Thursday's letters: Good Samaritans aplenty, horrible meals, Biden creating oil crisis

After crisis, let's stay compassionate

Carrie Seidman’s Oct. 9 column, “Hurricane reveals the humanity of Sarasota,” gave a vivid picture of how we rose to the occasion during this time of adversity. We demonstrated caring and compassion for others.

She closed her piece with “… long before the debris has been collected or the structures rebuilt, the enmities will return.” This happened with Manhattan’s 1965 blackout. I was a New Yorker then.

Good Samaritans abounded. Those driving cars offered rides to pedestrians. Some taxi drivers suspended their charges. All drivers were cautious of other cars on the road.

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But the next day, when electricity returned and people’s needs were fulfilled – subways, trains and elevators were working and restaurants were open – life reverted back to normal.

Drivers were speeding, going through red lights and blasting their horns. Some even protested the driving of others by opening their windows and displaying their middle fingers while screaming an F-bomb. They weren’t showing much “humanity.”

Clearly, we have two opposing natures during times of hardship and usual times. As Ms. Seidman inferred, life would be better if our behavior during the former were our consistent one.

John Marcus, Sarasota

Rations for storm victims inedible

My wife and I were pleased that we survived the storm. I was sorry to see the devastation all around us.

We lost our refrigerator of food. I tried to grill all meats and ice them down.

We got a text message that we could get help from the government at the intersection of Jacaranda Boulevard and Venice Avenue. The military was passing out ice, water and packs of 12 meals that would heat themselves just by adding water.

The concept was amazing, but the end product, manufactured by Ameriqual Foods, was horrible.

I have had C-rations, but this product was inedible. I think that whoever approved these meals should have to eat them. The government was ripped off with the purchase of these meals.

Paul McCoy, Venice

Siesta Key could look like Fort Myers Beach

What is the acceptable ratio of hurricane deaths per million dollars of real estate tax on Siesta Key?

The death and devastation we see in Fort Myers Beach can happen on Siesta Key. Adding more hotels puts more people in danger – including tourists in these hotels and the residents in homes around them with limited evacuation routes.

Is death the legacy our politicians want?

Mike Rado, Sarasota

Biden heading us toward oil crisis

On his first day in office, President Joe Biden canceled the permit for the Keystone pipeline. Since then, the administration has prevented nearly all new oil and natural gas development by putting projects into regulatory purgatory.

Last week, Biden said that the U.S. will begin importing oil from the authoritarian regime in Venezuela, which means our country will be directly funding oppression.

Biden's poor judgment has also led to Saudi Arabia striking a deal with Russia on oil production and strengthening its ties with the Russians. Higher fuel prices – and an America that is more dependent on foreign oil – will only enrich the Putin dictatorship and fund Russia's war against Ukraine.

Biden is also aggressively tapping into our Strategic Petroleum Reserve merely to keep gas prices lower until after the election.

The results of these actions have made us less safe while enriching our enemies and impoverishing Americans.

With Russia threatening nuclear war and China threatening Taiwan, what happens if our armed forces and population need oil for a real crisis? Or if a hurricane knocks out Gulf production or Houston refining?

Remember, weak presidents get us into unintended wars.

Dale Hobbs, Sarasota

Dig deeper to find judges’ motivation

I don’t know why the two authors of the Oct. 9 column “Is Supreme Court pro-religion?” didn’t just label their piece “Too many Catholic judges on the Supreme Court.”

The whole content of the column was about how the judges are letting their religious choices color their decisions. Perhaps the authors should dig deeper and examine the basis on which the judges have made their rulings, rather than attribute their decisions to their personal lives.

John Smolenski, Venice

Nov. 8 elections: No voter left behind

Your front-page headline Oct. 11, “Voters get left on sidelines,” is misleading.

Every eligible voter has the right and responsibility to vote. Period.

No voter is left on the "sidelines."

Mavis and Ronald Haigh, Siesta Key

County keeps the water flowing

My thanks go to the Sarasota County Public Utilities Department for keeping our water pressure up throughout the entire storm.

The county planned generator backup for utilities, which was very effective.

Steve Wooden, Sarasota

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Caring, generosity won't last, inedible rations for storm victims