GOP should publicly disavow Trump’s lies
Following the devastation of the Trump administration and the insurrection at the Capitol, our country will need truth and reconciliation, but reconciliation without truth is impossible. Republican leaders need to disavow President Trump’s big lie and begin with the truth: Joe Biden won a fair election and is our legitimate next president. When all have accepted this, we can move on to finding common ground and a way forward that will allow grievances to heal. Without this first step, Republican calls for unity will continue to invite derision.
Laura Walsh, Oakland
The middle will hold
I was much more fearful of violence while Donald Trump was resident president. He was commander in chief, could go to war, order the troops to do his will and had his finger on the trigger of weapons of mass destruction.
The current explosion of violence will play itself out after the inauguration of Joe Biden. Violent groups are now limited in a few states like Texas, Michigan and some others. There is little chance they will unite and form a real military force. The U.S. military, FBI and CIA under Biden will outsmart, undermine, and limit the violence perpetrators. I don’t see the vast majority of the Trump followers supporting mass violence. The middle will hold.
Robert Cromey, San Francisco
Naive characterization
Regarding “Trauma: Bay Area lawmakers process experience of Capitol riot” ( Jan. 13): I find Rep. Ro Khanna’s depiction of the proTrump insurrectionists who attacked and vandalized the U.S. Capitol as “a ragtag group of nutcases” who were inept, clumsy and failed in their objective to disrupt the certification of electoral votes an irresponsible and naive characterization of the rioters. The amount of evidence that has been provided since that dark day in the U.S. history confirms that these groups of extremists were organized and that they systematically coordinated the attack, not only on the U.S. Capitol building, but in the planting of pipe bombs in the RNC and the DNC headquarters. Furthermore, these mobs were planning on harming our representatives and, in their quest, maliciously assaulted members of the Capitol police, killing one valiant officer. So, for Khanna to mischaracterize such a group of criminals as just crazy people is a disservice to the public and a dangerous interpretation of a tragic event, never before seen in our country.
Irene Corso, Los Altos
Leave Newsom alone
Regarding “The ‘California coup’ that isn’t one” (Editorial, Jan. 15): I can’t understand the biased, negative tone of the editorial. It’s so filled with inconsistencies. To begin with, you implicitly criticize Gov. Gavin Newsom’s handling of coronavirus, while failing to mention that many other U.S. states (and foreign countries) are experiencing similar problems. You also fail to mention the appalling lack of support to the states by the current, outgoing Trump administration. As for those individuals backing the proposed recall, State Democratic Chairman Rusty Hicks has it exactly right. They are conspiracy theorists, white nationalists and antivaxxers, and your editorial writers are wrong to let Republican Assemblyman Randy Voepel off the hook: These are the same type of people who invaded the U.S. Capitol and are trying to destroy our democracy. For heaven’s sake, Newsom was confronted with massive coronavirusrelated problems not of his making, and is doing his best. Please stop the Newsom bashing! Steve Heimoff, Oakland
End bitter rivalries
As the United States moves from the presidency of Donald Trump to that of Joe Biden, it is essential to focus on resolving our differences and wounded feelings. Seeking revenge of any kind will only interfere in this process of national healing.
Today’s problems — both within this nation and throughout the world — can’t be solved through competition, rivalries and the continuing threat of nuclear war. Because the last 10,000 years of human history are an absolute proof that wars, violence and exploitation have brought us to the very edge of our total selfdestruction. The present drift toward a complete environmental breakdown and an eventual nuclear holocaust demands that the entire human race finally join together in unity and peace for the mutual benefit of everyone.
Anger and hatred are no longer options if there is any hope for our survival as a species and a future for all life on this immensely beautiful planet Earth.
Rama Kumar, Fairfax
Failure of leadership
Fomenting violence and insurrection aside, how sad is it that our president plays golf, tweets (used to) and watches TV while thousands of our fellow Americans perish daily from COVID19?
While the nation’s attention has been focused on last Wednesday’s attack on the Capitol, we can’t forget that we’re in the middle of a deadly pandemic. The president certainly seems to have forgotten. How sad and appalling that we have to wait until Jan. 20 for an adult to enter the room to deal intelligently, strategically and in an organized fashion with this public health calamity.
President Trump, who has at his disposal the resources of the richest country on Earth, has failed miserably in dealing with the crisis, and indeed shows little interest in addressing it at all. The tens if not hundreds of thousands who have died unnecessarily will be the legacy of a petty, petulant, juvenile president who was sadly unequal to the task and indifferent to the death and suffering.
Ken Wong, Walnut Creek
Tough year for teachers
Regarding “Reluctant teachers” ( Jan. 13): I laughed at the author’s idea of our current teaching scenario. The teachers at my high school get up well before class to tweak lesson plans and after holding classes for five hours, we collaborate, prepare new lessons, make videos, post lesson notes and grade homework. Teachers often put in 5060 hours per week. We all agree that teaching has never been so difficult and frustrating. Our class sizes are large and we deal with discipline every day; trying every trick in the book to get students to show up, engage or even try.
Some private schools may make inperson teaching work: but their situations can be very different from public schools. Our funding is stretched thin in a good year and keeping the schools clean and the outdated heating, ventilation and air conditioning adequate is almost impossible. Our families often work on the front lines, which makes it more likely that our students will bring the virus to school and spread it to the staff.
The author thinks teachers do not want to go back to school. This is simply not true, which is why we want to be next in line for the vaccine. Tina Edwards, Moraga