Pass sensible gun control measures
Regarding “Increased expectations of government could be feeding epidemic of violence” (Insight, June 18): Columnist Jonah Goldberg’s attempt to link the actions of “Ballfield Shooter” James Hodgkinson with unmet expectations of governmental actions is absurd.
From the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut to the Pulse nightclub shootings in Florida to the latest shootings near Washington and in San Francisco, the likely connection is people with mental illness who have access to guns. If Goldberg examined this causality, as well as advocated for sensible gun control measures like universal background checks, that would be a column worth reading.
Felicia Charles, Millbrae
Ask tough questions
Regarding the letters criticizing Sen. Kamala Harris’ questioning of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, none of the responses so far have pointed out the obvious: she was asking hard, vital questions and had a time limit. Sessions was trying to run out the clock on her, and she wasn’t letting him get away with it.
Elizabeth Bell, San Francisco
Dangerous reactions
Regarding “When the reaction outpaces the story” (John Diaz, June 18): The tendency of people to rush to judgment on apparent “news stories” — especially by political pundits and now, alas, even political leaders — has been compounded by social media.
As John Diaz notes, we live in an “age of instant information,” where unvetted “news” spreads quickly. Another example of this phenomenon was in 2013. Immediately after the Boston Marathon bombings, people on social media sites like Reddit began examining photos taken at or near the scene of the attacks, hoping to “help” investigators by identifying “suspicious characters.”
In a matter of hours, tweets and rumor-mongering led to two teenagers’ photos being splashed on the front page of the New York Post under the headline “Bag Men.” Unfortunately, they were falsely implicated as being the individuals who carried bombs in backpacks to the Boston Marathon, thus impeding the actual investigation and devastating their families. If I might amend Diaz’s article title, “When the reaction outpaces the story, vigilantism can occur.”
Julian Grant, Pacifica
Warriors’ elitism
Regarding “Accept an invitation” (Letters, June 17): As a frequent visitor to the Bay Area, I always enjoy reading your editorial column to get a perspective of what the left worries about, especially in California.
I’m not sure that Stephen Curry spearheaded the rejection of that invitation, but I really don’t care whether the Golden State Warriors show up or not.
It will save the taxpayers considerable money for the non-photo op. Unfortunately, the Warriors join in with the Hollywood elite, as well as its politicians, to show the world that their once revered “uniqueness,” has been replaced with a coarseness to other human beings who may feel differently about sports, climate change, political party agenda, race, religion and the many other categories that makes one, a living being.
I put my time in working for whomever was elected to lead our country, whether I voted/liked him or not. My job was to provide the most accurate intelligence assessment to his government, so that he could succeed and keep our country prosperous and safe. When the likes of Curry, Meryl Streep and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi are old and gray, I doubt they’ll reject that hind teat of government, regardless of ideology.
John Neary, Las Cruces, N.M.
Cap ride-hailing firms
Regarding “Supervisor asks Uber to tax itself voluntarily” ( June 14): Rachel Swan’s article on Uber ignores the most obvious question regarding the traffic congestion caused by the rise of ridehailing services.
Why can’t the city cap the number of drivers Uber and Lyft are allowed to put on city streets? Taxi drivers are limited by their medallion permits. Uber and Lyft should be too. The San Francisco Treasurer’s office has estimated that there are up to 45,000 additional cars on city streets thanks to these upstarts. Supervisor Jane Kim’s proposal for new taxes, voluntary or otherwise, won’t get close to solving this problem.
There is only one thing keeping cities, and the state of California, from imposing the same driver limits and other regulations on these companies that they have on taxis: Uber’s and Lyft’s outsized lobbying efforts. Enough is enough. It’s time for Supervisor Kim and her colleagues to face the facts.
Todd Oppenheimer, San Francisco