Shocking sex scandal is a horrible look for Sarasota's phony 'Don't Say Gay' hypocrites

Another blemish for ‘family values’ party

So the Republican Party of Sarasota County has egg on its face once again.

The blatant lying about Liz Cheney receiving the local party’s Stateswoman of the Year award is not the latest blemish on this supposed party of law and order.

The news that Florida Republican Party Chairman Christian Ziegler, a former Sarasota County commissioner, has been accused of sexual assault casts a damning light on not only Mr. Ziegler, but his wife, Sarasota County School Board Member Bridget Ziegler, as well.From what has been reported, the Zieglers may have been involved in a three-way sexual relationship with Mr. Ziegler’s accuser.

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The Zieglers are members of the party of high morals and family values. They support Gov. Ron DeSantis’ so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill, and they support removing books from schools that are deemed sexual or lewd in nature. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty. But if the accusations are true, the hypocrisy is astounding!

I could not care less who is the chairman of Florida’s Republican Party. What I do care about are the individuals on the Sarasota County School Board, a position that has great influence on our children and grandchildren.

With Bridget Ziegler allegedly involved in such a lascivious relationship, I call for her immediate resignation from the board, as well as from the Disney oversight board.

Paul E. White, Sarasota

Zieglers not so upstanding after all

Well, well.

After all of Christian and Bridget Ziegler’s endless moralizing and preening, their book-banning frenzy and the shaming of our LGBTQ students and community, it appears that the real "deviants" the people of Sarasota need to be protected from may be the Zieglers themselves.

There’s a lesson here about moral crusades – and about the people who insist on monitoring everyone else.

Susan Cohen, Sarasota

Credit Biden’s bill for airport expansion

I feel compelled to address the recent celebration surrounding the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport expansion, in the paper Nov. 28.

While it is undoubtedly a momentous occasion for our community, it is disheartening to witness the lack of acknowledgement from Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republican Congressman Vern Buchanan regarding the true catalyst behind this development, the Infrastructure Funding Bill championed by President Joe Biden.

It is crucial to give credit where credit is due.

Taking full credit for a project without acknowledging the federal support is not only disingenuous but also a disservice to constituents, who deserve a truthful account of how this accomplishment came to be.

Johnson and Buchanan voted against the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

In the spirit of fostering an honest and open dialogue, I urge Johnson and Buchanan to publicly recognize the role that President Biden played and admit their votes against the infrastructure bill were in error.

Linda Heller, Sarasota

Why did Buchanan, Steube back Santos?

We think it important for area voters to note that our local congressional members – U.S. Reps. Vern Buchanan and Greg Steube – both voted to support and retain their fellow Republican pal George Santos, who was expelled from Congress last week.

No matter how Buchanan and Steube may attempt to justify their active support of Santos, they voted in lockstep with the far-right House leadership – never mind the fact that it was a tremendous waste of time and tax dollars that kept Congress from doing the governing business we expect of that body.

The members of the House Ethics Committee spent nine months and produced 170,000 pages of evidence and testimony before making their bipartisan referral to expel the fabulist Santos.

Furthermore, Article I, Section 5 of the U.S. Constitution specifically provides for removal of a member of Congress for "disorderly behavior."

The decision by Buchanan and Steube to support Santos was a failure to meet their constitutional responsibilities – and both lawmakers fell short of displaying the sense of ethics that voters might want them to demonstrate.

Their support for Santos should be recalled by area voters come election time.

Deborah and James Marqua, Sarasota County

Preserve natural beauty on Siesta Key

There should be no place for a mega hotel on Siesta Key, a haven for natural and undeveloped beauty.

Many affluent individuals also agree with this stance, and let others go to Palm Beach.

We want real beauty, not developers lining their pockets at the expense of everyone else.

Katherine Hart, Lakewood Ranch

Netanyahu should pay for Hamas attack

Israel’s potential knowledge of Hamas’ plans, and then subsequent inaction, is a disgrace and dovetails with earlier criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right regime.

He has failed his people and should pay the price.

None of this killing and world endangerment would have happened with the proper execution of intelligence and preparedness.

U.S. intelligence should have known, too, and it probably did.

Netanyahu has pretended to rule from a position of strength; instead, he has ruled from a position of costly ignorance and inaction.

President Joe Biden’s “hands-off” approach to the Middle East has also contributed to this tragic failure. Remember Afghanistan?

Hamas must be destroyed, but there will be other evil monsters; twisted ideologies have a way of surviving. So they must be contained, and that takes effort, intelligence, preparedness, planning and commitment.

We cannot be the world’s policeman. But it’s the world we live in, and we must use the influence that we have.

Andy Voikos, Venice

Santos' expulsion should lead to more

George Santos has warned us that his expulsion from Congress will set a precedent.

I sure hope so!

Gene Schulze, Bradenton

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Scandal involving rising stars black mark on Sarasota and Florida GOP