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This week’s letters questioned police decisions, pretrial treatment of defendants and opposition to the proposed exchange of land between the state and SpaceX, along with the presentation of political positions.
As always, we welcome your letters, and thank those who share their thoughts with our readers.
Lurching for dictatorship
Why are so many Republicans rushing toward a dictatorship form of government in America? Donald Trump has stated that’s what we will get if he’s elected!
In Texas I can see why but I am amazed at why the rest of Americans are participating in this dangerous endeavor.
Texas schools except for those with unlimited dollars to have small class sizes and are able to attract children with a better home life are failing a majority of children and this is true for the rest of America to a lesser extent. We constantly hear of corrupt school boards, superintendents and some teachers. A lot of our public schools are running dollar deficits every year.
This non-education of our children leaves them to underperform in life and their understanding of the importance of the rule of law, our free lifestyle that hardly anyone else in the world enjoys.
In my working lifetime I have always paid my taxes, albeit sometimes grudgingly. Now I am wondering if Trump’s legal costs are paid by donations; are those donations not income?
Bill Williams
Palmview
The Trump that I know
This is an answer to Edward Longoria’s commentary, “Peril of a second Trump term,” published Feb. 28. Mr. Longoria must be referring to some Donald Trump that I’m not familiar with. The Donald Trump I know created more than 14 million jobs.
Under his programs, more American’s were employed than ever recorded in our history. After his election, he created more than 400 million manufacturing jobs. Unemployment claims hit a 49-year low, and African-American, Hispanic-American and Asian-American unemployment rates were at the lowest rates ever recorded.
Household income hit the highest level ever recorded, and women’s unemployment reached the lowest rate in 65 years. Veterans’ unemployment reached the lowest rate in nearly 20 years, and 3.9 million American’s were lifted off food stamps.
My Donald Trump signed the largest package of tax cuts and reforms in American history. He also approved Arctic National Wildlife Refuge access and approved the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines.
We were, under my Donald Trump, totally energy independent, to the point of being able to export many petroleum products. U.S. oil production hit an all-time high during his presidency.
He eliminated many useless regulations, including killing the dreaded Obamacare individual mandate. He reformed Medicare, caused many drug producers to freeze or reverse planned price increases and stopped hospitals from gouging senior patients on their medicine costs.
He secured $700 million in military funding, withdrew from the horrible Iran deal and concluded historic trade deals with Mexico and Canada.
I could go on, but I think many will recognize my Donald Trump and provide him with another four years as “the people’s president.”
He is loud, boisterous and unapologetic for his demeanor, yet he gets things done!
Yes, compare his accomplishments with todays $2.80 gasoline, at least 12% inflation, skyrocketing food prices, much higher utility prices, and most serious of all, the factual enticement of more than 9 million invaders who have violated our southern border!
Vote, vote, vote! But please vote wisely!
Sherwood Uhrmacher
Palmview
Letters addressed
In his letter to the editor on Feb. 26, Ernest Gorena claims that those who flee their countries for a better life are “cowards.” Hmm — were our forefathers cowards? Were those who fled Cuba cowards? Did cowards build this country? Is this why GOP politicians are acting cowardly? Is there a cure for this? Hoo-boy.
Also, Imelda Coronado tells us that the accusations against Trump are “evil,” and I agree. What Donald Trump did to America is not only “evil,” it’s criminal and traitorous. That’s why sensible Americans acted and voted him out!
Judging from her letter, I get the feeling that the accusations against Trump don’t matter much to Imelda. What concerns her more is her belief that American children are being mutilated, forced to do drugs and forced to read books (?). And she also seems to think that sex slavery is something that Democrats condone.
I wonder, does she have any friends who are Democrats?
“Democrats,” she says, “are the masters of truth suppression, just like Russia, Nazi, fascist and communist countries.” Democrats are trying to outdo the evils perpetuated by the Soviet Union and Adolf Hitler. Huh?
If she has been listening to the news, she’d know that the master of truth suppression is Donald Trump, that it’s Trump who aspires to be like Vladimir Putin and Hitler, that cowardly Republican politicians enabled Trump to do his devilish deeds. It’s as plain as daylight!
If some folks only listen to the likes of Fox News commentators, who the courts have ruled are liars, then it’s possible to be a bit misinformed. The cure: Expand your resources.
As for the rest of us, let’s pray that these folks will soon see the light, or at least that they are in the minority. Americans are smarter than Trump and his cohorts seem to think. And in the end, our centuries-old democracy will prevail! And you can bet your old Army brown boots on that!
