Letters to the editor for Saturday, October 21, 2023
America at inflection point
The president's speech writers finally got something right: "America is at an inflection point in history." T'is true, it is time to make hard choices. In actuality, the entire world is standing on a dangerous precipice that could decide the fate of humanity.
Hamas's savage assault on Jews in Israel has forced America's hand in backing Israel. But should the Israelis retaliate and invade Gaza, the entire Muslim world could join China, Russia and North Korea as declared enemies of America.
The United States was morally correct in befriending a people that have been persecuted for centuries, including a Nazi Holocaust that exterminated 6 million Jews. The carving out of a tiny sliver of land in the Middle East displaced Muslims that could have been resettled in surrounding nations but that did not happen. Instead, the region evolved into a quagmire of terrorism with Iran the evil catalyst that aspires to wipe every Jew and Christian from the face of the earth. If they are allowed to develop nuclear weapons Israel will be the first target, soon followed by the United States.
In this time of turmoil America needs a bold and creative-minded decisionmaker. Instead we have two badly flawed presidential aspirants that better belong in assisted living than in the White House. Donald Trump is a sociopathic egotist who feeds his ego by verbally attacking his adversaries. Joe Biden is so intent on creating a favorable legacy he neglects his sworn duties. Factually, his record is suspect. He bungled the withdrawal from Afghanistan, supports an Iran appeasement policy and allowed millions of illegal immigrants to cross our southern border unimpeded. Such leadership emboldens all of our enemies.
In addressing this complicated quandary, our political factions should declare a truce and heal a divided nation. Also, BLM, white radicals, and LGBT need to cease their self-serving posturing. Additionally, God and Allah could help in healing the rift between 4 billion Christians and 3.6 billion Muslims. Thus far their earthly disciples have largely failed. But as always, hope reigns eternal.
Gerald Ponder, Cape Coral
Biden shows courage, compassion
What we have witnessed this past week by President Biden is strength. While everyone’s heads were spinning, my president showed resolve and clarity. First he was able to distinguish between the barbarism, violence and depravity displayed by Hamas against Jewish people and realize the difference in their actions versus the criticism of the Jewish State. Second he is able to navigate between the various factions and push for restraint and humanitarian actions so more innocents are not killed.
This is happening as the Republican led House continues its chaotic attempt to elect an insurrectionist and election denier (Jim Jordan) as speaker. Biden behaves like a real leader that has shown courage and resolve in the face of aggression by Putin, North Korea, China and Hamas.I guess his wisdom of old age, experience, compassion and global knowledge are really shining through. Despite these trying times, at least we can sleep at night, knowing we have competency, intelligence and grace leading our country. We have someone leading us that believes in a higher standard which should be a source of pride and comfort for every American.
Joseph Russo, Naples
We should demand better
It’s becoming increasingly difficult to characterize with restraint and kindness those who continue to support what appears to be the indefensible. Simply, Trump and Jim Jordan (Rep. from Ohio) are not good for the country. Each of them can be disqualified on so many levels, and each of them have wide, inexplicable support.Trump reveals his temperament and mendacity in his comments on Truth Social as he rants against judges who sit on the four criminal case (total of 91 counts) he’s involved in. The facts don’t favor him in any of these cases. In his fantastical, nasty, and belligerent musings, he writes ineloquently how biased these judges are against him. Mr. Wonderful should be immune from prosecution regardless of his guilt, and all the dedicated prosecutors, witnesses, and judges are senselessly out to get him. The narcissist can’t tolerate opposition
Jim Jordan is seriously being considered for speaker of the House. Fortunately, he’ll probably lose. It’s crazy that he even has a chance. He’s a Trump sycophant, a far right rabble-rouser who would rather break things than build things. He would embrace divisiveness and kill any chance of bipartisanship. He’s not responsible for a single piece of legislation in his 16 years in Congress. He’s an election denier who peddles lies and conspiracy theories. He has denied allegations that he knew about but ignored acts of sexual abuse of 48 wrestling team members by the team physician at OSU. Jordan was the assistant wrestling coach there for seven years. Victims say he had to know. He pleads ignorance. He supports a nationwide abortion ban. He’s an insurrectionist insider who oddly and conveniently can’t remember if he spoke to Trump on the morning of Jan. 6. There must be better options for speaker.The scary thing is that many voters foolishly like these two guys. This is troubling.
