Reader’s views: Trump’s actions + changing our diet
Lack of evidence
A letter published April 19 titled “lack of criticism” berated those who support our president for not criticizing Donald Trump for his words and actions.
The writer claimed that those who support Trump continue to “make ridiculous excuses for him, blaming everyone and everything else.” He added that other elected officials were afraid to criticize him for his response to the current pandemic because they were afraid of a mean tweet from him in response. He even criticized “this very newspaper” for refusing to call Trump out for what he truly is.
I read further to understand the writer’s evidence to support his words and ideas.
After all, strong written opinions should have some evidence to support those words, especially written words. These accusatory generalities seem to be his most specific charges: “Accepts no responsibility for anything; repeatedly lies and justifies everything he says and does; irresponsible; an abject failure as a leader; a blatantly shameless liar.” He gave no facts or examples.
What were the lies? What action was irresponsible? What was Trump’s failure as a leader? Furthermore, this writer, like much of the news media, never cites any specific examples of those charges or opinions; only that Donald Trump is “bad.” They never cite any examples of what they would do that would be better than what Trump has said and done. They criticize, but lack support for that criticism.
I’m glad I read this unsupported letter. It made me a more confident Trump supporter.
Will Clark
Diamondhead
No blind eye
President Trump did not turn a blind eye to his medical expert team in January.
In the first week they informed him that China was the main spreader of the virus. The president quickly stopped all travel to and from China and both Drs. Anthony Fauci and Deborah Brix stated that if he had not done that we would have been in a serious hurt.
For this. many in Congress called him a racist and Nancy Pelosi went to Chinatown in San Francisco and walked among the folks and told all the world to come eat and mingle with the Chinatown people because everything was safe and fine.
Dennis Papaleo
Diamondhead
Government workers
People should be aware of this.
While most people have lost or have reduced income, there is one segment of our society that is doing quite well during the pandemic COVID-19. That segment is government employees.
The salaries of government employees have continued in full during this crisis. Many of them are getting extra pay for “hazardous duty” to perform their jobs, or in some cases stay at home.
The non-government employees, who work at convenience stores, or Walmart, Target and elsewhere, or who are not working at all, are not getting hazardous duty extra pay, if they are getting paid at all.
But don’t worry. All the dedicated public servants also took a big stimulus check.
Then there are all the useless consultants and political cronies who have been assigned contracts to help understand the virus.
Maybe the reason so many of these public servants are not in favor of letting the rest of us go back to making a living is that they are making a pretty good living the way things are.
The question we should be asking is this. How much of the federal dollars and state funding actually went into the pockets of government employees or political cronies?
I would love to see an objective audit.
Ron Williams
Moss Point
Earth Day
With the 50th anniversary of Earth Day upon us on April 22, we are already reducing our carbon footprint during the pandemic by severely curtailing travel. But we can do so much more by cutting our consumption of animal meat and milk products.
Yes, that.
A recent article in the respected journal Nature argues that animal agriculture is a major driver of climate change, air and water pollution, depletion of soil and water resources, and destruction of wildlife habitats. Oxford University’s prestigious Food Climate Research Network reports that solving the global warming catastrophe requires a massive shift to plant-based eating.
In an environmentally sustainable world, we must replace meat and dairy products with vegetables, fruits, and grains, just as we replace fossil fuels with wind, solar, and other renewable energy sources. Each of us has a unique opportunity to heal our planet by transitioning to plant-based eating.
We can begin with a 1-minute New York Times food test found on their Web site. Then, let’s celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day at our supermarket. The internet offers ample advice and recipes.
Sandy Taylor
Gulfport