An inadequate response from Capitol police
Regarding “Swalwell describes chaotic Capitol scene” ( Jan. 11): Rep. Eric Swalwell is stunned by how easy it was for rioters to get through. This is a common response from people who were there and those of us who watched live on TV.
Surely, this ease was the direct result of the nature of the preplanning of the Capitol Police. They knew there was going to be a Trump rally that morning, they could predict that Trump would behave in a disruptive manner, and they decided that their response would be to not use force ( water spray, stun guns or outright weaponry) to subdue a largely white, male crowd.
They did not want to be shown on multiple phone videos as having to be violent against this crowd. Not a good international look to be shown shooting and killing citizens in the halls of the U. S. Capitol.
Perhaps an understandable strategy but once having decided that, the Capitol Police plan should have been to have massive numbers of security personnel around in order to protect staff and to outman and physically push the rioters back. Their criminally inadequate response plan tragically backfired.
Karen Cliffe, San Francisco
Hateful Nazi imagery
I’m disgusted and devastated at the hateful Nazi imagery that was on display at the riot on Capitol Hill. Among swastika tattoos and Nazi war flags, there was a man wearing a Camp Auschwitz hoodie. “STAFF” was printed in bold capital letters on the back.
I personally visited Auschwitz, and a number of other concentration camps, on an organized high school trip in 2008.
I walked past the deserted train tracks, saw gas chamber walls covered in claw marks and human bones piled in cremation chambers like history frozen in time. Still to this day, I’ve never cried so intensely.
Knowing prominent Holocaust deniers and neoNazis were walking the halls of the U. S. Capitol is gutwrenching. What happened last Wednesday isn’t political ... it’s a matter of human decency. Not all President Trump supporters are bigots, but all bigots are Trump supporters and that’s the Trump legacy: a beacon of hatred that the GOP enabled for five years.
For now, I choose to seek out the virtue and goodness in this world. In the beautiful words of Anne Frank, “how wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” Sending strength. Sending love. Sending resilience.
Elizabeth Sweetbaum, San Francisco
Stain on the system
Regarding “Violent rhetoric has defined Trump’s brand” ( John Diaz, Insight, Jan. 10): I am glad that I am not the only one who noticed President Trump’s long history of leading from way behind.
John Diaz pointed out that after Trump stirred up the simpletons, he told them that he would be right there with them. Then he slipped “away to the comfort of the most secure cocoon on the planet.” Typical of the draft dodger who dares to salute the caskets as they come home.
The one who after another school shooting criticized the armed guard who did not enter the building until the shooting stopped. Trump said that he believed “I’d run in there even if I didn’t have a weapon.” I bet that every law officer in the country said a silent “yeah, right” to that statement.
Some are saying that pursuing Trump would be a distraction, that it would hamstring Joe Biden’s agenda. But this liar, this cheat, this coward is a stain on our whole system of governing ourselves. It will be indelible unless we erase it. Forever.
Peter Coffin, Berkeley
Reluctant teachers
For the past nine months, I have depended on the courage and dedication of many people to survive: the bus drivers who took me to the markets and parks, the cashiers and food stockers, as well as the repair people who came to my aid.
These people risked their health to take care of me and my family, to make my life easier in this difficult time, and they need to be in the front ranks for vaccinations.
Where were the teachers? Not in their classrooms. While our children suffered irreparable educational harm, the teachers unions kept moving the line, reaching the point where they demand toilet seats that close in all schools.
Meanwhile, many of the parochial and private schools have returned to daily classes without, to my knowledge, any significant spike in illness. I have been a primary schoolteacher; I adore teachers; I think no one contributes more to the health and growth of the community than schoolteachers. But I cannot believe that the current scenario where they can get up five minutes before their first class, with no commute and no dress code, have reduced class size and no discipline issues does not factor in their reluctance to return.
Don Hesse, San Francisco
Vaccination arenas
The NBA pushes forward with its season as several teams have been slowed or shut down by the virus. Perhaps, it is time for a pause. Instead of putting players on the courts, the arenas should be opened to the people as vaccination centers.
Players can act as ambassadors, passing out masks, Tshirts with team logos saying “I’ve been vaccinated,” and possibly even coupons with discounts on future tickets and merchandise. The big screens can entertain people waiting in line for the vaccine with basketball highlights and inform them with public service messages. It is the right thing to do, it will demonstrate that the NBA is not all about money, and it will send the message that we are all in this together.
Mitchell Goldman, Richmond
Invoke 25th Amendment
Why impeach President Trump with only a few days left in his term? Precedent! No president can incite an insurrection against the U. S. government and not have consequences. Our democracy is at stake. The armed mob incited by Trump was running wild inside the historic U. S. Capitol building, joyfully carrying the Confederate flag through the National Statuary Hall, causing damage and stoking fear to all inside and to those who watched in horror on television, while we are living with a pandemic where thousands die daily.
President Trump is a liar and a bully. Trump has allowed his followers to express their racism freely, and they love him for that. He does not take the office of the presidency seriously and has brought embarrassment to our country here and abroad. I encourage all of his Republican allies to stop defending this deranged man and tell him to resign, or use your power to remove him with the 25th Amendment or vote to have him impeached for the second time. He has caused enough damage to our country and our standing in the world.
Melany Williams, San Francisco
Addicted to division
I want to respond to the vast majority of the editorial page of the Jan. 11 edition of The Chronicle that talks about last Wednesday’s assault on the Capitol in terms of the Nazis’ reaction to a “Mobocracy.” While I found the assault and President Trump’s incitement grotesque, the important point remains how to avoid this sort of thing happening in the future. The first step is to stop the needless attacks.
Both the right and left wings have gotten to the point where they can’t do much other than aggravate one another.
We’ve become addicted to division, and all too soon, our society will destroy itself. Trump isn’t so much the problem — he’s just brought it to the surface.
Daniel Mauthe, Livermore