Kevin McNally, Bonita Springs
Universities disappoint
The brutal attack on Israelis, who were targeted by Hamas terrorists, underscores the need for U.S. support for a partner that is the only democracy in the Middle East. The U.S. has many residents of the Jewish faith, with approximately 700,000 living here in Florida and our country has been aligned with Israel since its founding in 1948. We have always supported Israel.
The outbreak of hostility on our college campuses toward Israel and Jews here in the U.S., by both students and faculty, should be alarming to all of us. What do these protests, more properly identified as celebrations in support of Hamas terrorists, say about our college campuses? Hamas has never hidden its intentions: no two-state solution and eliminate Israel. College presidents at such esteemed universities as Harvard and Penn, could not issue a proper statement in support of Israel without threats on the part of donors to withhold financial support. Where’s the moral compass, college presidents? In the endowment, I guess.
More alarming is what students seem to be learning at these universities when they observe radical professors openly supporting a terrorist organization and displaying antisemitism. Universities have become the incubator for indoctrination, political correctness and cancel culture which seem to be far more important than real learning and critical thought. If you believe in American Exceptionalism, you may not belong in many university learning environments these days.
One Florida university president, Ben Sasse, at the University of Florida, issued a direct and unequivocal statement in support of Israel. It is shameful that other college leaders found it difficult to do the same and it's time they clean up the learning environment they have fostered.
Nick Blauwiekel, Naples
Matt Gaetz to blame
Unlike the Democrats, who are obsessively unified on anything and everything. The GOP doesn't seem to take this seriously about electing a House leader and have no interest in public service. They only want to draw as much attention as possible to themselves. Otherwise, they'd be voting and wouldn't go home until they had selected a speaker. I think most of Americans are tired of watching this fiasco. When a very small minority of Congress can get their way, something is seriously wrong. The nightmare they have caused the American people could end soon. The Democrats will take care of the lack of leadership in the next general election when they take back the House. And remember we have Matt Gaetz to thank for all of this.
Lou Walker, Cape Coral
Persevere for Ukraine
We face turmoil on many fronts, at home and abroad. We must not allow that to distract us from Ukraine. Ukraine's struggle against the Russian invasion is an attack on basic democratic values and a violation of international law. A Russian victory will gravely damage our country and the world. We must continue to fully support the Ukrainians in this war. Their valiant fighting and dying is not just for their national independence. They fight for democracy. Should Russian brutality triumph, our friends and allies from Europe to Taiwan will be at risk. Our security and economy and wellbeing will erode.
We must persevere. America's future depends on it.
Bruce A. Beardsley, Naples
No to both Jordan, Donalds
Amid the contentious speaker race in the U.S. Capitol, Congressman Byron Donalds has inflamed the dysfunction by his rude and condescending suggestion that voters basically shut up, and let Congress decide for them. “And listen, for all of the voters in our country, I think it’s important for members to hear your voice, and I totally respect that. But I think that there are members up here who they want to be able to make this decision on leadership and then move forward,” stated Donalds during an Oct. 17 interview with Fox News. What a convenient moment for Donalds to cue the electorate to “just take a break, take a pause” –basically look the other way so Jordan can intercept the speaker position.
America doesn’t want Jim Jordan as speaker. And we sure as hell don’t want Byron Donalds. But this is lost on members such as Vern Buchanan of Sarasota, whose impromptu vote for Donalds surprised the GOP conference during Jordan’s second ballot for speaker. Apparently, Vern is too disconnected to realize that there is a high population of Ukrainian diaspora in his district, and these voters would oppose installing an anti-Ukraine spox in the speakership position. As a constituent of Donalds’, I can assure you, with his backwards foreign policy principles and utterly failed approach on fiscal conservatism, Donalds is not a better choice than Jordan.
Alexandra Zakhvatayev, Cape Coral
War started by Hamas
I ask you to fix firmly in your minds and hearts the savage butchery of Hamas. Fix what you saw with your eyes of this evil. In the days and weeks ahead let these images remind you why Israel needs your voice in Congress and White House when pressure brews for yet another cease fire. No, this time Hamas must be fully eradicated from Israel’s border, from hegemony over Gaza and gone from our Earth.
The barbaric truth is burned into my eyes. Seeing roving gangs of terrorists killing young people at a peace concert isn’t enough. Remember the grandmother kidnapped by Hamas and paraded through Gaza like a prize. Mostly remember the blurred images of infants murdered by gunfire, by real fire, by Hamas. I beg you to remember.In days coming those with neither resolve nor moral courage will start calling upon Israel to stop short of the needed end for Hamas. Casualties will occur. Please, remember that this war was started by Hamas and truly the blood of Gaza is on Hamas.
