Pro-America and face masks: Letters to the editor, July 5, 2020

Be pro-America: Wear a face mask

Recently I donated blood for the first time in five months, had my six-month dental check-up, and had outpatient surgery at Kaiser. Because of COVID-19, these facilities have increased precautions, including screening before entry, separation from other patrons, extra sanitizing of surfaces, more PPE for the employees, and I wore a required mask except during the dental exam itself. These precautions require extra effort and costs by everyone, but don’t seem unduly burdensome. The professionalism by everyone was impressive.

This country probably could have opened up sooner if everyone had had good masks and could have been trusted to wear them. Councilman Bredefeld shows why that wasn’t possible. I can see how refusing to wear a mask can be a sign of forgetfulness, or ignorance, or invincibility, or disbelief. What I don’t get is how it’s a statement of political principles. How is Bredefeld not wearing a mask supporting President Trump?

I’ll never know if my wearing a minimally uncomfortable mask positively affects someone else’s life, and it probably won’t, but it’s the least I can do as an American.

Unfair treatment of police officers

I find it interesting that after 9-11, Americans were reminded and admonished by our leaders from both political parties not to judge all Muslims by the horrific actions of a few ... and rightly so. This same consideration and fairness does not appear to be given to police officers as a whole after the murder of George Floyd.

In fact, the mainstream media, entertainers and some Democratic leaders are fanning the flames of calls for defunding and/or abolishing all police forces in our nation. They continue to vilify all police officers because of the criminal actions of a few. In addition, there are calls to drop popular police shows on television, which reflect police officers in a positive light. And, of course, we must get rid of that very hurtful children’s cartoon “Paw Patrol.”

Sen. Kennedy of Louisiana recently said that if the police are abolished, I guess if you have an emergency, you’ll have to call a crack head. Good luck with that!

Magna Carta and Bill of Rights

June 15, 2020 was the 805th birthday of the Magna Carta, widely regarded as the start of the rule of law in England. Blood was shed, and a version finally attained royal acknowledgement as law in 1297.

Among other things, the Magna Carta stated that the king was not above the law. Our Constitution clearly reaffirms such for the president. Specifically, it provides for congressional review as well as indictment by the House and possible removal from office by the Senate.

The Magna Carta had several revisions and spawned a series of English bills of rights, which inspired our Bill of Rights. Yes, Virginia, the Bill of Rights, including the Second Amendment, came not from Santa Claus or some other mythological character, but from real people negotiating lasting agreements providing improvement in how they would co-exist and work together to add value to each other’s lives.

“Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In,” co-authored by Roger Fisher; Stanford historian Caroline Winterer’s “American Enlightenments”; John J. Patrick’s “The Bill of Rights: A History in Documents”; and Deming’s “The New Economics” illustrate how democratic and nonjudgmental-listening methods can further our working together to get our needs met.

Change chair of police reform panel

Oliver Baines, a former Fresno police officer and now former city councilman, will bring a wealth of personal and professional experience to the newly formed, 90-day task force on addressing police violence in our city, as evidenced by his recent interview with Valley Public Radio. ( https://www.kvpr.org/post/oliver-baines-lead-new-commission-police-reform-fresno)

But he shouldn’t chair the committee.

As a member with such specific and relevant areas of expertise, he will contribute to the debate more fully if he isn’t trying to lead the meeting, too. If he continues as chairman, he runs the very real risk of limiting the discussion to his areas of interest while minimizing contravening proposals.

More worrisome is Baines’ assertion in his radio interview that this problem can’t be solved in his lifetime. It must be. It’s taken too many lives already.

Such a charged community discussion would be better led by someone from west Fresno or Calwa who has a demonstrated capacity for facilitation, cooperation, and a commitment to serving the community from an approach other than law enforcement.

I’m confident she’s out there.

Blasting a hole next to the SJ River

Cemex has proposed to the Fresno County Department of Public Works and Planning to extend the present plant and mining operation another 100 years. The first proposal would be to continue their alluvial mining for another 30 years, only tripling their capacity. Of course with this would come all the additional traffic and environmental issues associated with it.

The second proposal would be to dynamite, drill, and gas fracture a 600-foot-deep hole next to the San Joaquin River and adjacent to Lost Lake. Their present operation is due to expire in a few years, and they would be obligated to restore the 122 acres to the natural habitat.

