Try telling the truth
Re “Trump mum on Russia claim,” June 29
So, U.S. intelligence agencies gathered yet more evidence that Russia intended to harm our country, this time by reportedly offering bounties to militants for killing Americans in Afghanistan. By now we all know the drill at the White House:
Denounce the report as fake news. Deny that the president or the vice president had been briefed on it. Downplay its findings. Have the president’s propagandists concoct an exculpatory briefing for delivery by a glib press secretary. Dispatch her to dissemble and dodge questions at a hastily convened news conference.
Finally, denounce, demote or discharge whoever was responsible for preparing the intelligence briefing. Ensure that all the involved agencies’ employees are discouraged from documenting facts that contravene Trump’s contrived realities.
All in a day’s work at history’s most Orwellian White House. Sandra Perez
Santa Maria
U.S. intelligence agencies claim to have warned our government that Russia offered bounties for killing Americans in Afghanistan. Trump claims never to having been so advised.
This prompted many to ask, “Why wasn’t he told?” Instead, what everyone should be asking is, “Why should we believe a denial by an inveterate liar who for years, even before his presidency, did not hesitate to abandon the truth when it conflicted with his self-interest?”
This thinking is supported by Trump’s obsequious relationship to Russian President Vladimir Putin. After all, if he had recognized the wrongfulness of this conduct, he would not have called for Russia to be readmitted to the G-7.
So I ask again, why believe his denial? Rick Dunn
San Diego
Trump claims he wasn’t told about the Russian bounty information.
Really? This has gone way too far.
This man demanded to speak at the commencement ceremony at West Point and now, it turns out, he probably ignored reports that American soldiers in Afghanistan were targeted and rewards were paid for killing them.
It’s time for the Los Angeles Times to call for the immediate resignation of this president. Peter Marquard
Northridge
The ‘-isms’ in mask refusal
Re “More reopening rollbacks as virus cases top 10 million,” June 29
Racism strikes again in the aversion to masks. Many people in parts of Asia wear masks, and some Muslim women cover their faces. Racism is visceral, profoundly and personally physical.
Plus, law-and-order types might not like masks. Terrorists, outlaws and taggers wear them, they say.
Then there’s classism. Manual laborers and farmworkers wear masks.
These are some reasons why masks are seen as political. Just wear one already. Barbara May
Eagle Rock
I was 19 years old when I was drafted into the U.S. Army. Going into the Army was not appealing to me, but many of my friends were getting drafted, so I thought it was my duty to serve. I never got shot at doing my office job in South Korea, but I recall the loneliness and feeling a bit uncomfortable in a far-off land.
Fast forward to 2020. I survived a bout with pancreatic cancer eight years ago but was left with a very compromised immune system. In my condition at 73, I am no match for COVID-19. I might have had a fighting chance if I went to Vietnam, but I have little ammunition in this pandemic.
Bottom line: I am very blessed. My wife and I will celebrate our 50th anniversary in July. If I die tomorrow, I’m good. But if I get infected and cash in because one of my fellow citizens was “uncomfortable” in a mask or felt his rights were being violated, I will be angry.
Be a patriot, do your duty and wear a mask. Bob Baedeker
Capistrano Beach
Trying to sell people on wearing a mask to protect others from an infectious disease that we may be carrying is a fool’s mission and a waste of time. Average people are not concerned enough with a stranger’s well-being to inconvenience themselves or mess with their makeup.
So, I wear a mask to protect myself from you. Sandra Dannenbaum
Los Angeles
It’s clear that wearing masks to slow the spread of COVID-19 has become politicized. Since the president won’t model good behavior, let’s give his supporters some new swag.
Will some creative, entrepreneurial person please start mass-producing red masks that say, “Make America Great Again”? Kathleen Zakoski
Carlsbad
Taxation with representation
Re “Statehood for Washington, D.C.,” editorial, June 26
As the daughter and granddaughter of Washington “natives,” I was glad to see your editorial.
I grew up in small-town Minnesota but moved to the Washington outskirts at the age of 10. I was stunned to learn that my family members who lived in the district could not vote in federal elections.
By the time I was in high school in the 1960s, the population was majority Black and the district had terrible schools, crime and poverty. No wonder, since in Congress it had an absentee landlord.
Washington is full of people who live and die there. It is not part of Maryland, and yet states with fewer residents still have two senators and at least one voting member of the House — lawmakers who can vote to override the district’s self-government laws.
It is well past time for Washington to have full, voting representation in Congress, something everyone else in this country takes for granted. Norah McMeeking
Santa Barbara
I think we can all agree that taxation without representation is unAmerican. It’s time to correct this problem for the people who live in Washington, but I do not see any reason to make it the 51st state.
Take a look at a map of the district. Why can’t it just be incorporated into the state of Maryland? Then, it would get its own voting member in the U.S. House, and voters there would acquire the two senators currently representing Maryland.
I think this would be an easier option than making what is really a city into the 51st state. Steve Paskay
Los Angeles
Sen. Tom Cotton (RArk.) is a statesman. However, I do not believe that being an elected official makes it OK for him to broadcast his personal opinion that members of another party (the Democrats) are making a “power grab” in voting for D.C. statehood.
Representation in Congress is a right of citizenship. The words of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser must be heeded by all citizens: “The whims of the federal government can encroach on our even limited autonomy, and it can do so in ways that are threats to all of the American states and all of the American people.” Mary Leah Plante
Los Angeles
Lower fees, more taxes
Re “State’s gas tax is rising again — that’s a good thing,” column, June 26
David Lazarus overlooks the sharp reduction in the state vehicle license fee (VLF) in 2003 that led to this current crisis in gasoline prices. This is an issue that helped recall Gov. Gray Davis that year, and it set the stage for the higher taxes we pay now. The VLF provides billions to support our state’s infrastructure.
Southern California motorists already endure outrageous prices at the pump compared to other regions in the country because of the “summer blend” and the determination of oil refineries in the state to ship refined gasoline abroad, reducing supply here to sustain higher fuel prices.
Without the revenues of the VLF, the state has had limited resources to support its roads and highways. As such, policymakers have limited choices to support our infrastructure but to hurt consumers with higher gasoline taxes. Christian B. Teeter
Los Angeles
The maintenance of highways and bridges is horribly expensive, and there is no politically easy way to pay for them. Florida has a low gas tax, but it also has toll roads everywhere, and people often pay more than $100 a month just in tolls.
Lazarus mentions “mileage fees” as a possible substitute for the gas tax, which would require vehicles to be equipped with tracking devices. However, since gas guzzlers use more fuel per mile, the gas tax already rewards more fuel-efficient cars, and without the need for tracking devices.
Of all the various ways to fund good roads and safe bridges, the gas tax makes the most sense. Howard Morris
Rancho Cucamonga
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