Letters to the editor for Saturday, July 22, 2023

Letters to the editor should be 250 words or less. Guest opinions 600 words or less and include a brief summary of the author’s credentials relevant to the topic. Guest opinions may include a head shot of the author. For the Fort Myers News-Press, email submissions to mailbag@news-press.com and for the Naples Daily News to letters@naplesnews.com

Two wins for environment

It was heartwarming to read the double win for our local environment in the Naples Daily News.  Congratulations to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida for protecting panther habitats, agricultural lands and wetlands.  Also, gratitude and congratulations to the Fort Myers couple who use their boat to remove trash and other debris from the Gulf.

These positive reports are a boost of encouragement!

Dorothy S. Kuzneski, Naples

Golf course should be park

I read Mr. Walker's letter in the mailbag. And I agree. We need more green area and less cement buildings. We are overpopulated. We are going to run short on water and have problems with sewage. I understand that the City of Cape Coral is working with a developer for housing on the old golf course. If I remember correctly, with our previous elected officials, this would be not used for development. I believe the residences surrounding the golf course should have a say in this matter and be aware of what you are doing. This should be a park with trails so everyone can enjoy.

Ellen Castillo, Cape Coral

Noxious ordinance

I was dismayed to learn, in the article ("'Bill of Rights sanctuary' gets revisit: Proposal revived by Commissioner Hall," July 16) that despite Commissioner Saunders's advice to wait until fall to do so, the Board of Commissioners has decided to put this noxious ordinance on the agenda in August. Apparently, Commissioner Hall couldn't wait until Collier County residents return from vacation and their northern homes. He wants to get his pet project passed! And what better time than the "dead" of summer when "no one" is around?

And the ordinance probably will pass, because the Board has taken a strong right turn. Only Commissioner Saunders remains, of the three board members who voted it down two years ago.

I am reminded of someone else who tried to sneak legislation by the public. On two different late nights, without press around, Ron DeSantis signed bills he suspected might hurt him politically. One crippled reproductive freedom in Florida and the other enabled Floridians to carry guns without a permit.

Did DeSantis really think that no one would notice?Does Commissioner Hall really think that no one will notice?

I'm sure the passage of the ordinance will garner Mr. Hall plenty of handshakes and back slaps as he makes the rounds of his constituents. But this ordinance does not represent me or my views; nor does it represent the views of many thoughtful, democracy-loving residents. We do not presume to decide on our own which federal laws are constitutional and which are not -- and we don't want other residents trying that, either.

Shame on the Board of Commissioners for considering this ordinance in the first place -- and then for scheduling it during the "dead" of summer.

We see you, board. We notice.

Melanie Wicker, Naples

Russia's military

Obviously the writer who describes Russia's military as a toothless tiger has already forgotten about Afghanistan and Vietnam where the world's largest military, the USA, got its butt kicked and handed to them. I would also say that thousands of nuclear weapons aimed directly at us makes Russia a tiger with huge and very deadly teeth.

David Liebenguth, Fort Myers

Military goal is winning

One of the current topics of focus, including that of the Biden administration, is Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). The Biden administration has made a huge point of promoting DEI even in our military. One area where DEI is not seemingly considered is in sports competition. No one talks about DEI when it comes to the NBA and WNBA finals, the World Cup, the Super Bowl, Track and Field events at the Olympics, professional boxing and any other sporting event. The reason for this is pretty simple. The one goal is to win. Do you think the Kansas City Chiefs would have won the Super Bowl or the Denver Nuggets would have won the NBA finals or Connecticut and LSU would have won the final four in men's and women's basketball if they had focused on DEI? So the question is why do we have a military? It seems that we have a military to protect us against any war against another country or countries. Isn't our only goal being to win in that case? Do you think Russia, China, Iran and North Korea are focusing their military on DEI? It looks like the Biden administration is not focusing our military on the singular goal of winning and this has potentially devastating results.

Ron Wobbeking, Naples

Opinions or facts?

Propaganda by any other name, such as "misinformation," is just as potentially deadly today as it was during The Third Reich.Propagandistic LIES stated as facts resulted in the deaths of 6 million Jews and other purported "undesirables."Free speech gives us the right to state opinions and facts but shouldn’t give anyone the right to state opinions as facts in mass information formats.

