Letters to the editor for Wednesday, July 4, 2018

A farmer’s rare voice praised

At a time when it seems most people within the agricultural industry are unwilling to criticize any policy put forth by the Trump administration, it is profoundly heartening to find a farmer who will denounce the current border detention program for what it is – the exploitation and dehumanization of a powerless population, solely for political purposes. Thank you, Mr. Morita, (Stan Morita, June 22 in The Bee) for sharing your empathy, your humanity and your courage with us. It does give one hope for our future.

Audra earned her Fresno honors

Kudos to the Fresno Unified School District for naming the Roosevelt High School theater in honor of Audra McDonald, as well as the city of Fresno for changing over a downtown street to Audra McDonald Way. This multitalented performer certainly deserves all of her many accolades having won six Tony Awards, two Grammys and an Emmy.

We had the pleasure of attending Audra’s sold-out concert at the Saroyan Theater on May 26th. She was outstanding as well as was the Fresno Philharmonic Orchestra. Thank you, Audra, for making your hometown so proud of you. Please come back and perform for us again, and perhaps at a larger venue such as Selland Arena or SaveMart Center.

Latinos see clearly who to vote for

Manuel Madrid’s letter of (June 22) complains about the GOP’s decline in California, warning of a potential “mass exodus” of conservatives if Democrats win the governor’s office in November.

First, I say adios.

Frankly, Madrid displayed an amazing naivete as he asserted a one-to-one correspondence between Latinos and the values he views as GOP traits, and lamented the fact that Latinos have historically trended Democratic and apparently, he cannot or will not reconcile with that reality.

Sadly, Madrid fails to see that Latinos are also a perceptive and compassionate people and they recognize that the principal values that he listed and wrongfully attributes solely to the GOP are just a glossy sham veneer belied by the daily actions of their party and in particular the man they recklessly elected.

There is a reason for Latino loyalty and it is not as Madrid jadedly asserts because the Democrats have put Latinos on the big government gravy train.

The truth is that a party that could put an abomination of Trump’s magnitude in the oval office is guilty of a deranged obtuseness at best and, at worst, a disgraceful dereliction of the highest responsibility of a political party, which is to put a person worthy of such an office in power.

Trump and his administration of mean-spirited toadies is the collateral manifestation of the party’s real beliefs and principles.