these low-moral representatives only need to abide by the wishes of their constituents. Is this too much to ask?

Glenn Chenot, Cape Coral

White solidarity and denial

I understand the authors attempt to soften the apparent difficulty whites have with not understanding racism. However, that continues to be a part of their denial and their use of the ideology of individualism. That doesn’t work.

A good read would help you and the author. Read what Robin DiAngelo has to say about white solidarity -- the unspoken agreement between whites to maintain silence, not challenge each other and keep each other comfortable, and generally maintain the racist status quo and protect white privilege.

Read about the rewards for racial silence, allowing racial innocence, and the no sense of loss in racial segregation.

This relationship has been historically, socially, culturally, politically and institutionally between white people and people of color (racism).

Racism is built into the very fabric of society. No one resides in society outside this relationship. May I repeat, everyone is a racist. If you are not an anti-racist you are a racist.

White denial is only a mechanism of avoidance of discussion. Race and racism is for others to discuss, not them.

Pages 180-214 “What Does It Mean To Be White,” Robin DiAngelo.

I understand the attempt to console and make whites comfortable. But people of color are uncomfortable every day of their lives.

Lewis Robinson, Fort Myers

Progressive, liberal hypocrisy

Calling all Southwest Florida crazies. First, and it must be stated that, clearly, all you progressive, liberal, and lefty Democrats are so hypocritical, I can hardly pound these keys any harder.

Hypocrisy -- say it loud, say it proud. You hate whiteness. You were born white but if you could just hang out where the cool people are, you can cleanse your sins at the water cooler of hate. Then you can engage in a world full of white images. But you can't.

You must immediately repudiate Christmas, Hanukkah, Thanksgiving and shopping. These activities are the basis for whiteness. You must return the gifts, you must abandon all religious services, you must stop praying and you must bow your knee to the demagogues who instill fear and hate with the mask of democracy.

Please do not go the Christmas tree lightings around the area. Please do not clog our streets with holiday shopping and stop patronizing charities who pretend to serve. Also, do not return a "merry Christmas" greeting and make for damn sure to stay away from churches where a "white" Jesus is on the cross. Just stay home, watch NPR.

Jack Holt, Cape Coral

On marijuana legalization

Just read the article by guest columnist Pastor Orsi. He concludes marijuana legalization is bad and he has an ethical imperative to give his opinion.

Pastor, you are looking at it only from your end. Is the profit that goes back to the state that is shifted to the people wrong? You do know about the thriving black market where most profits are not declared, and the state gets no revenue. My God man (oops ,sorry) look at the gangsters killing when alcohol was illegal one hundred years ago. I suppose guns being legal now, a lot more people own them than if they were illegal. I am not so sure how big the segment of our society is just waiting for legalization of cannabis to try it.

Pastor, have you hung outside a dispensary or base your opinions on the portion of your flock with problems? I went skiing in Colorado eight years ago. The locals knew the law. I never smelled it in town or on the ski hill. Above the ski shop was the dispensary and people would go in, come out with a bag, and drive away reminiscent to a liquor or package store.

I would sure like to hear where you got the conclusions that crime, traffic hazards, illness, panhandling, and homelessness are up San Francisco and Denver and how you relate this only to marijuana legalization. While on the soapbox of reefer madness, I would be more concerned with trying to put the lid on the harmful cigarette, gun, corrupt prescriber, liquor stores and hate speech. Good luck

Richard Stein, Bonita Springs

Crises ebb since election

Well, as I predicted, things that were a "crisis" before the election, suddenly are getting better. Supply chain issue -- suddenly is a problem no more. Fuel prices -- coming down. Inflation slowing down. Immigration, suddenly, the concern now is the backlog of legal visas. Here is my solution to illegal immigration. Arrest and imprisonment for those that hire undocumented persons. Second, since hiring undocumented persons is a continuation of a crime; R. I. C. O.! Take away any ill-gotten gains, bank accounts, houses, cars, the business itself, sold; with the funds going to further enforcement. I declare if you do this twice, in a very public perp walk. Suddenly...

Robert Jenkins, Naples

Lobsters, whales and Amazon

So, Jeff Bezos has told his Whole Foods to stop buying Maine lobsters because they may be responsible for the right whale die-off. I am allergic to lobsters so I don’t have a “claw” in this dispute. However, I have been an “on again, off again” resident of Maine and Maine lobstermen are amongst the hardest working people I know. To my knowledge, this is a problem still being studied and for an equitable solution if it is the case. My response to Jeff is that we all stop shopping at Whole Foods in spite of the discount if you are an Amazon member. In fact, cancel your Amazon membership, in support of the businesses that have been crushed under the weight of Amazon.

Col. (Ret.) Ted Raia, USA, Naples

The Left can't be right

The Left is very vocal in their opposition to any laws regarding sexual orientation or gender identity being taught in our schools as well as consistently saying that CRT is not taught in schools. That must mean that they support sexual orientation and gender identity being taught to kindergarten children. They totally opposed the so called "don't say gay" law in Florida. So in addition to those on the Left supporting sexual orientation and gender identity being taught to very young children, they also support the position that schools do not need to report any health or mental issues they discover with the parent's children. Both of these are not allowed in the so called "don't say gay" bill, which never uses the word "gay." Also, since the Left says CRT is not taught in schools, why are they opposed to it not being allowed to be taught in schools?

