Friday's Letters to the Editor

<p class="bold allcaps">Solomon voter</p> <p>EDITOR: Seldom have I been excited for the opportunity to vote for a congressional candidate, but I am looking forward to casting a vote for Norman Solomon for Congress.</p><p>I have been a longtime reader of his columns and know with certainty that he will be a strong voice in Washington for peace, justice and fairness for the 99 percent. With Solomon's powerful intellect and high ethical standards, I am confident he will not be bamboozled by slick-talking, cash-laden lobbyists.</p><p>I am a longtime advocate for more women in positions of power, but I'm supporting Solomon this time. I know that he will support women's priorities vigorously. The most prominent woman in the race, Stacy Lawson, fails the most basic tests of good citizenship, with her spotty voting record and failure to pay payroll taxes. In fact, I would say that sometimes the best woman for a job is . . . a man.</p><p>I recently had the chance to speak with Dan Hamburg, the Green Mendocino County supervisor. He told me that Solomon is the first Democrat he has endorsed this century. Sometimes the best Green for a job is . . . a Democrat.</p><p>Please join me in voting, proudly, for Norman Solomon.</p><p>SHARON TREMBLE</p><p>Occidental</p><h3>What money can buy</h3> <p>EDITOR: The politicized U.S. Supreme Court decision that corporations are people enabled a vicious cycle. As a result, money can buy the American government. It is now for sale to the highest bidder. A flood of money from unknown corporate donors to out-of-state candidates influences voting while there is never enough money to pay taxes to help the middle-class and out-of-work poor or the institutions, schools, medical needs, infrastructure repair and Social Security that we all depend on our government to provide for the common good.</p><p>ROY B. CHERWIN</p><p>Santa Rosa</p><h3>Adams supporter</h3> <p>EDITOR: Washington is gridlocked. I'm looking for a new approach, someone who holds strong democratic ideals but will talk to the opposition and, please, get things done. I don't see promoting budget failure in Sacramento as a solution. I want an alternative to the status quo.</p><p>I met and spoke to each front-runner in the race for Congress, and Susan Adams stood above the pack. Adams is a fiscal conservative. She balanced her county's budgets for 10 years, created jobs in clean energy and in a nonprofit public health system. She declines her county's pension and car allowance. She's also a true progressive who supports Medicare for all and opposes these senseless wars.</p><p>Adams is a life-long Democrat but not part of the party machine. She's earned diverse support the old fashioned way: she listens. She leads by example, helping people on both sides to listen. She understands that solutions come from considering the concerns of all. This is a skilled mediator, just the tonic for what ails Washington.</p><p>Susan Adams can do this job better than anyone else, better than anyone before. She'll fight for a better future for all of us.</p><p>RICHARD SALZMAN</p><p>Arcata</p><h3>When will we be civil?</h3> <p>EDITOR: On Tuesday, I stood at the corner waiting to cross the street to my home when a pickup truck drove by and out the window a young man yelled, “Faggot!” On Saturday, I turned 54, and still to this day all around America, in my own town, or when I travel, perfect strangers still feel the need to yell slurs at me any time they please.</p><p>We speak a lot about bullies today. We are concerned about how our children are treated in school, as we should. And here I am, 50 years after I first started kindergarten, and I am still being bullied on a regular basis. I have worked all my life, owned homes, paid property taxes, supported politicians and other leaders in the community. And still, at age 54, to so many I am just a “faggot.”</p><p>The president has asked us to move forward in the area of civil rights for gay marriage. But when will we be willing to just be civil to one another?</p><p>ALAN WILHITE</p><p>Windsor</p>