Letters, editor Modesto Bee | Presidential election

Someone needs to tell him

Is there not one soul in the president’s inner circle — who took the oath to “defend the Constitution of the United States” — who will stand up to Mr. Trump and advise him to let the will of the people in the 2020 election stand, no matter which way it goes?

Elizabeth Brown, Ripon

Wise and humane leadership

It’s so sad people conflate socialism and compassion as if they were the same. Everything has become so muddled we hardly know the difference between right and wrong.

Socialism is a scary word, a high-voltage wire in mainstream discourse. We’ve gone to war over it. Socialism is an economic and political system where the ways of making a living (factories, offices, etc.) are owned by the workers who run them and the people who depend on them. The way socialism operates varies from country to country. Problems arise with the distribution of goods. For example, Kim Jong Un of North Korea demands loyalty. Citizens who are deemed loyal are treated better than those who are seen as weak in loyalty.

Compassion is a human characteristic, one of human beings’ better qualities. Policies that address wealth inequality are compassionate acts. However, neither socialism nor capitalism will work for the average citizen if leaders are egotistical, selfish and corrupt. The success of socialism and capitalism both depend on leaders who are wise and humane.

For me, I’d rather be called a socialist for being concerned about others than be a known sociopath with a history of antisocial behavior.

Penny Williams, Patterson

Transition satire

I hope all you yard sale enthusiasts got the news about the big yard sale in D.C. It’s taking place at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in early January. I guess The Donald and all his grifter friends and family are getting evicted. There will be all kinds of “Maga” hats, red ties and maybe even some of Ivanka’s and Melania’s trinkets. You will be greeting by his head lawyer, Rudy. Don Jr. and Eric Trump will help you load your swag, for a tip of course.

One of the big items I heard was going to be his spray-tanning booth. There will probably be no haggling on the prices because all of his Maga cult followers will make you pay full retail. Dr. Scott Atlas will be there to offer free medical advice for anyone worried about COVID-19.

So now the big question is where is the Cheeto man moving to? With all the lawsuits, he won’t be hanging out around Mar-a-Lago. His buddy Vladimir has arranged for him and his family to move to Uzbekistan. No extradition.

Dennis Thomas, Modesto

Wasting resources in Modesto

Four of our seven Modesto City Council members voted to spend $96,000 and approved an additional $25,000 to investigate the city clerk’s “about a half dozen” emails. I can’t help but think if this money would be coming out of their own pockets, a slightly different, more reasonable and mature solution could have been found.

And, some of these four are waving their hands, yelling, “Look at me, I’m running for re-election, and I’ll fix things.” The waste and egos are mind-boggling. I hope the clerk prevails.

Bill Jacques, Modesto

Merging Stanislaus bus systems

StanCog, the Stanislaus County transit organization, is attempting to consolidate Modesto, Turlock and county buses into one cohesive, user-friendly and streamlined system. I’m concerned the public isn’t aware of this. Any rider who has tried to go from Modesto to Turlock knows how time-consuming, inefficient and complicated this is; imagine having one system that works to make all routes come together seamlessly. This is the standard in most large transit areas, but for some reason, not in ours.

If Governor Newsom’s Sustainable Transportation bill comes to fruition in the following years, our county could potentially be forced to consolidate — under the state’s rules, not our own. Should we allow this to go forward now, we can set it up in our own way.

Please take note, understand what’s going on, and call your local city manager and urge them to do what’s best for the riders and our county. We need this.

Shannon Edwards, Hughson

Reopen schools after holidays

I have been appalled by what I consider the recklessness of the rush to reopen this county in the midst of the increase in COVID-19 numbers surging throughout our country. There’s no magic fence to put around California or Stanislaus County to prevent another huge surge here. The people who want to throw open all doors of schools and businesses have had the loudest voices, but they are not in the majority.

At this moment, according to your paper, we may be very close to moving back into the purple tier. Open the schools, reopen everything and we will be right back where we were in March and July. We know people are hurting but we’ll be in this even longer if we allow the superintendent to achieve his goal of pretending the virus is beaten. I will consider him and his cronies responsible for the surge that will inevitably follow the opening of our county before it’s safe.

My granddaughter lives with me; she’s in junior high. Perhaps she won’t get seriously ill — perhaps. But members of our family could. Wait till after the holidays; if safe, fine — reopen.

