Letters to the editor for Saturday, December 31, 2022

Honesty no longer required

Fifty years ago voters would have ranked honesty as one of the most important traits they look for in a political candidate; today I'm not sure honesty would figure in the top ten. In the U.S. Senate race in Georgia, Herschel Walker was caught lying numerous times about his education, work history, even his relationships with women. Voters were unfazed; Walker came close to defeating a candidate of unquestioned integrity. Now we have a man about to take his seat in the House of Representatives and we find the biography he presented to voters is almost pure fiction. When forced to confront his lies, George Santos admitted to "embellishing" his resume and offered an insincere apology. He's sorry, but he's not sorry he lied; he's just sorry he got caught. There were so many lies, Santos wasn't able to resort to today's preferred strategy of doubling-down.

Whatever happened to George Washington and the cherry tree? We've gone from a president who said, "I cannot tell a lie" to a president, Donald Trump, who had his lies tallied in the thousands by the New York Times. Apparently, being a pathological liar is no impediment to holding high political office in America. We used to scorn liars; today we vote for them. Have we really embraced the Kellyanne Conway concept of "alternative facts" as substitutes for truth; the bigger, the more outrageous the lie, the more likely we are to accept it? A lie is a pernicious, ugly thing that can provoke horrible consequences, which is why we are taught as children (or at least used to be taught) to be honest and feel shame when we are not.

Ray Clasen, North Fort Myers

Isn't this malpractice?

As a physician I was distressed to read an article 22 December describing how the governor and his surgeon general are actively undermining and discouraging the use of COVID vaccines. Even though millions of lives have been saved across the globe because the vaccines have been available. For comparison, one only need refer to the consequences of the worldwide pandemic of the flu of 1918, when no treatment of any kind was available, when 50 million to 75 million died. I wonder if either of those two men have been protected, or their families? If I, as a physician, counsel a patient not to get treated, even though the treatment is safe, has few side effects, and could save their life, they take my advice, get sick and die, I am legally libel.

I wonder what the potential liabilities are for Dr. Ladapo, since he is giving ill advised advice to citizens of Florida to not get vaccinated that may cost them illness and even death. Is not the governor liable as well for giving medical advice without any medical training or education? Or is this all covered ( I hope not) by the First Amendment? Would I be allowed to give legal advice in a public venue with no consequences or liabilities? People will sicken and perhaps die, because of the "malpractice" of these two officials! Shame on both of them!

Robert M. Schlesinger MD, FACS, Bokeelia

School bus driver pay inadequate

Compensation does not coincide with our responsibilities as a Collier County Public Schools bus driver.

I am compelled to write this letter after reading the article in the Naples Daily News dated Dec. 29 headlined "AMC CEO Asks Board to Freeze His Salary." Adam Aron, the CEO for the movie theater chain, asked his board to freeze his salary for 2023. Mr. Aron receives $18.9 million per year plus stock compensation. I will repeat $18.9 million to show movies. I am a retired business owner and in 2016 I started working for Collier County Schools as a school bus driver.

Mr. Aron's hourly wage equates to $7,382.00 per hour, (based on an 8 hour day/320 days per year.) CCPS bus drivers start at $17.43 per hour. The magnitude of our responsibility does not equal our pay rate. We transport your children with safety our number one priority. With a shortage of drivers many of us are asked to "double up" our transportation routes which complicates the safety objective.

Teamsters Union Local 79 is our bargaining group with the School Board. Last year we received a $1 raise. In comparison the school district in Egg Harbor Township in New Jersey starting pay is $35 per hour and can take the bus home at night. Guilderland High School in New York starting pay is $19.45 and a sign-on bonus of $1,250. Collier County (and Lee) schools find it difficult to hire drivers because of the compensation. I ask the School Board and the new incoming superintendent to review the wage for school bus drivers. Suggestions to higher more drivers:

Increase the starting hourly rate ($23), guarantee a minimum 35-hour work week and a small compensation during summer vacation. We transport your children twice a day in heavy traffic and inclement weather. The movie CEO pushes a button to start the film.

