Nunes and his conspiracies: Letters to the editor, March 15, 2020

Conspiracies and Devin Nunes

Great! My congressman (Mr. Nunes) wants me to believe that the United States Intelligence Services would betray Americans, just so Trump won’t win re-election? Both ridiculous and unpatriotic on face value, lest conspiracy theories are your delight.

Mr. Nunes ghosts his district (except for wealthy farmers or donors), has turned into a professional litigant, and values political party above all else. These are all things everyone used to detest, but not anymore. Putin must be exhilarated at the Russian success.

If it were legal, I’d love to start an open pool titled “Bet on the date Rep. Nunes moves to Iowa if he fails to win re-election.” I could make a fortune if I got first pick. Unfortunately, I’m sure he’ll win again. I guess you get what you pay for, and I don’t have the kind of money to be an “influencer” in Mr, Nunes’ orbit.

When he someday finally loses his seat, our gain will be Iowa’s loss.

Developer fees and road maintenance

Marek Warszawski’s article why Fresno can’t fix neighborhood streets described the problem, but not its true causes.

For decades money that should have been used to maintain existing infrastructure was used to, in effect, subsidize new development because developer fees for new projects were far too low and did not cover the true infrastructure costs of new projects.

Money that should have been spent to maintain and repair existing infrastructure was diverted to new projects. Gary Bredefeld presented detailed data on this 20 years ago. Developer fees were too low because, in some instances, council members were bribed by developers — remember “Operation Rezone” in which many council members and developers were convicted of accepting and paying bribes.Mostly, developer fees were too low because they made large campaign contributions to local politicians.

Fresno needs more housing. But that new housing should pay its own way. Every existing neighborhood suffers when special interests buy special access and indirect subsidies from local politicians.

Upset over dead deer photo

Showing a beautiful, wide-eyed dead deer with a knife placed on its head next to the article with the opening line, “There were tears in my eyes,“ is misleading and shows an appalling lack of sensitivity (article by Ryan Sabalow, February 2020).

Those tears were not for the deer, as it would at first suggest, but rather for the “good old days” of bonding through hunting, which quite thankfully, are fading away for many good reasons.

May I suggest promoting wildlife photography “shoots” as a way to bond without involving taking the life of an innocent animal who stands no chance against a gun? Then that beautiful, wide-eyed deer could have had his photograph published without having to lose his life.

I am very disappointed in your choice to allow this photograph to be published, and I wonder if showing a dead human with eyes wide open is next?

Journalism and the people’s voice

A response to Paul Hinkly to “the passing of true journalism.” Journalism today has changed, but true journalism still lives in a different form.

Through the documentaries that document the silence in a country, to those that create an in-depth view about our own government. The news today is faster, with a reader being able to receive information in minutes from when an event occurred, through their phone, radio, or the news. My response to those over 50 is that many listen or view the news instead of reading it, especially the elderly. Since the invention of the radio to that of television, the form in which audiences received their news changed, but the people who built the stories we listen to still remain.

Perhaps what you are referring to is the death of a type of media, print media, or that of journalists themselves being laid off, or that of the beginning of a 24-hour news cycle. From one day to the next we learn something new and as viewers, we forget the past moving on to the next big thing.

The true death of journalism will be when the voice of the people is silenced.

This story was originally published March 15, 2020 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Nunes and his conspiracies: Letters to the editor, March 15, 2020."