Italo J. Zarate
Brownsville
Answer to letter
On March 2 Mr. Ernest Gorena’s letter implies that America rewards immigrants with free travel, a free wardrobe, free room and board, a debit card and a free phone. I quote from Fact Check: “A New York City-funded pilot program will give $15 prepaid debit cards for 28 days for food and baby supplies only to 500 families.”
Is Mr. Gorena the kind of American who would have children unhoused, unfed, on the street after his governor gives them what he claims is free transportation to the New York City ice box? I can’t find any source for his claim of free clothing. Do they get free cellphones? I quote from The New York Times: “The cell phones being distributed do not function regularly, but instead are used only to track their user’s location.”
“The world is on fire.” Where? “Hatred for America is everywhere.” Where? It’s not in my or any of my friend’s homes! “Our religion is being attacked.” Which one is that, Mr. Gorena? We certainly don’t have one between us.
Prices? What do gasoline, food and pharmaceutical prices have in common? Big business. You don’t really think Joe Biden can control all those, do you?
Finally, the per capita income in the Valley should prompt all voters to vote against Republicans who want only the rich to get richer at the expense of the poor and middle classes.
Ned Sheats
Mission
Educational opportunity
The number of student loans skyrocketed rocketed when lending institutions realized they could sucker teenagers into taking loans they were not qualified for. The system made it easy for everybody involved, the students, the schools and especially the banks. Predatory lending by financial institutions was and is a bonanza for them.
So according to some people who have no idea what a burden it is to pay for a higher education, if you’re not financially well off, you shouldn’t get an education.
If statistics, which can be manipulated to say whatever you want, say that only one-third are capable of doing higher education work, who determines what third gets this opportunity? Do only the wealthy get the opportunity?
College professors are not accusing conservatives of genocide and racism by discussing factual history. I guess conservatives would prefer a whitewashed version of U.S. history. But wouldn’t that be an act of racism itself? It is a fact that U.S. history has disdain for minorities. The fact is that slavery, Jim Crow, near genocide of native Americans, history of inferior schools for all minorities except “European students” are all true American history.
Historically universities and colleges have by default discriminated against non-white students. In the first place they were poorly prepared due to the inferior K-12 education forced on them by American society at the time. Due to this great inequality in our education system, laws were passed to level the playing field and this was successful in providing minorities an opportunity that otherwise would not be there. Eventually some white society with their political and economic power made sure those laws were dropped, referring to it as reverse racism. Racism being something they hadn’t ever noticed until now.
We have the wealthiest per capita non-white population in spite of all the historical obstacles because non-whites are just as capable. And that is one of the biggest problems people who want to “make America great again” have. They have been in privileged control in this country since day one and now they feel threatened by the number of minorities reaching the “American dream.”
America has been great, but it wasn’t great for everyone, especially minorities.
Teaching the truth is not indoctrination; the truth is reality nothing more.
College degrees have never been an indication of intelligence or motivation. What a degree does is open doors to take a shot at a career that otherwise wouldn’t let you in the door.
Many graduates never never pan out, but that is their problem, their life. This is not a reason to criticize higher education for anyone who wants to take their shot at it to try and better themselves.
Beto Conde
Rancho Viejo
Trump bashed
The man is but a myth, a lie. And what is left but a figment of the imagination, without substance, without character, without distinction.
Trump: the man, the myth, the lie — a 21st century study of megalomaniacal hyperbole that devours the passion of human dignity and nobility.
Trump: the resurrected Dr. Jack Kevorkian, advocating intellectual and idealistic suicide by GOP and MAGA followers. The would-be fuehrer of humanity’s Fourth Reich and the second Holocaust — the philosophical genocide of thought, of choice, of conscience.
Trump: a simpleton, in every way.
A. Garcia-Wiltse
San Juan
Inspiring messages
I recently watched the film “Gandhi” for the fourth or fifth time. I wanted to be inspired by his wisdom and character once again after the news from the Supreme Court, our highest court, and its announcements. I felt despair over judgments that blatantly favor Donald Trump in his race to escape accountability for insurrection, the classified documents he hoarded illegally and possibly shared with foreign actors, and the rest of the 91 indictments in civil, state and federal court cases.
Gandhi, a Hindu, grew up attending a temple where the leader read from both the Quran and Hindu sacred sources. India was populated then with Muslims and Hindus. At one point he said to a group of disgruntled Hindus, “I am Hindu. I am Muslim. I am a Jew, and a Christian, and so are you.”
Here are some quotes and paraphrases from Mahatma Gandhi that helped me through this day.
“The only demons of evil are the ones running around in our own hearts.”
“An eye for an eye ends up making the whole world blind.”
“There is a higher court of justice, and that is the court of conscience. It supersedes all other courts.”