Michael Lee Robinson, CCPS bus driver, Naples

Back off on the name-calling

I’ve read and contributed to this opinion column for many years. It’s been fun and sometimes even informative. Although, recently it has become quite disconcerting reading the comments from some of my fellow anthropoids. Generally, the lack of intellect, articulation, thoughtfulness and facts has me disheartened. When trying to make a point about a complicated and sensitive subject, it’s important to do some nonpartisan research in order to be informed about the subject matter. It’s also important to understand that name-calling and bullying won’t open any minds. In fact, it slams them shut like a door in the wind.

Please think again if you’re thinking about writing the following: you’re an idiot if you think the former president incited a riot and insurrection. Maybe your words would be better received if you wrote: although it appears that what the former president said may have played a role in motivating the crowd to act as it did, I believe to the contrary based on, fact “A”, fact “B”, fact “C”, etc. Please don’t, if you would write the following: all you people on the left/right have your craniums so far up your rather sizable posteriors that it would interfere with a colonoscopy. Instead, try the following: although, I don’t agree with that philosophy, many of you on the left/right have expressed a philosophy closer to what I endorse, based on, point “A”, point “B”, point “C”, etc.

Consequently, if you want to express an opinion that will be read and contemplated, try backing off on the name-calling, get educated (nonpartisan) on the topic, and play nice! If you do so, your friends, family, colleagues, and readers of this column would be more receptive to considering your point of view.

Jay Custa, Estero

Can Florida disconnect from grid?

There are two major power grids in the U.S. the Eastern grid and the Western grid. States either sell excess power to the grid or buy power from the grid in a shortfall situation, i.e., more demand than normal capacity. There is concern of the grid failing due to sabotage. The effect could be a total blackout of a power grid, e.g., the Eastern grid that Florida connects to. I am hoping one of our readers can answer a simple question. In an emergency, can Florida disconnect from the Eastern grid so as not to let it drag Florida down? All the Google searches only describe individual homes disconnecting from the grid, in reality they mean local power company.

John Piccolo, Estero

Hemlines forecast recession

We are in the midst of a surge in inflation. The Treasury has been raising interest rates to combat it and reduce it. High interest rates are a harbinger of recession. Is there anyway we can foresee or predict if a recession is in our near future?

There is one tried and true method to make that prediction. It is the length of women's skirts.

When women's skirts rise and shorten times are good. The economy rises also.

When women's skirts fall and lengthen times turn bad and recession follows.

Women's skirts are now falling. That is the latest fashion. We can expect a recession in the near future. How bad it will be depends on how low women's skirts reach.

E.R. Santhin, Naples

Back to the past

America is in deep trouble. What we are experiencing in the United States today can be analyzed through the lenses of two philosophers: Thomas Hobbes (17th Century) and Jean-Jacques Rousseau (18th Century).Hobbes postulated that without a strong ruler, humans would revert to “a condition of war of all against all.” Society is secure if ruled by an absolute sovereign. Rousseau postulated that humans were cooperative by nature and our uncorrupted morals exist as a gift of nature. The British philosopher, John Locke, rode the coattails of Rousseau and influenced Jefferson and Madison as our Declaration of Independence was written.The United States Declaration of Independence and our Constitution rest not on the authoritarianism, but on the egalitarianism of Rousseau and Locke. We revolted from the authoritarianism of King George in 1776 to form a democracy -- “We the people…”Ron DeSantis wants to return us to a condition over which we fought the Revolutionary War: authoritarianism, a monarchy. Our monarch, DeSantis, forbade businesses and governments from mandatory masking and vaccinations. COVID took the lives of over 79,000 Floridians.Are we prepared to give up our 250-year experiment in democracy? Out of fear that socialism is taking over? Our capitalist society will never become socialized as a matter of principle. But it will become socialized to some extent as a matter of survival. Without Social Security and Medicare, our elderly would now be dying on our streets. If we do not socialize education, we will become totally reliant on immigrants as we fail to groom our brightest. And climate change will demand more socialism as our individual properties and health are destroyed. Witness Hurricane Ian. We will have to help one another. We will have to be social.We are back to the past. If we stay here, we will have destroyed our legacy of freedom. Very troubling as we succumb to seeing women lose their rights and nature punishing us for our lack of stewardship.

