Democrat with an essential message
Regarding Joe Garofoli’s Aug. 16 story, “Spirituality author turned candidate revels in energy, vibe at East Bay church”: Whether Marianne Williamson might be the best qualified Democratic presidential candidate, I can’t yet say. But I hope she continues to campaign with her essential message: Donald Trump isn’t so much the problem as he is the symptom of a far bigger problem.
As Williamson posits, unseating Donald Trump won’t help much, where “the things we need to be most concerned about will be back in 2022 and 2024.” His election proved that our nation’s electorate has become so disconnected and dumbed down as to foretell democracy’s demise. Williamson’s intriguing campaign speeches may not get her elected. But I hope they help American voters to wise up. P. Jane Weil, Sacramento
Shame on Israel, U.S.
As an American Jew, I’m incensed that Israel, which accepts over $3 billion annually in military support from U.S. taxpayers, decided to bar two duly elected U.S. congresswomen from entering their country simply because Donald Trump insisted that they hate Israel. Shame on both Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and the 45th U.S. president for trying to silence the free speech rights of Reps. Rashida Tlaib, DMich., and Ilhan Omar, DMinn.
Both our country and Israel are becoming democracies in name only. Sasha Englander, San Rafael
Blind spots
It’s terribly ironic that President Trump, Republicans and the gun lobby are willing to violate the First Amendment by banning violent video games yet refuse to wellregulate assaultstyle weapons as the Second Amendment mandates. Ed Chainey, Richmond
Dubious judgment
Concerning “Judge condemned over attack suspects release,” Aug. 16: I’m in complete agreement with Mayor London Breed and Supervisor Matt Haney that an individual who violently attacked a woman as she entered her apartment building and talked about saving the world from robots should have been kept in custody, and received serious mental health treatment and services. The decision by Superior Court Judge Christine Van Aken to release this suspect into a pretrial diversion program without requiring him to wear a locationtracking ankle monitor is disturbing.
There are already too many mentally ill people on our streets. Allowing someone who fits that description and is also violent to join their ranks makes no sense. Hortensia Delarosa, San Francisco
International law
Regarding the inhumane living conditions of detained migrants along our southern border: I am reminded that under the Geneva Convention humane treatment is mandated even for enemies, prisoners of war. When persons/countries violate these international laws, they are considered criminal. A principle of civilized society is to uphold a decent level of treatment of all human beings. Judith Saldamando, San Francisco
Despicable trend
There are already too many people, scooters, bikes and skateboards on our city sidewalks. Why add to this congestion with a delivery robot? Even if this device is meant to resemble a character from “Despicable Me,” there’s nothing cute about it replacing an adult human courier who could be earning money from this kind of work.
Xavier Betancourt, San Francisco