Ron Wobbeking, Naples

Helpful tips for the bureaucrats

It's good to see that the World Health Organization (WHO) is on the ball to guard against discrimination against our primate relatives -- monkeys. I kid you not. They have renamed monkeypox. Now it is to be called mpox. Wait, it gets better. This was the result of a six-month effort to find a nondiscriminatory alternative to avoid stigma. This process normally takes years but was speeded up here while still adhering to the guidelines. I'm glad to see our government's donation to WHO of over $700 million is being put to such good use.

To illustrate such insanity, this is a direct quote from a WHO news release: "... new disease names should be given with the aim to avoid unnecessary impact of names on trade, travel, tourism, or animal welfare, and avoid causing offense to any cultural, social, national, regional, professional or ethnic groups." Never mind that monkeypox was so named because it was first seen in captive monkeys. I guess monkeys now have a lobby.

I try to be a good citizen, so here are my contributions to the welfare of the earth. I now declare that bird flu shall henceforth be called avian flu and swine flu is now porcine flu. There, I just saved the bureaucrats a lot of time and money.

Chuck Bainbridge, Naples

Complicit by virtue of their silence?

On Jan. 6, 2021, we did not witness the voice of democracy; we witnessed the “vice” of democracy.

The vice of Jan. 6 was:

LIES -- The lie of the stolen election, the lie that Mike Pence could overrule the election constitutionally, the lie that citizens could take the law into their own hands, the lie that government property was at citizens' disposal to destroy, the lie that male superiority, racism and antisemitism are the law of the land and the lie that the few could overrule the many.

HATRED -- Hang Mike Pence, shoot Nancy Pelosi. These were calls to action by extremist groups formed with male dominance, racism and antisemitism as principal strategic goals.

VIOLENCE -- The newsreel streaming for hours of violence by the group attacking the Capitol speaks for itself.

INJURY AND DEATH -- 140 officers (80 Capitol Police and 60 Metropolitan Police, no National Guard, no Secret Service) were injured in the riot. Five people died as a result of the the attack.

QUESTION: Are all of those Americans who ignore what happened on that day or who look the other way complicit by virtue of their silence?

This is not a legal question. The criminal laws on complicity are very precise, and ignoring and looking the other way are not addressed. This is a moral question and little is available on the philosophical side addressing complicity. But in the business world of ethics, there are some available discussions. In a March 2021 article, Forbes Magazine

looks into complicity as a factor in Corporate Ethics and Governance. Here is what they found and concluded:

Passively complicit folks represent the negligent side of humanity. They let others engage in toxic behaviors without consequence, without calling them on it. The passively complicit are like an absentee landlord, creating a power vacuum where the unruly can fill the vacuum and take charge.

Forbes concluded that complicit people are frequently coachable if given honest feedback and the opportunity to improve.

NEXT QUESTION: Are Republicans coachable?

Joe Haack, Naples

Lyin’ Biden administration

Tell a lie often enough…

This seems to be the credo of the Lyin’ Biden administration. Every member of his Cabinet lies and repeats the lies they tell so often that even they believe it. How many times has Mayorkas said that the southern border is closed and under control? The border is seeing at least a thousand illegal immigrants cross every day, yet Mayorkas, Harris ( haha ) Biden and Pelosi swear it is under control.

The lies told during the fiasco of the withdrawal from Afghanistan were repeated time and again by the defense department leaders. We all saw the disaster. Finally General Mackenzie, now retired, has said that he warned against the process and specifically said that 2,500 U.S. troops should be left behind. But, that did not stop Smiley and Austin from forcefully saying it was the right move. Lie after compounded lie.

The administration press secretaries follow up by repeating the lies and defining the lies with more mistruths.

Biden lied when saying the price of gasoline was Putin’s fault. The real reason is that he cancelled the pipeline and caved into the progressive far left. His energy policy is having no policy at all. Releasing the strategic oil supplies could have far reaching impact if not replenished. Biden says the economy is in great shape and that inflation is transitory. When was the last time Jill Biden had to buy something at the supermarket?

Every time Biden campaigns he lies -- ”I drove an 18 wheeler” -- "I grew up in a heavily Latino neighborhood in Delaware” (.39 percent).

Are we the people that stupid to believe Biden and is he really that stupid to believe that we believe him?

God, I hope not!

Michael Zubrow, Naples

Ensuring that every vote matters

The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact would guarantee the presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The bill would make every person’s vote equal throughout the U.S. It would ensure that every vote, in every state, will matter in every presidential election.

Paul Genardi, Fort Myers

Social Security, Medicare and the election

Hard to believe you would print all the lies, Biden, Clinton and Obama spewed about what was going to happen to Social Security and Medicare if the Republicans were successful in the midterm election.

Nothing could be further from the truth!

Dick Jones, Naples and Ocean City, NJ

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Letters to the editor for Saturday, December 3, 2022