Trump and hidden documents: Letters to the editor, Jan. 29, 2020
No common sense makes corruption
Why wouldn’t President Trump release documents and allow his people to testify if they exonerated him? He would if they did.
Why would Joe Biden “go around bragging” while on stage and TV at a foreign policy forum about getting a Ukrainian prosecutor replaced? He wouldn’t, normal people don’t brag about corrupt behavior. He bragged about getting a corrupt official removed.
Why would the president, if he wanted the truth about American citizens, demand a country investigate who he says is among the most corrupt ever, instead of directing the FBI? He wouldn’t.
Why would the president specify the investigation into the Bidens must be announced? Because unannounced doesn’t help his re-election.
Why would the president, if he was actually concerned about Ukrainian corruption, abruptly release the aid when Ukraine did nothing different? He wouldn’t. But, the previous day both Adam Schiff demanded the whistle blower complaint and John Bolton resigned.
Why would the Democrats hack their own emails to hurt Hillary, then hide the servers in Ukraine to take down the Trump presidency before the 2016 election? Think about how insane that sounds.
These aren’t just issues involving the law, of the Constitution, but of right and wrong, of ethics and of common sense. If illogic reigns and common sense is dismissed, corruption rules.
Don Smith, Fresno
Spare the trees brutal pruning
Many of us who live in the Bullard High neighborhood are devastated by the lack of professionalism in the pruning of the mulberry trees which line the BHS soccer field along Barstow. I wonder if they will be able to survive such brutal treatment!
The trees, which once offered lots of shade, have been chopped down to ugly stumps, eliminating the cool respite they provided for student athletes and neighborhood walkers. They can no longer help to improve our air quality. Their beauty is gone.
Fresno Unified, please review your grounds maintenance policy, so as not to cause further damage to existing trees.
Laura Silberman, Fresno
Religionists and punishing criminals
What does the coming Fresno mayoral election have to do with religion and proof that our criminal justice system does not work?
The most secular democracies have the humane penal systems that actually rehabilitate criminals, returning fewer criminals to prison, and lowering overall violence in society.
In the predominantly secular Australia and Scandinavian countries, prisoners are treated like human beings, given training, psychological counseling, education and more. Their homicide rates are among the lowest in the world. In religious and violent Brazil, solitary confinement today is a common prison practice. Yet in 1890 the U.S. Supreme Court recognized solitary confinement as a significant cause of prisoner insanity and suicide, and prisons have long been known to be schools guaranteeing more crime. For an explanation of how the 1970s availability of abortion and by association contraception (giving us wanted children) lowered the 1990s crime rate, see freakonomics.com/podcast/abortion.
When former Fresno police chief Jerry Dyer campaigned against more and better city parks, which have been associated for decades in lowering crime rates throughout the U.S., I knew that the religionists wanted more punishment and unintended criminals for its police empire.
I will be voting for progressive Andrew Janz for Fresno’s next mayor.
Mike Starry, Fresno
Higher booze tax is badly needed
According to a recent article in The Bee, Fresno is the top city for reports of domestic violence. A few years ago we were also named the drunkest city in America and we’re well known as a meth capital.
The article points out the obvious connection between drugs and alcohol and violence. But I didn’t read about any real effort to address this problem. So let me suggest a solution: We should tax alcohol at a higher rate and use the money to fund prevention programs and to fight drug trafficking.
Alcohol sales in Fresno County are several hundred millions of dollars, so a reasonable tax would raise tens of millions. Not only will this help law enforcement and public health officials make real progress in eradicating meth and reducing domestic violence, it would show that Fresno as a community is serious about changing and becoming a good place to live.
Danny Vartan, Fresno
This story was originally published January 29, 2020 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Trump and hidden documents: Letters to the editor, Jan. 29, 2020."