If this is a concern to you, I would suggest calling Fresno City Council member Garry Bredefeld (621-8000) and Fresno County Supervisor Steve Brandau (600-2000).

Clean the air with electric car

One of the good, unintended consequences of the stay-at-home order has been beautiful, clean air that allows us to see the mountains, to breath easier, to have less asthma attacks and in general enjoy the outdoors better. This is in part because we are using our cars less. It’d be nice if we can keep the air this way.

One way to help is to trade the commuter car for an electric one. These cars have come a long way, they have enough electric charge to go around town with no problems.

They are silent, do not need much maintenance — all you have to do is to plug it at home into the outlet and it costs you nothing if you have solar panels. I have owned two Chevy Volts since 2011 and they are great. The 2017 gets 60 miles per charge, enough to do all your chores and more.

Let’s keep our air clean and enjoy everything that goes with it.

Water, housing news stood out

Two articles, and one advertisement, caught my eye in a recent edition of The Bee (Sunday, June 14). The first, on Page 2A entitled “Fresno’s big problem is a declining water supply,” might have been better titled, “The San Joaquin Valley’s problem is a declining water supply.” When the water transfer project was nearing completion, a Fresno State soils professor mentioned to me that powers that be knew there would be subsidence and selenium problems when the project was first conceived. With more drought years, we will ever replenish the Valley’s groundwater basin?

With water still on my mind, in the special advertising section, “New community debuts featuring single-story homes on 'POOL-SIZE LOTS' … from the low $300,000 range.” (Just waiting for the ex-pats from the coast).

Then, on Page 4A, “City has plans for $92.8M COVID-19 funds.” Under community investment, line 7 — $500,00 for homeless transitional housing.

Well. at least that a start, whenever.

High praise for Sheriff Boudreaux

Do not be deceived by the red herring fallacy that Democrats have created by complaining about a Tweet, taken out of context, made by Sheriff Boudreaux.

His tweet had zero content that would implicate racism or not providing police services. Whoever is claiming this is trying to fool you.

Though I don’t believe Sheriff Mike Boudreaux’s character needs to be defended, I will anyway:

I have personally known Mike Boudreaux for more than 10 years. Before he was elected Tulare County’s sheriff, he and his family were my neighbors. Our families spent many hours sitting around the dinner table talking, sharing life, and watching our young children play. He is a man of character and integrity.

Sheriff Boudreaux has created relationships and bonds with all ethnic and cultural groups within our community. Our sheriff has also built one of the most diverse policy agencies in the county.

Do your research. Look for yourself and see all of the positive community programs the sheriff has implemented.

For every one left-wing activist slandering our sheriff, there are 1,000s of Sheriff Boudreaux supporters. We will stand strong together to defend our sheriff.

Sheriff Mims needs to help beat COVID

In regards to Sheriff Margret Mims’ actions of not enforcing Gov. Newsom’s rule, she’s putting her own enforcement at risk. As a citizen I can not trust her or endorse her if she can not enforce simple rules, especially a rule that helps saves lives of her staff and her community.

I understand our sheriff’s office has other crimes to deal with, but this pandemic will not stop until as a community we follow the rules that are in place to stop a national pandemic; we owe it to our community. It’s not hard for our officers while patrolling to remind citizens to wear masks or go into local shops and give reminders. It shows that we stand behind our governor’s rule to simply protect us and stop the spread.

Bee’s criticism was off the mark

The Editorial Board’s June 23 editorial was inaccurate when it claimed that Central Unified School District board member (Richard) Atkins’s recent Facebook post was racist.

“If you don’t love the country you live in then go back to the country you or your ancestors came from,” Atkins wrote.

Richard Atkins’s comments were xenophobic — expressing a dislike or hatred of strangers or foreigners. They were not racist — hatred of another because of immutable physical characteristics.

If you’re American and xenophobic, you’re a hypocrite. This is a nation built by immigrants. Unless you are indigenous, your ancestors came from another country. Xenophobia runs counter to our national values.

Furthermore, we the people have a say in our society. If we don’t like our culture, we have the right to express dissent. If we don’t like a law, we can elect a representative to change it — a fact Atkins would have surely learned come election time.

Words have power, and the difference between racism and xenophobia isn’t trivial. We should condemn Atkins’s comments. But every hate-filled comment cannot be labeled racist. It muddles its meaning and dulls its impact when its use is necessary.

This story was originally published July 5, 2020 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Pro-America and face masks: Letters to the editor, July 5, 2020."