We need to legally require an effective identifying disclaimer to separate unfounded opinions from verified facts in our mass information formats.Hitler proved that stating lies as facts can be deadly. There are propagandistic forces that have and continue to do the same today by using free speech as a weaponized shield to attack our democracy.We don’t need to eliminate free speech. We just need to first clarify for the sake, and safety, of the information-consuming public if it’s verified fact or unfounded opinion and provide clearly identified separate lanes for each to flow freely.

J. Cant, Naples

Government overreach

The headlines this week highlight a movement that is hard to ignore -- a power grab.Well funded conservative organizations, coordinated by the Heritage Foundation, are developing a plan called Project 2025 to give more power to the president. Not any president, the trigger for its implementation would be the election of a Republican president. Russell T. Voight, former Head of the Budget and Management Office under Trump and now running The Center for Renewing America stated, “What we are trying to do is identify the pockets of independence and seize them.” Seize them, that’s what he said. The plan he describes would alter the balance of power in the federal government. It would concentrate all the power of the government in the hands of one person, the president. While this plan is far reaching, here are some examples of its impact:

The president would take direct control of all state power.The president would take over all law enforcement at the federal level.The DOJ would not be independent from the White House.The president would control private business by taking the FTC under direct control.The president would control the FCC, which regulates media, threatening freedom of the press.The president could impound funds, refusing to spend money approved by Congress.

Because Donald Trump is talking openly about these policies in his campaign rallies, this plan is no secret. Allowing this shift of power, eliminating the system of checks and balances, threatens our democracy and silences our voices.

But wait, there’s more. In Tennessee, the attorney general seized unredacted medical records of transgender people, who were informed three months after the fact that their records had been taken, and now wants to obtain records of women who have had abortions in another state. On 7/17, the Courier Journal reported that the Kentucky AG is seeking out of state abortion records. In Arkansas the AG is seizing medical records. In Georgia, 11 ALIVE disclosed that their AG is seeking women's medical records. In Louisiana, the Louisiana Illuminator reported that AG Lynn Fitch wants to make information on out of state abortions available to authorities. In Mississippi where there is a total abortion ban, women's records will be followed across their border. In a letter sent to the Biden administration, an effort to claim the right to follow these out of state records was signed by the attorneys general from 19 states: Mississippi, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah.

While we may have opinions about these specific medical issues, this situation threatens everyone’s privacy. When government targets specific groups and is given the power to obtain our medical records without our permission, it endangers each and every one of us. Ask yourself, why have I been signing those HIPAA forms all these years if they can be so easily disregarded? What will the next medical issue be that endangers our privacy?

We see what is happening. Plans are being developed to place government control in the hands of one person and medical records are being seized by state attorneys now. What endangers one, endangers all. Our only defense is our vote. It doesn’t matter which party is doing it. Destroying the balance of power and seizing personal information about medical treatment obtained in another state where that treatment is legal is government overreach pure and simple. If we don’t stop it with our vote, someday it just might take residence on our own doorstep.

Susan Kaercher Meyers, Naples

Marco ordinance

In a letter to the editor opinion page of Naples Daily News July 19, it was incorrectly stated that the voter passed short term rental ordinance on Marco Island became null and void by the Florida Statute SB 250. This statute deals with “development“ and NOT use! It is intended to overcome obstacles of development and redevelopment related to Hurricane Ian! It restricts cities and towns from adopting harsher criteria in this area.

Nothing regarding the short term rental ordinance is affected by this statute or the follow up SB 170 currently in the works.

Janice Massarelli, Marco Island

McCarthyism returns

Joe McCarthy, remember Tail Gunner Joe who was allowed to fire as much ammunition as he wanted from the back of the plane. He only flew on a couple safe flights and hit nothing. After the war he embellished his war story like Hillary avoiding live fire or Trump avoiding VD, his Vietnam. Joe was elected in 1946 serving as senator from Wisconsin where sits today Ron Johnson. By 1950 he found communists in the State Department, Voice of America, the Army and the Truman administration. He was instrumental in the Lavender Scare, that’s todays Pride flag. Queers in the government all the while he was suspected of frequenting gay bars. It gets better, he lobbied for the commutation of Nazi Waffen SS soldiers who murdered our pow GIs. There was a thread of antisemitism in his speeches. He gave a speech to a women’s Republican club, he held up a list of 205 communists in the State Department. Eisenhower was afraid to confront him, God forbid Eisenhower lose Wisconsin’s support. He was eventually censured after causing so much damage. Today we have the same situation trying to end any semblance of democracy. The Trumps, Comers, Biggs, Donalds, Gaetz, Boebert, MTG, Jordans, DeSantis and a cast of others in the credits to this pathetic show. Oh, Joe? He died at age 48. Apparently he was addicted to morphine and alcohol. Maybe it’s time for congressional drug tests. These folks can be that nuts on their own?

