Trump and Kim: Letters to the editor, March 3, 2019

Trump is dangerously bargaining our freedoms

I am appalled and frightened at the same time by the most powerful person in the world deciding, announcing and making policies that threaten our very existence. Trump is bargaining with our freedoms and very existence by making deals with autocratic tyrants who only care about what they can get from us to make it better for them, and we receive absolutely no assurances from Russia, North Korea, or China.

I truly wonder whose side Trump is on. We are governed by a liar (verified hundreds of times by his own statements) and someone who only seems to care about what he can do to make it better for him and his family. It is disgusting and unconscionable.

His appointed people are ruled by nepotism and political favoritism. That is not new. This is truly disgusting because the good people of this nation don’t seem to want to stand up and say Trump is an incompetent leader who proves it every day.

Diversion tactics from real issues

Why should dictator Kim stop diverting his people’s attention from his minority rule by reducing his propaganda about imminent U.S. attack? As part of his exploitation of his own people, his nuclear weapons divert their attention away from their poverty.

America’s wealthiest 1 percent love a diversionary-tactic showman who pretends we are being attacked by a nonwhite invader. While they steal more than their share, the 1 percent supports politicians who dismantle voting rights and their continuation of the fossil-fuel destruction of our planet.

I do not want climate change dooming our grandchildren to civilization collapse. Germans pay more for renewable electricity, Japanese shame executives who want to get rich, Scandinavians tax inheritance, net worth, and income, and Denmark’s employees are 70 percent unionized.

With Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez capturing American middle-class and working-class attention with proposals fostering a Green New Deal, free public college and trade school, infrastructure projects for renewable energy, and a 70 percent marginal tax rate for incomes above $10 million, will the rich people’s puppets, the Republican party, start screaming about commies to divert your attention? Maybe they will try to just start a war somewhere. Shall we stop them? Why not?

Hosey top prospect for supervisor

Thank you for weighing in on the March 5th special election for District 2 supervisor. I was not surprised to see “earnest and sincere” describing Steve Hosey — and I trust all three names on the ballot fit that label — but the suggestion that he lacks the “requisite knowledge of local issues” for a duty “as large as county supervisor” was a logical leap that struck me as inconsistent with the rest of your published opinion. The expressed standard of first serving “on a county committee to gain experience” leans toward patronizing and is not equally applied to your preferred candidate.

You appeared to view Hosey’s citing of a “learning curve” as a weakness or shortcoming, but having known Steve for two decades, I see it as reflecting one of his greatest strengths. His sincere humility allows him to first seek understanding, then advance to consensus building and problem solving. MLB scouts, knowing the “tools” that lead to success on the diamond, once salivated over his power, speed and throwing arm. What tools define the ideal supervisor? Integrity, the courage of his convictions, a gift for connecting with people from all walks of life, and a heart to serve our community make Steve Hosey, once again, a top prospect.