Joe Haack, Naples

Deficit reduction idea

It goes without saying that incompetent President Biden has created the largest deficit in our history and he also has opened our borders, allowing hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants to enter our country monthly. So I have an idea to help reduce our deficit. Why not fire the thousands of immigration agents at our international airports and cruise ports and allow international travelers to walk on in as they are doing at our southern border and collect their luggage and go about their business?

Michael Adler, Miromar Lakes

The big conspiracy explained

If you have a 401K, any structured investments, or just living off your savings, there are things going on around you to manipulate your investment strategy and outcome.

The financial world in association with the Biden administration have concocted the ESG model for a green economy. At first glance, this sounds wonderful. An investment strategy that allows my investment dollars to grow and save the planet and make me feel warm and fuzzy. Short of going to Disney, this is a magical kingdom.

But you have to look under the hood of this green economy and its key players. The federal government has climbed into bed with the largest investment houses in the world. The feds have promised massive returns in return, these giants of finance will make more money, at your expense, all the while hidden behind the pretty green screen. These giants will suffocate the dirty industries like coal, oil and fossil fuel. By denying them the loans for drilling, mining, and transporting the bad old oil guys will dry up like the proverbial "dry hole."

Looking at other "tells" the media has gone full court pressure on Elon Musk. Why? He is the largest producer of EV's in the world. His companies have led the green revolution and he has even entered the space race. But his "sin" was to buy Twitter. He would expose corruption and the players who created turmoil. Basically, the federal government has egg on its face. So why are we discussing Tesla within this diatribe? Because the feds cannot stop Twitter, they must destroy the person. Now Elon is the second richest in the world so he has money. But his car company with much of his investment tied to Tesla has seen a drop in share pricing by 70 percent. Hmmm.

So the financial world can nudge and downright push financing away from the dirty industries and flood investment money into the green industries. Their sleight of hand has manipulated a punishment to Elon for going against the Biden administration. So, while they play their childish games, your 401K, TD and Schwab accounts take huge hits. This is not a coincidence, it is a conspiracy.

Jack Holt, Cape Coral

Biden administration hypocrisy

President Biden has just put in force a requirement that travelers from China must have a COVID test before they can travel to the U.S. In February 2020, at the early stages of the COVID pandemic, Trump would not allow people from China to travel to the U.S. At that time, Biden made this statement: “Stop the xenophobic fear-mongering. Be honest. Take responsibility. Do your job.” He later tried to walk back (sound familiar with this administration) that he was not referring to the lockdown on China. However, the definition of xenophobic is fear of foreigners so there is no other way to read it other than an attack on Trump closing down China travel. This just becomes another example of the Biden administration belatedly doing what the Trump administration did as well as their total hypocrisy.

Ron Wobbeking, Naples

Left creates racial animosity

Editing can go too far, my Dec. 18 letter titled... "Healing the racial divide" was rendered less-effective after a key line was deleted, namely, "A racial minority that accounts for less than 10 percent of U.S. consumer spending appeared to become the majority," provided proof of the social hocus-pocus taking place in America.

In summary; my submission addressed the actions of radical Democrats, starting with President Joe Biden, attempting to rearrange America's racial landscape to their advantage. For your part, The News-Press publishes an inordinate number of articles and opinions catering to Blacks. One featured the founder of Black Lives Matter who is now conducting a "Black only" census; Also, there was a white-guilt piece on Emmett Till's murder half a century ago. Such liberal agenda-based commentary continues ad-infinitum and when combined with a spate of TV commercials featuring Black actors, amounts to racial pandering but does not change reality. Instead it reveals the Left seeks more than inclusion. By denigrating whites and elevating Blacks their goal is to solidify their minority base. Instead they are creating animosity and giving rise to white nationalism.

Racism is a two way street because of tribalism. Fear and suspicion is inherent in our DNA but it is time to stop using race as a weapon of division or excuse for failure. A Black man became president of the U.S. and a Black woman is currently vice president, proving one can rise above bigotry if they dream big, work hard and persevere. Life isn't always fair but tenacity often prevails. Oprah Winfrey is proof of that.

Gerald Ponder, Cape Coral

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Letters to the editor for Saturday, December 31, 2022