When violence was at its height between Muslim and Hindu, Gandhi fasted and would not stop until the bloody riots stopped. Near the end of both the violence and his fasting, a Hindu man came to him. “They killed my son.” The man was beside himself. Gandhi said, “Go and find a child whose parents were both killed. Take him and raise him. As a Muslim.”
“A ‘No’ uttered from deepest conviction is better than a ‘Yes’ merely uttered to please, or worse to avoid trouble.”
“The spirit of democracy is not a mechanical thing to be adjusted by abolition of forms. It requires a change of heart.”
And the best quote of all: “Whenever I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have always been tyrants and murderers, and for a time they may seem invincible, but in the end they always fail. Always.”
Shirley Rickett
Alamo
Accident addressed
I recently read a Brownsville Police Department traffic accident report and was appalled that one of the drivers was operating an unsafe vehicle, tires showing the steel belt, passing cars on the shoulder in heavy traffic that were stopped at a red light, and of course, no driver’s license, in a hurry to pick up her sick child in school.
The other vehicle was crossing into a store driveway when the collision occurred.
The driver of the defective vehicle was only cited for no driver’s license and then was allowed to proceed on a public street. Some police departments in Texas would have towed the defective vehicle and taken the driver in for booking.
Drivers with suspended licenses know if you use a relative’s or friend’s name, the computer will only report that no operator’s license was found and paying the fine is far less expensive than driving on a suspended license, which means jail time.
The RGV is full of people with no driver’s licenses because they have beaten the system to avoid the suspended license charge. Is it Brownsville PD’s policy to not arrest drivers with no valid driver’s licenses?
Many cry out of those who don’t have insurance and unlicensed drivers who continue their travel are a menace to every law-abiding driver.
And get this: the other driver was cited for the collision and was given a $300 fine.
Evan Rees
Garland
Opposing progress
I grew up in Brownsville during the 1970s and 1980s when the shrimping industry at the Port of Brownsville was booming. I have vivid memories of visiting the shrimp basin as a child and being mesmerized by the multitude of boats.
At that time there were more than 500 shrimp boats operating from the port and their impact was felt throughout the communities of Brownsville and Port Isabel. Whether it was as a boat captain, header, cold storage worker or in other roles, people had better-paying jobs, and many families finally had enough money to buy homes or send their kids to college.
Sadly, things have changed since then. Today there are fewer than 100 boats as the shrimping industry has struggled to compete with farmed shrimp imports and government regulations. As the industry declined, the fortunes of many families that once thrived also decreased.
While Brownsville and other major communities in deep South Texas have seen growth and development, numerous others still suffer from high poverty rates and a shortage of good-paying employment for our people. But there is hope on the horizon.
The Port of Brownsville is once again ready to bring many higher-paying positions to South Texas through world-class projects like the construction of the NextDecade liquefied natural gas terminal, the expansion of SpaceX at Boca Chica and the Forza steel plant.
The NextDecade LNG facility alone promises an $18.4 billion investment and 5,000 construction jobs at its peak. In a region where high-paying construction work is hard to come by, NextDecade LNG, SpaceX at Boca Chica and the Forza Steel plant will be a blessing for residents who often must leave their families behind to find better-paying work elsewhere.
The planned improvements at the Port of Brownsville by NextDecade LNG will bring economic prosperity to the entire region.
The development of the LNG plant presents a crucial ability to help continue solving economic inequalities in South Texas and promote sustainable growth. However, this golden opportunity is under threat by the Sierra Club and other groups whose views are on the extreme of the majority.
They are so eager to prevent further advancements at the Port of Brownsville that they have filed lawsuits to do so.
By standing in the way of port progress, the Sierra Club slows down the path to economic prosperity for minority populations. While concerns about the impact of port development on tourism are valid, it is crucial to understand that tourism alone has not brought high-paying employment to the region.
Instead, by working together, South Texans can minimize the impact on the environment and coastal tourism while using port development to create better ways for economic prosperity for all residents.
Pedro Salazar
Edinburg
Questions about case
This is in no way, shape or form a defense of Richard Ford, just an observation: We live in a country where everyone is considered innocent until proven guilty.
So technically, an innocent person was in jail for more than three years before being proven guilty. And what happened to the right to a speedy trial?
Gabriel Guerra
Mission
Editor’s note: We welcome your letters and commentary. Submissions must include the writer’s full name, address and daytime telephone number for verification. Letters of 200 words or fewer will be given preference. Submissions may be edited for length, grammar and clarity. Letters may be mailed to P.O Box 3267, McAllen, Texas 78502-3267, or emailed to [email protected].
