Tuesday's letters: Blaming voters, returning Disney money, a potential city logo and more

Voters to blame for conservative court

There are a multitude of reasons why a woman might choose to end a pregnancy.

The Republican right wing supports mandating parenthood rather than granting women the right to choose when and if to commit to the lifelong and life-altering responsibility of parenthood.

If you’re upset with the removal of a woman’s right to determine her own destiny, who might you blame?

Are you one of the 97,000 Floridians who voted for Ralph Nader rather than Al Gore in 2000? Are you one of the people who voted for Donald Trump because he was a celebrity and not a typical politician? Are you one of the millions of Americans who did not vote at all?

Elections have consequences and we see now how that manifests itself. This ultra-conservative Supreme Court will likely reverse much of the social progress that has been made over the last 50-plus years.

President Joe Biden recently said one way to combat this scourge is to elect more pro-choice senators and representatives who will enact laws supported by a majority of Americans.

You have the power to make change. Don’t sit on the sidelines.

Kathleen Davey, Punta Gorda

Democrats at work while GOP blusters

As Gov. Ron DeSantis wages a costly and frivolous battle against Disney because it won’t join his crusade to discriminate against gay kids, Democrats are fighting drug companies to lower insulin prices for sick kids.

This example illustrates the critical difference between the current Republican Party and

the Democrats. As President Joe Biden recently said, “This ain’t your father’s Republican Party.”

The radicalization of the Republican Party is evident in the recent leak of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade deliberations. Democrats have joined women across the country expressing their outrage that the government wants to control the most intimate and difficult decision a woman will ever make.

Yet the Republican talking points – spouted on the likes of Fox TV – focus on the leak itself rather than the injustice being done to women.

Despite years of working to take away a woman’s right to choose, Republicans can hardly trumpet their apparent Supreme Court victory knowing the majority of Americans favor a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions.

This November, the differences in the two parties couldn’t be clearer: As Republicans bluster about social issues, Democrats are at work addressing real problems.

Linda DeMeritt, Port Charlotte

No reason for DeSantis to return donation

In a May 6 letter, “Governor two-faced about Disney,” the writer questioned why Gov. Ron DeSantis hasn’t returned the $100,000 that the company contributed to his political action committee.

First, money contributed to a PAC is not controlled by the candidate, by rule of law.

Second, donating money to a campaign is an indication that you agree with the candidate’s platform or that you trust him to make decisions.

However, if a corporate donor makes a political contribution to a candidate to influence the decisions the elected official makes, that reeks of intended corruption. And if said official then makes a decision that the corporation disagrees with, by returning the money he would acknowledge that he knew the corporation expected favorable treatment in return for the “donation.”

Is a candidate to assume all corporate donations are an attempt at influence peddling? If so, then it can be assured that any donation accepted from a corporation is an attempt to own the candidate.

Obviously, DeSantis isn’t playing that game.

Richard Lieb, Sarasota

‘COEXIST’ is peaceful, not political

Seriously?

I’ve read a lot of nonsense in the letters, but the writer May 5 who referred to the term “COEXIST” as “a political statement, primarily used … for those with a somewhat far left worldview … a naïve prod that hints at world peace” really irked me.

How is the idea, the hope, the desire for people to get along peacefully with each other a political statement? How is it leftist? Do right-leaning people not want this, too?

Can’t it just be human to want peace without attributing it to some other motivation? Peaceful coexistence is the best any of us can hope for. Seriously.

Rachel North, Osprey

French queen should represent Sarasota

I propose that the city of Sarasota, seeking input to replace the iconic statue of David on its logo with something more fitting, adopt a portrait of French Queen Marie Antoinette.

Upon hearing of her people starving, she is purported to have said, “Let them eat cake.” That seems to be the mantra of our civic leaders as they refuse to acknowledge the cruel and brutal downside of our skyrocketing home values.

As we enjoy/cringe/sell or rent our Sarasota homes in this “hot” market, rest assured the tenant or buyer will not be a working family or person.

Matt Sperling, Sarasota

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Lazy voters are to blame for extremist Supreme Court justices