Mass shootings are too commonplace
Regarding “Shooting at rural high school kills 2, injures 17” (Jan. 24): While listening and reading about the Kentucky shooting, where a 15-year-old student killed two and wounded at least 18 others at Marshall County High School in western Kentucky, I had another sense of deja vu. Just substitute Las Vegas, Sandy Hook, Orlando, Virginia Tech, Charleston, Aurora Theater in Colorado, Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., and the other mass shootings too numerous to mention, for Kentucky, and you will see what I mean.
It will be the same discussion — sorrow, helplessness, outrage and a call for gun control. Since these shootings, there has been a noticeable absence of action at the federal level about gun violence in America, and I don’t expect any after this latest incident. As a result, we will just have to grit our teeth and wait for the next mass shooting that will come as surely as night follows day. Ralph Stone, San Francisco
Mayoral coup d’etat
The Board of Supervisors just staged a coup d’etat. They deposed the legal, acting mayor (according to the charter) to install one of their own, for no good reason. The proper thing to do was to name London Breed to fill out Ed Lee’s days to the June election, which would have resulted in her resigning her board seat. Then voters in June weigh in to continue with Breed, or choose someone else. Instead, six people just flipped over the table! The charter needs to be amended to eliminate this political free-for-all from ever happening again. Breed was clearly handling the job. Her thanks: remove a woman of color, to be replaced with a white male. Great move for a city that had a second massive women’s march days earlier. I guess I’ll just go visit my friends in “Indigenous People,” Ohio.
Ted Loewenberg, San Francisco
Equal opportunity
It’s wrong for city residents who are upset that the San Francisco Board of Supervisors chose Mark Farrell to replace London Breed as interim mayor to claim the decision was based on racism or sexism.
Rather, it was an effort to give all the candidates in this June’s special election an equal opportunity to make their case to the voters. Why should Breed, who has filed papers to run for mayor, be given the advantage of incumbency simply because she was temporarily allowed (under the city charter) to be mayor upon the death of Ed Lee? If her supporters are fervent and widespread, let them express this preference when they vote for our next city leader.
Constance Cummings, San Francisco
Shortsighted tariff
Over 300,000 American workers are busy installing solar panels in the country. Several hundred are manufacturing them. Adding a tariff to imported panels will increase the price for consumers and make them less attractive. This will reduce demand, increase costs to consumers and wind up eliminating many installation jobs.
The tariff can result in the affected countries responding by placing similar tariffs on American-produced products, thus reducing American jobs even more. The irony of it is that the manufacturing jobs can be automated, while the installation jobs cannot. The shortsighted and entirely populist tariff will wind up costing workers jobs and wind up costing consumers more for solar panels. Bill Franzwa, Alamo
No more holidays
Regarding “Board explores renaming Columbus Day” ( Jan. 23): Say goodbye to Columbus Day. Another fine move by San Francisco. So, let’s get rid of all holidays in San Francisco so we don’t insult anyone. Also, maybe remove all statues or anything that would make us think of these people we were celebrating for. That should make everyone happy. Daniel Gracia, Daly City
Complicit GOP
Regarding “Beyond the bounds of facts and decency” (Last Word, John Diaz, Jan. 24): So the Democrats will be (according to a Trump campaign ad) “complicit in every murder committed by an undocumented immigrant” if they don’t approve funding for the president’s border wall? Well, Republicans are complicit in every mass shooting murder that has already occurred in the past decade due to their persistent refusal to consider sensible gun control legislation in our country. Each politician who doesn’t stand up to the National Rifle Association should have to wear a button showing a handgun or rifle just below their American flag pin. Jeremy Davidoff, San Rafael
Ridiculous craze
Regarding “Here’s a challenge: Don’t be an idiot” (Daily Briefing, Jan. 24): When I was a kid, my mother would sometimes threaten to wash my mouth out with soap if I used inappropriate four-letter words. Who would have thought that today’s youth would be voluntarily eating laundry detergent soap as part of a ridiculous “Tide Pod Challenge” craze? YouTube should never have posted videos of such behavior in the first place, but can atone by urging our religious vice president to make and post a video showing him using soap to wash out the mouth of our vulgar-language-using president.
Demetrius McDaniel, Oakland