Harvey Cohen, Naples
Voting for chaos
Republicans in the House of Representatives are providing the voting public with a preview of their style of chaos governance and the resultant domestic and international damage it causes. Those not intoxicated by the MAGA Kool Aid saw it clearly under Mr. Trump. This latest episode has been brought on by Florida’s microphone-seeking (as opposed to heat-seeking) missile of a representative, Matt Gaetz. This chaos is what the country would be in for in the event the next president of the United States is named Trump, DeSantis, or any number of the other candidates vying for the Republican presidential nomination. Not unlike here in Florida, when given power, these counterfeit leaders adopt a “my way or the highway” attitude, building up huge deficits of goodwill. Bulldozing your political opponent is their short-sighted go-to tactic. When these tactics fail, as they inevitably do, they then resort to intimidation and threats, if not actual acts of physical violence. Some Republicans in the House (our own Mr. Donalds was not one of them) rediscovered their moral compass and refused to vote for the DeSantis endorsed, still election denying insurrectionist Jim Jordan as speaker of the House. As a result, these same Republicans and some of their spouses are now receiving threats of physical violence from MAGA, tacitly encouraged by the “you can’t handle the truth” network’s Sean Hannity. This is the current state of our democracy under Republican leadership, folks. The voting public can look forward to more of the same depending on how we choose to cast our votes in the upcoming local, state and national elections.
Thomas Minor, Bonita Springs
DeSantis is a real hero
Governor Ron DeSantis was responsible for getting five humanitarian flights bringing American citizens from Israel straight to the United States, and out of harm's way. According to your paper, he should get no credit saying that he was interfering with the U.S. government, which drops people off in Europe and lets them fend for themselves. Can't we realize that time is of the essence? We have no idea what is in store for Israel, given that Hezbollah is now involved from the Lebanon border. The lies and denials coming from Hamas and the Palestinian supporters are very frightening.
Our only dependable ally in the Middle East is in grave danger, and we need to get our citizens out ASAP. This is not a Republican/Democrat situation, but an American one. There are still many Americans in Afghanistan waiting to get out, which may never happen at the rate we are going. Governor Ron DeSantis is a real hero, and should be recognized as such.
Mary DePrisco, Naples
Undermining Gov. DeSantis
Once again your newspaper is intent on taking what should be a feel good story and turning it into an attack piece. Instead of celebrating the Israel Florida evacuation to Tampa you choose to undermine Gov. DeSantis leadership role in making the flights happen and call it politics. You then go on to question wasting resources? As I write this, two weeks after the attack, the Biden administration is still “arranging” flights that will dump Americans in Europe after they agree to pay for the ride. I’ll take Gov. DeSantis’ action over the inept White House any day. Kudos to the governor and Project Dynamo.
Katie Cullen, Naples
No moral equivalency
Hamas is an internationally recognized terrorist organization whose stated goal has always been the eradication of the State of Israel and the extermination of the Jews. After Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005, Hamas won Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2007 and has solely governed Gaza since then. Rather than build a Palestinian state in Gaza to uplift the Palestinian people and better their lives, Hamas has diverted funds allocated for that purpose to arm its military wing to plan its destruction of the State of Israel. After months of diabolical planning with malice aforethought, this culminated in the heinous, murderous and unprovoked attack by Hamas on innocent civilians in southern Israel.
It is disingenuous to suggest that Gaza and its 2,000,000+ Palestinian inhabitants were unaware of the planning by Hamas for its impending brutal attack on southern Israel, since this planning and training was conducted in plain sight and in full view of thousands of the inhabitants of Gaza. Now that Israel is engaged in military operations to defend the State of Israel by seeking to root out Hamas and its military wing, the Palestinian propaganda machine is in full swing, even before Israel has entered into Gaza. There is no moral equivalency between Hamas and Israel. Hamas erects it artillery batteries and missile installations next to hospitals and schools and uses its Palestinian civilians as human shields to multiply the casualties, so that it can seek to inflame passions, heap the world’s opprobrium on Israel and foment antisemitism against Jews everywhere. Israel would never plan and carry out a massive, unprovoked and murderous military assault on Palestinian civilians, designed to kill thousands, such as Hamas carried out in southern Israel on October 7. Middle East history teaches us as much.
Steve McCloskey, Bonita Springs
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Letters to the editor for Saturday, October 21, 2023
