Monday's letters: Respect homeless people, stop negative campaigning, vote carefully, more
Homeless people deserve respect
This letter is in response to the July 27 letter about “vagrants” in Venice, specifically at the library, being offensive to the writer (“Do-gooders enable vagrants to take over”).
I would like to ask: What exactly is offensive to him? Is it the smell of unwashed humans who can’t afford a rental when an 850-square-foot apartment runs close to $2,000 a month?
Is it the fact that real live humans are living on our streets in scorching heat and have to come to the library for some relief?
More: How to send a letter to the editor
How exactly are these “vagrants” harming the letter writer? Is it that he is forced to acknowledge that there is extreme human suffering going on outside of his gated community?
Or is it that he has to face the fact that he is surrounded by humans with mental illness and debilitating health issues that, thanks to our pathetic health care system, are going untreated and interfere with their ability to maintain employment?
Our homeless population deserves respect and empathy, even if it is hard to admit they exist. If you are offended by their existence you need to volunteer with a homeless organization or service organization to help address the issue.
Lynne Higgins, Sarasota
Halt ugly campaigning in local elections
Negative campaigning isn’t new, but it appears that there’s a new-low “normal” as far as truth and civility that’s just plain ugliness and meanness. But we don’t have to allow it.
After recently receiving campaign flyers from two local candidates who portrayed their opponents as a clown and no less than the spawn of Satan, I think candidates, to be considered for election, should be required to address the issues in the manner of an adult, not a 7-year-old. (No offense to 7-year-olds.)
I call upon the Herald-Tribune to call out negative campaigning whenever it occurs. We need to push back to restore civility and truly make America great again.
Linda Kitch, Sarasota
Military trains with 8th-grade-level manuals
The writer of a July 28 letter to the editor thinks that veterans are qualified to teach our schoolchildren because “… the U.S. military runs the nation’s largest educational program. How else do you think people learn to operate nuclear submarines?" (“Ex-troops will enrich public education”)
Well, here's how: Since 1975, the U.S. Navy has put all its instruction manuals through a readability test called Flesch-Kincaid. It is now the standard test used by the U.S. Department of Defense.
The Navy decided that all its manuals must be written at the eighth grade level and no higher to make sure that the sailors running nuclear submarines (or launching nuclear missiles) understand them.
Are these veterans the people we want teaching our children? People with zero educational training, for whom the Navy uses eighth-grade-level instruction manuals?
If you want to degrade and destroy Florida’s public schools, this is a good start.
Pete Tannen, president, Clear Language Institute Inc., U.S. Army veteran
Your vote matters more than ever
In this upcoming election, millions will vote as they always have. Their busy lives will leave little time to evaluate candidates beyond the ad spots they’re exposed to.
In past elections that was fine. No matter the party, the policies were tailored to fit the majority of voters.
That’s no longer true. Republicans now work to activate the base, rather than appeal to the masses. That means we’ll be governed very differently depending on who wins upcoming elections.
I’m reminded of my youth when government events, including school days, started with prayer and segregation was the law.
The closet was full of people hiding their true selves and women had their place. An unwanted pregnancy might make that place a back alley.
Now Republicans are telling us those were the good old days. To keep things simple, they label opponents as “elite” or "woke" so policy discussions are minimized.
Separate drinking fountains aren’t coming back, but nationalism, both white and Christian, is often promoted when MAGA masses gather.
Republicans now reflect Hungary’s Viktor Orban far more than Ronald Reagan. Be aware. This time there will be a difference.
Kyle Quattlebaum, Sarasota
High home sale not front-page story
How many readers need to know that an area home sold for $17.5 million? Really?
A Page One headline above the fold ("Area home closes at $17.5M," July 28)?
With everything going on in Sarasota, the state, the U.S. and the world, how does the sale price of a home merit such coverage?
Mary Lou Feldman, Sarasota
Appreciation for talented sports writer
I wish to compliment sports writer Dennis Maffezzoli on his journalistic talent. His articles are well written, rich in facts and light on opinions.
Allan J. Barberio, Sarasota
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Homeless people deserve respect, empathy; campaigns turn ugly
