Thursday's letters: From law and order to Trump do or die

Republican candidates denounce democracy

During the recent Republican presidential debate, the candidates were asked “Would you support Trump even if he were convicted by a jury?” Shockingly, six of the eight candidates raised their hands indicating agreement.

Those six candidates declared their intention to ignore the ruling of a jury. In 1774, John Adams proclaimed, “Representative government and trial by jury are the heart and lungs of liberty.”

Yet these Republican candidates have decided the former president is not subject to the deliberations of a jury. This is chilling and should be a deal-breaker for all reasonable citizens.

The Republican Party is no longer the “law and order” party, but is rather the party dominated by one person, Donald Trump, who has been criminally indicted in four jurisdictions and found civilly liable for sexual abuse in the E. Jean Carroll lawsuit.

Write to us: How to send a letter to the editor

While Trump is innocent until proven guilty in the four indictments, if he is convicted he should be held to account like any other citizen.

That other presidential candidates would defer to Trump’s authoritarianism does not bode well for the future of our democracy.

Jane Merriam, Punta Gorda

Condemn abduction of Ukrainian children

Well over 500 days ago, Russian hordes invaded Ukraine. Their candidly stated goal was to wipe Ukraine off the face of the earth.

One of their strategies to achieve this goal has been the systematic abduction of thousands of Ukrainian children.  Once the children were in Russia, they were bombarded by lies disparaging their parents, their religions and their homeland.

The International Criminal Court condemned this crime and issued a warrant for Vladimir Putin’s arrest.

In February of this year, Congresswoman Susan Wild of Pennsylvania introduced House Resolution 149, similarly condemning this crime against humanity.

Greg Steube: Florida congressman trying to impeach Joe Biden

I was pleased and grateful to see that Congressman Greg Steube of our 17^th District signed on as a co-sponsor of this resolution, thereby acknowledging that it is nonpolitical as its focus is solely on the protection of innocent children.

Nonetheless, the resolution remains stalled in committee. It has not yet progressed to a full House vote.

Are we to conclude that our Congress, by remaining silent, condones this horrific genocidal crime?Ksenia Kuzmycz, Venice

Writer glossed over Trump-Russia links

The writer of the Aug. 25 letter titled “Russian collusion hoax and now indictments” drinks Kool-Aid by the gallon.

The writer stated that Hillary Clinton made up Trump’s collusion with Russia to distract from her using a private email server (as several Trump officials later did).

The writer forgot that the Republican Senate Intelligence Committee concluded the Trump campaign’s many ties to Russia represented “a grave counterintelligence threat.”

The writer also forgot that Trump, shown the work of 18 U.S. intelligence agencies, reportedly said “I believe Putin” and threw everyone else out of his meetings with Putin and two Russian diplomats.

And the writer forgot that Republican Kevin McCarthy joked, “We all know” Russia pays Trump, while Eric Trump, the president’s son, said Russian money kept the family business afloat during the 2008-09 financial crisis.

Trump tried to block aid to Ukraine, pull out of NATO and surrender eastern Europe to Putin. And recently Trump boasted of Putin, “I was the apple of his eye.”

Trump was a Russian asset.Eric Grevstad, Bradenton

Institutionalizing racist stereotypes

I thought James Unnever's column was interesting and, sadly, true (“American classical education virtues can be misleading,” Aug. 24).

Although I consider myself a fairly liberal white person, I probably would think first of an African American male when hearing the words “drug user” or “drug bust.”

There’s another side of the coin, however: When hearing the words “terrorist,” “seditionist,” “mass murderer,” “serial killer (or rapist),” “school shooter” or “child pornographer,” I would never consider an African American.

Elizabeth Deane, Sarasota

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: GOP candidates show disrespect for jury process