Nunes and FBI: Letters to the editor, Jan. 17, 2020

Nunes proves he was clairvoyant

We must commend The Fresno Bee staff for inserting the article on FISA Judge Rosemary Collyer’s accusation of the FBI misleading (as in lying) about factual basis for wiretapping a former Trump campaign adviser. In the same edition, there is a letter to the editor that claims that Devin Nunes is clairvoyant. This judge is either confirming Nunes being clairvoyant or rather upset at the FBI for “misleading” the court.

All of those who have slammed Nunes will not learn of this from ABC, NBC, CBS or this newspaper, if this letter is not published. The feces are about to hit the rotating blades in the FBI.

Evangelicals must speak out

On Sept. 27, in The Washington Post, Franklin Graham was quoted as saying, “Too many Americans believe the notion that what a person does in private has little bearing on his public actions or job performance, even if he is the president of the United States.”

In that same article, James Dobson was quoted as saying, “You can’t run a family, let alone a country, without character. How foolish to believe that a person who lacks honesty and moral integrity is qualified to lead a nation and the world.”

Oh wait — I forgot to say, those quotes taken from The Post in 2019 actually date back to 1998 in the context of the Clinton impeachment.

I’m not excusing Clinton for his indiscretions or perjury. My concern is that the evangelicals who would have crucified Clinton are so willing and eager to give Mr. Trump a free pass despite far more egregious and damaging behavior.

My gratitude goes to Mark Galli, retiring editor of Christianity Today, and to prominent evangelical writer and teacher Beth Moore — rare evangelicals who have spoken out boldly while most have remained silent about the moral and constitutional travesty that is the Trump administration.

Let there be peace on Earth

I know how to get Democrats and Republicans to agree unanimously: let’s get rid of lobbyists … really! Their sole purpose is to influence (quid pro quo) our elected officials to support lobbyists’ special interests and in the process, the legislators line their pockets with insider trading and special treatment.

And legislators could agree with each other to demand mainstream media follow the Journalists Code of Ethics. Media bias cuts both ways, but today’s Trump derangement syndrome is palatable and culpable in making our country less safe. Our enemies relish the 24/7 condemnation and denunciation of anything Trump or Trump-related. The JCE basic principles are truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, fairness, and public accountability. These apply to the acquisition of newsworthy information and its subsequent dissemination to the public. Hello! An opportunity is knocking here. But fairness and impartiality is not what unsuspecting Americans receive day to day.

Lastly, Andrew Fiala, in his column on Jan. 5, calls for insight and enlightenment. He stated, “We had a hard time seeing beyond partisan division”. Maybe we can all adopt the phrase, “Let there be peace on Earth and let it begin with me.”

Carbon fee program has backing

Michael Freeman’s Dec. 25 letter, “Climate scientists chase phantom,” conveniently omits well-known scientific facts.

While it is true that CO2 comprises about 0.05% of Earth’s atmosphere, nitrogen and oxygen combined make up 98% of it, and these two gases do not absorb and re-emit solar energy like CO2 does; they are transparent to that energy.

Mars is colder than Earth because it is farther from the sun, and even though its atmosphere is 95% CO2, the Martian atmosphere is too thin to retain heat, like Earth’s atmosphere does.

The fact that anthropogenic CO2 is heating Earth’s atmosphere is not a news flash. Physicists Tyndall and Arrenius calculated this in the late 19th century.

Fossil fuel companies have been allowed to add CO2 to Earth’s atmosphere with impunity for more than two centuries. They, and ourselves, are the chimera Mr. Freeman speaks of. A carbon fee and dividend program, as advocated by Citizens Climate Lobby, has rare bipartisan support (not well publicized), and may be the best solution in weaning us from fossil fuels.

This story was originally published January 17, 2020 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Nunes and FBI: Letters to the editor, Jan. 17, 2020."