Letters to the Editor, Jan. 12

Don’t put politics ahead of welfare of students

I have seen levies pass because of the efforts to rebuild trust between the Peninsula School District and a very skeptical public.

I am disturbed to learn that at a recent school board meeting one board member was disrespected and furthermore insulted by three of the board members, including the school board president. On the surface, the actions by the these board members appear to be driven by partisan politics, not behavior expected from the holders of non-partisan positions that campaigned on rebuilding the trust in this community. The results of their actions has shown me that some board members place politics ahead of the welfare of the kids and the need to further build trust in the community. Their actions have now resulted in a total loss of trust in the board and internal dysfunction. You can’t trust people that treat other people as they have done. The trust divide that has lead to previous defeats of school levies and bonds has been reaffirmed by the action from a three member majority of the school board. I won’t be fooled again; I’ll be a no vote on anything put on the ballot by this bunch. They just can’t be trusted.

Why did Florida airport shooter have a gun?

Another mass murder with firearms, this time at the Fort Lauderdale airport. Just another day in America.

And in the increasingly cursory and routine media coverage these types of atrocities receive, few in the media and few among the public servants we elect ask why the alleged killer with his reported criminal history and history of mental illness had firearms.

Shame on them. Shame on us all.

Trump sold false truths, we bought them

The merger of politics with the American obsession over reality television, resulting in the emergence of President-elect Donald Trump, leaves many of us uneasy.

For some there is a sense of national shame, wondering how did this happen. Some are feeling empowered shouting a righteous and victorious: “now we’ll fix everything!” Others are fearful of the probability of oppression, discrimination and having basic human rights stripped.

The national media has moved into the realm of speculation, abandoning high-quality news coverage to become opinionated talk shows.

A skilled illusionist using smoke and mirrors, Trump embarked on a victory tour. Last week he told his minions to their numb astonishment that he was never going to follow through with his promises. On “draining the swamp,” he said it played well during the campaign, but he never had that in mind.

Trump is only about winning. Having no moral compass, no sense of right or wrong, he created false truths, sometimes called lies. He won by selling us on buying into these fantasies. We can no longer distinguish between what is real and what isn’t.

His win leaves us all wondering about our future.

This story was originally published January 13, 2017 at 3:24 PM with the headline "Letters to the Editor, Jan. 12."