Historical or hysterical?
Different headline needed
Regarding “Doctor’s ideas on demons and sex are historical,” (A17, July 31): The column about the president’s new favorite doctor was mislabeled. Instead of saying the doctor’s ideas about sex and demons are historical, the column should have been given the headline, “Doctor’s ideas on demons and sex are hysterical!” This is a title much closer to the real truth!
Bill Turney, Houston
Efforts to unite
Regarding “Former presidents attend funeral for Lewis, remembered for ‘unbreakable perseverance,’” (A4, July 31): My eyes watered listening to President Barack Obama give the eulogy for Rep. John Lewis this week. I’ve long missed American statesmanship at the highest levels and have almost forgotten what compassion, humility and efforts to unite look like coming from an American president. Instead, for the past four years, the American electorate and our allies have been consistently affronted with arrogance, divisiveness, self-serving politics and buffoonery on every challenge from the COVID-19 pandemic to civil rights to foreign alliances. President Ronald Reagan’s campaign question — “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” — will likely never be murmured in a Trump campaign meeting for good reason. It’s time to return to leadership, pragmatics and listening to thoughtful and prudent analytics to restore this country’s purpose.
TR Galan, Galveston
Refusing to act
As COVID cases surge in Harris County, and with a deluge of evictions on the horizon, Houston stands at the precipice of a dual crisis. Austin has passed an ordinance halting evictions, but Houston’s political establishment refuses to act.
During the July 28 Houston City Council Meeting, Mayor Sylvester Turner claimed a grace period for renters would only leave them owing thousands of dollars in a matter of months. Instead, Turner says we should wait for Congress to pass rent relief.
But relief from Congress is unlikely. Turner has the power to halt evictions now.
A grace period would shift the pressure from renters to landlords who, as owners, are able to endure the pandemic’s financial impact without facing houselessness. The same Houstonians facing eviction in the coming months have severely limited access to medical care and are especially vulnerable to severe illness and death. An eviction crisis will only propel us further into instability and contribute to the overburdening of our strained health care infrastructure.
As members of the Houston chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and the Houston Tenants Union (HTU), we demand Turner and city council adopt a grace period ordinance. As our leaders refuse to protect us, we will continue to build tenant and working-class power to organize with our neighbors against the landlords that exploit us. The cost of waiting for federal intervention is our lives.
Will Harris, Democratic Socialists of America Rodrigo Hernandez, Houston Tenants Union