Laurence Jacks, Estero

Charge the Bidens

Having heard the whistle blowers testify today on Capitol Hill, the lying corrupt tax cheats, both Hunter and Joe Biden, are going down.  Time for them to be indicted and charged accordingly with tax evasion.

Michael Adler, Miromar Lakes

DeSantis can’t handle truth

Ron DeSantis couldn’t handle the truth at Guantanamo nor with the COVID vaccines. Here are additional truths which DeSantis can’t handle:

The truth about slavery in America and its ever-present, unfair effects as he promotes an anti-woke culture with legislation.

The truth about LBGTs as a natural phenomenon corroborated by science as he promotes a “Don’t say gay” culture and attacks Disney.

The truth that Florida needs immigrants for its agricultural, its landscaping, its tourism and its construction as he transports them elsewhere and legislates against the wellbeing of immigrant workers.

The truth that women have the right to health and to health care as he places their health in jeopardy with six week criminal legislation.

The truth that corporate America had embraced corrective climate change initiatives as he signedlaws prohibiting Florida state investments in corporations which promote environmental goals (ESG) as part of their efforts to protect Floridians.

The truth that there was an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by calling the commemoration of January 6 earlier this year “nauseating” and by entertaining the presidential pardoning of all convicted participants in January 6 crimes.

The truth that Florida is subject to extreme natural disasters as he allotted a mere $2 billion as future insurance assistance for residents when he knew that damages from Hurricane Ian alone had exceeded $100 billion.

These are facts which Ron DeSantis ignores. No wonder Ron can’t handle the truth.

Joe Haack, Naples

Forgiving fellows

Governor DeSantis has settled on a stump answer to questions about the behavior of his chief rival for the Republican nomination for president, former President Trump, in connection with the January 6th insurrection.

While he never brings up the topic, when asked the governor is not stumped and has a ready-scripted response: The president should have acted sooner to disband the goons he unleashed.

Never mind all of the other pre-January 6th perfidy — fake electors, pressuring voting officials, outright  fabrications and prevarications by his lawyers and other representatives, and almost daily doses of duplicity that helped foster the January 6th criminality — our governor seems to be giving him a free pass for his pre-riot incitement of the insurrection. His view seems to be tsk, tsk, Trump should have acted more decisively to unwind the mob he invited to the nation’s capital to “be wild.”

The governor’s position is akin to lamenting that an arsonist is remiss for not throwing water on a burning structure that he set unlawfully ablaze or a drunken hit-and-run driver should have called 911 to summon help for the injuries he illegally caused.

That’s almost as lame as former Vice President Mike Pence’s position that “history” will  judge  the ex-president’s improprieties poorly but there’s nothing that should be done about them now to hold him accountable for his serious mischief.

As an attorney who occasionally represents individuals accused  of crimes or civil wrongdoing, these are a pair of forgiving fellows I would like on my juries. They reek of law and odor.

Marshall H. Tanick, Naples

Not listening to me

We moved here just over four years ago and I have in vain attempted to provide you with guidance and education. The best parallel I can draw is that your newspaper functions like a brand new salesperson. They sell what they like and think is important, not what the consumer of your goods and/or services desires. A case in point is the recent headline that was going to give me a summary of the new state budget. All that we got was a negative opinion piece from an individual selling their views rather than reporting on the budget. Another issue in which you’re going in the wrong direction is your focus on diversity and inclusion. Companies that really practice this trait do not feel the need to talk about something that is ingrained in their culture. That certainly does not appear to be the case with you or your USA Today parent. Your actions on the Mallard Fillmore comic strip is the polar opposite of being diverse and inclusive. Your preference to have males pretending to be women in the school shower room seems to be your version of diversity and inclusion. I should probably not mention that I do like the auto race reporters and a guy named Gene Frenette. Never once have they called me a racist, a sexist or that I carry a large number of phobias like several of your other sports reporters think I have because I don’t agree with what is important to them. I trust that this will further clarify my position on your efforts.

Don Rader, Naples

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Letters to the editor for Saturday, July 22, 2023