Andrea Nicastro, Turlock

Honoring Stanislaus’ retired teachers

What do retired teachers mean to Stanislaus County? A lot! After years, often decades, in the classroom giving to their students, retired teachers continue to give back to local communities through their pocketbook and their passion for volunteerism. The week of Nov. 1-7 is California’s 22nd annual Retired Teachers Week.

According to the California Retired Teachers Association, retired teachers statewide donated nearly 2 million hours of volunteer service in the past year, valued at $60.9 million. In addition, retired teachers are part of the swell of economic benefits California receives from public pensioners as they spend their pension benefit checks. In California, expenditures stemming from state and local pensions supported 443,966 jobs and $15.7 billion in federal, state and local tax revenues. In fact, each dollar paid out in pension benefits supported $6.53 in total economic activity in California.

Retired teachers will continue to give back — both economically and through our volunteer service. We cared about our students and our communities while we worked as educators, and that caring continues into our retirement.

Nancy Kramer, CalRTA Division 38 president, Modesto

Modesto let violators off easy

Re “Paltry Velvet fine a slap to compliant Modesto restaurants” (Page 6A, Nov. 2): Monday’s Opinion piece by the Modesto Bee Editorial Board was excellent. Two Modesto businesses cited for non-compliance of COVID-19 public health directives were given a pass by the city of Modesto. Instead of enforcing the hefty fine ($90,000) leveled again the Velvet Creamery, the city backed off and settled for $10,000. True Fitness’ fines were reduced to $1,000. Enforcement of public health directives is critical in our struggle against COVID-19. The city’s willingness to back down on enforcement is shameful, and troubling.

Buda Kajer-Crain, Modesto

Column reinforces partisan myth

Re “Debunking myth The Modesto Bee doesn’t endorse Republicans” (Page 1B, Nov. 1): Garth Stapley’s commentary missed the point entirely. Democratic-leaning readers understand that The Bee endorsements are not based upon party affiliation. But those restating the myth are just engaging in the standard manipulative victim whine: “You guys never endorse Republicans.” “Yes we do; here are examples.” “But if you loved us, you’d endorse more Republicans. And if you really loved us, you wouldn’t endorse any Democrats because they’re evil!”

Worse, Stapley’s commentary only serves to reinforce the lie in the minds of true believers — psychological testing confirms this. The Bee does a disservice to its readers by responding to such lies.

William Bishop, Modesto

The trouble with originalism

Re “Finally, a justice of our own” (Page 2B, Nov. 4): In her op-ed championing Amy Coney Barrett as her personal originalist hero, Amy Swearer seems to think Supreme Court justices can be owned. This is an idea that can only be conjured by a misguided, weak-minded conservative. She even has the word originalist in quotes, a telling admission that the word itself is open to interpretation.

In an article from the New York Times in 2017 titled “The problems with originalism,” Ken Levy points out that the meaning of many words in the Constitution are not at all obvious. Examples include “right,” “unreasonable,” “probable cause,” “due process,” “excessive,” “cruel and unusual” and “equal protection.” “It seems clear that the founders were deliberately inviting future generations to interpret and reinterpret these words — the very opposite of what textualists and originalists propose,” states Levy. He adds that these concepts are “nothing more than thinly veiled disguises for modern conservatism.”

Ultimately, Swearer suffers from a complete misunderstanding of the potency of language and its role in defining cultural shifts in an ever-evolving republic.

Wayne R. Howard, Ceres

Underage drinkers get alcohol somewhere

Re “Sonora woman killed in DUI crash identified” (Page 3A, Oct. 30): The article identified the drunk driver as 19 years old. I read articles about underage drunk drivers causing accidents all too often. I have never seen anything in any of the articles about the authorities going after whoever supplied (gave or sold) the liquor to the underage driver. Until the source of the liquor is held responsible, nothing will ever change.

Neal Gittleman, Sonora

Hooray for not shirking responsibility

My wife and I were returning to our car after her physical therapy session and I noticed a note attached to the window on the driver’s side. It informed me that the note writer had hit my car when pulling into the parking space next to me. As I was checking out the damage a young lady came up to me and apologized for hitting my car. She had already contacted her insurance company and had a claim number for me.

In today’s atmosphere of anger, distrust, fear, racism and hatred a young woman accepted responsibility for her actions, went the extra mile to make sure that everything was made right and stood tall as a dependable and honest person. You know who you are and you should be proud of what you did. Thank you for being a hero.

Raymond Newman, Modesto