LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Not the Bexley I know
In his letter of Feb. 14, “We should not be surprised,” Robinson Dunham suggested offensive acts like the one which occurred recently in a Bexley Middle School, in which a racist image was displayed in a class, could be traced to the prejudiced attitudes of Republican parents in Bexley.
Until 2021 I lived in Bexley for over five years. But a strikingly different memory remains in my mind when I recall my time in Bexley.
It’s this: the Saturday after George Floyd, an African-american man, was cruelly murdered by a Minneapolis police officer in May 2020, I saw a long and wide column of Bexley residents, most of them young and white, marching on East Broad Street towards downtown Columbus to protest racial injustice and join up with other protestors.
Many carried Black Lives Matter banners. So, if certain parents in Bexley are trying to impart racism in their children’s minds, they haven’t been very successful.
Michael Hamill, Columbus
Have we forgotten the ‘Day of Infamy?’
After dialing down their radar settings, NORAD detected a “radar anomaly” over Montana on Feb. 11. Fighter jets were dispatched in an attempt to intercept the object but were unsuccessful.
The next day we were told, “it was difficult to fully check out the situation last night, given the darkness.” The object was later shot down over Lake Huron with the second Side Winder Missile fired after the first missile missed.
After spending billions of dollars on air defense, we have been told that NORAD’S radar detection is normally set for high-speed fighter jets or bombers. Obviously, they are not prepared for any slow-moving threats especially as they glide by under the cover of darkness.
At 7:02 am Dec. 7, 1941, two soldiers operating a radar set on Oahu, Hawaii detected a “radar anomaly” approaching Oahu from the north. When they reported the siting to the intercept center they were told, “Don’t worry about it.”
Have we forgotten the “Day of Infamy?” Are we preparing for the last war while the next war is sneaking up on us? Do you get the feeling our leaders are telling us, “Don’t worry about it?”
Neal Bronder, Columbus
Could you have gotten away with paying ZERO taxes?
We now know why Donald Trump and the Republican leadership fought to keep Donald Trump’s tax returns a secretunlike other Presidents. He said, “it’s going to lead to horrible things for so many people.” It should.
Watching Rep. James Comer smirk on NBC’S “Meet the Press” that the new tax reform of 2017, passed by a Republican lead Congress, allowed Trump to pay only 750 dollars per two years and ZERO dollars in 2022, is okay.
Of course, Trump hasn’t been audited like other presidents to see if he should have this.
How many voters in Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia do you know that make a salary which allows them to support their families, have only payed $750 per two years and ZERO dollars in one year?
Yes, being a Republican billionaire has its privileges.
Every time you hear a Republican leader scream about taxes that help build bridges, roads, internet access, provide help for all states that experience disaster, provide funds for our protectors and provide for building of Intel to Ohio, remember something important.
These Ohio Republicans (Brad Wenstrup, Bob Latta, Jim Jordan, and Warren Davidson) and other Republicans in Congress voted against the Chips Act which will bring jobs, but they proudly passed tax laws that allow the major rich to have deductions which allow them to pay ZERO taxes.
Jean Gawronski, Powell
Biden has done a great job
President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech was the best, most exciting and most important such speech I have ever witnessed and perhaps has ever been given in my lifetime.
We, the people of this nation, are at a turning point in determining what kind of nation we will be; a progressive, multicultural, multi faith, liberal democracy that champions the needs, freedoms, dignity and safety of its people and the ability of our children to survive on this earth into the future; or an authoritarian oligarchy where unlimited wealth and power resides in the hands of a few (like Putin’s Russia).
Through his speech, two years of legislative success and demonstrated leadership Biden has done a great job of showing which party will provide which result.
Richard Back, Reynoldsburg
Young people don’t want to return to the 1950s
I read with interest the Feb. article “A Real Focus on Investing in Our People,” in which Ohio Gov. Mike Dewine indicated a desire to incentivize the state’s top students to remain in Ohio by providing scholarship money.
“We are losing top students to other states,” Dewine noted.
I totally agree with the governor’s statement, but I wonder if he has considered that perhaps the best way to keep the brightest students in our state
would be by protecting women’s reproductive rights, insuring that our Congressional districts are not unconstitutionally gerrymandered and allowing schools to teach a more accurate history of our state and country, warts and all, so all these bright young minds can control their own bodies, have their votes count and understand that this great country is not perfect so they can set out on the task of making it better for everyone moving forward.
There seems to be a real disconnect between the governor’s stated goals — keeping talented, smart young people in Ohio — and his and his party’s actions (severely limiting abortion access, supporting unconstitutionally gerrymandered congressional districts and resisting an accurate accounting of our country’s history). Today’s bright, educated young people understand what’s going on and they know who is taking away their ability to control their own bodies, undermining their votes, and censoring what they are taught in schools.
If Dewine truly wants to incentivize young talented people to remain in Ohio, a noble and necessary goal, indeed, then giving them scholarship money is a good start. But moving the state forward instead of returning it to the 1950s will provide an even more impactful incentive for bright, talented young people to remain in the Buckeye State.
Steve Kretzer, Upper Arlington
Rebuttal were on target
Thanks to Holly Richard and Candy Canzoneri for their Feb. 12 rebuttal letters “Will the hypocrisy in politics never end?” and “What a bunch of Q-anonsense” to Tricia Mclaughlin’s Feb. 8 column “Anti-american messages hurt American pride.”
Their letters of rebuttal were on target, to the point, and well-written.
William Rehbeck, Columbus