RANDOM Letters
Trump’s Panic Button
The Dems are misusing the revelation in Bob Woodward’s new book that Trump intentionally downplayed the COVID-19 virus because he didn’t want to start a “panic.” Trump’s candor in discussing the virus with Woodward reflects a sentiment that is, for him, uncharacteristically genuine. People can relate to his concern, even sympathize.
The issue is not that Trump lied to the American people. about the severity of the virus. That’s a given and, under the circumstances, forgivable in the eyes of many voters. Rather, the issue is that Trump, knowing the seriousness of the virus and the ease of its transmission, nonetheless put people at risk by, among other things, pressing states to lift restrictions prematurely, holding indoor public rallies, and discouraging the wearing of protective masks.
The impulse to withhold frightening information from the public, particularly in the early stage of the pandemic, is understandable, maybe defensible. Knowingly putting people at risk is not. And putting people at risk for reasons that are essentially political is, uhm, Trumpian in the extreme.
Peter Scheer President at First Amendment
Coalition San Raphel, Calif.
Medical Advancement
A British doctor says, “Medicine in my country is so advanced that we can take a kidney out of one man, put it in another man, and have him looking for work in six weeks.”
A German doctor says, “that’s nothing. We can take a lung out of one person, put it in another man, and have him looking for work in four weeks.”
A Russian doctor says, “In my country, medicine is so advanced we take half a heart out of one person, put it in another man, and have both of them looking for work in two weeks.”
The American doctor, not to be outdone, says, “You guys are way behind us. We just took a man with no brain out of Florida, put him in the White House, and now half the country is looking for work.
John Winkler
San Pedro
The Ceres QAnon Courier
As a widely published writer and alumnus of CSU Stanislaus, it has recently come to my attention that Stanislaus County is harboring the most reprehensibly racist newspaper in the state of California — the Ceres Courier.
What a disgrace! The Ceres Courier is truly atrocious, not to mention seriously stupid and bigoted beyond belief.
Creepy conservative QAnon crackpot Jeff Benziger should resign immediately, but he won’t because Benziger’s only employment option would then be to continue publishing his despicably divisive dimwitted drivel under the auspices of The Crusader —the official newspaper of the Ku Klux Klan, which of course endorsed racist Donald Trump who is Jeff Benziger’s hateful personal hero.
P.S. Hank Vander Veen is also the publisher of these other California newspapers: Turlock Journal, Manteca Bulletin, Oakdale Leader, Riverbank News
and Escalon Times.
Jake Pickering
Arcata, Calif.
Voting By Mail
Voting by mail should replace voting at the polls in its entirety.
The two institutions that can definitely be trusted are the County Board of Elections and the United States Postal Service. The money saved by eliminating the need for poll workers could be used to offer free postage on the envelopes used to vote by mail. The person voting would also have more time to consider what they are voting for and would not be confined to the hours of the polling place. It would also prevent unwanted entry to schools and churches from anyone trying to harm someone. In addition the voter would not be harassed by someone trying to place unsolicited campaign literature into their hands. The additional revenue would boost the Postal Service and perhaps keep it afloat until we as a country are able to vote online.
Voting by mail would solve the registered voter problem and guarantee safe passage of the ballots to the County Board of Elections. It might even prevent further spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Joe Bialek Cleveland, Ohio
Demand Chile Drop Charges Against Feminist Arts Group
On Sept 11, 1973, the democratically elected government of Chilean President Salvador Allende was overthrown by a U.S.-supported military coup. During the 17-year-long brutal military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, more than 3,000 were killed or disappeared and over 40,000 were tortured and imprisoned. Although the Pinochet regime officially ended in 1990, much of the dictatorship’s legal system remains, including the Chilean constitution.
Military police in Chile recently filed charges against Las Tesis, the interdisciplinary feminist collective whose protest performance, Un Violador En Tu Camino/A Rapist in Your Path became a viral sensation in 2019. Authorities claim that the collective is “inciting hatred and disobedience against authority.” One of the lines stated, “And the fault wasn’t mine, not where I was, not how I dressed. You are the rapist.”
Last month, Special Rapporteurs of the United Nations Human Rights Council asked the Chilean state to drop criminal charges. “Las Tesis has been key in denouncing police violence and violence against women in Chile. The State has an obligation to protect human rights defenders. It should not prosecute them for exercising their freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly.”
The charges filed against Las Tesis are a flagrant attempt to intimidate and silence not only the collective, but all Chilean women, and validates their activism. Femicide in Chile and around the world is one of the leading causes of death for women, often at the hands of partners and men known to them. Internationally, at least 66,000 women and girls are murdered each year.
A Rapist in Your Path is a protest performance bringing attention to the violence women face on a daily basis. It was first performed at a protest in the city of Valparaíso in Chile in November 2019, and became a viral video almost instantly. Since then, the protest has also been performed in Colombia, Mexico, France, India, and in the U.S. This collective display of international solidarity serves as another reminder of the violence and injustices women across the world face on a daily basis.
The green scarves represent “La Marea Verde” (the Green Wave), a massive international women’s movement demanding sexual and reproductive health, and other rights. This movement began in Argentina, then spread to Chile and beyond, and its green scarf is now a symbol of women’s resistance throughout the world.
Carol A. Wells, Center for the Study of Polical
Graphics, Los Angeles