Saturday’s Letters to the Editor

America held hostage

EDITOR: What about my First Amendment right to peaceably assemble, which means without fear that some nut with a grudge will blow me away when I go to a grocery store or a festival?

It’s time to invoke the “well-regulated militia” part of the Second Amendment. First, this phrase shows unequivocally that We the People have the right to regulate the use of weapons. Second, we have militias in the form of police forces, the National Guard, Secret Service, etc. (although some could argue they are not in fact well-regulated).

It is well past time to stop being literally held hostage by the small minority of the population who think it is perfectly OK for random civilians to own weapons of war without training or supervision.

BETH WARNER

McKinleyville

Flying Pride flags

EDITOR: In 2020, the Pride flag I hung on the Sir Francis Drake Boulevard overpass in Greenbrae was ripped down. Five times. In response, I founded the Marin Flag Project to increase the number of Pride flags displayed in Marin County as a way to support LGBTQ+ youth.

The Trevor Project’s research shows that having just one accepting adult can literally save the life of an LGBTQ+ youth. They found that 45% of LGBTQ+ youth considered suicide in the past year, and nearly 70% are navigating anxiety and/or depression. The need is urgent, especially since Gallup research suggests that 1 in 5 youth will self-identify as LGBTQ+ before they finish high school.

Can you be one of the adults in our community who helps our youth feel seen and safe? Flying a flag isn’t the only step to take, but it’s a great first step. It’s meaningful for the youth in your neighborhood, stores, offices, schools, worship communities and organizations. They may not be out to you, but they are looking for signals from our community that it’s safe here.

Print or order your Pride flag at marinflagproject.com.

CAROLINE GOODRICH

Greenbrae

Change over centuries

EDITOR: From 1769 until 1823, Spanish soldiers and missionaries built 21 missions from San Diego to Sonoma. Father Juniper Sera converted many American Indians to Christianity. By 1846, 75,000 Mexicans were living north of the Rio Grande. The United States bought California and much of the Northwest from Mexico for $15 million in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. What’s your replacement theory?

TIMOTHY LONG

Petaluma

Authoritarian leadership

EDITOR: Matt Rexroad says “good business executives are better prepared to be the chief executive of California or the mayor of a large city than members of the Legislature, Congress or a city council” (“Corporate executives make good candidates,” May 20). Perhaps. But what’s a “good” business executive? Having that cachet doesn’t guarantee anything. Donald Trump, whom Rexroad cites as an example of the sort of candidate voters favor over politicians, ran our government as a branch of the Trump Organization. Should we vote for such business executives as Charles Koch, Peter Theil and Mike Lindell, just because they made obscene amounts of money for themselves?

Don’t get me wrong. The executives I know are plenty talented, and their talents make them quite successful at what they do. But none run their company as a democracy. The best expect their subordinates to offer advice and, if it’s good advice, they take it. Remember, though, they are laser-focused on making money, not on pleasing anyone (other than as a strategy for making money). In short, they are authoritarians in their business mode, and I do not mean this in a political sense. I fear the habits of authoritarian-style leadership are difficult to shed, as we’ve recently seen.

GARY DEVINE

Santa Rosa

A gift of good food

EDITOR: One of the positive aspects of the pandemic and ongoing remote work has been having more time for home cooking and enjoying our local bounty. These last two-plus years, I have tried many of the recipes shared in the Feast section of the newspaper. So, what a treat it was to open the May 22 paper and find Feast Favorites, a cookbook of beautifully compiled recipes, organized by season. I appreciate knowing what food is supposed to look like, so I particularly love the gorgeous photos. We have all gone through something together. Feast Favorites is a wonderful gift, which I will hang on to for many years.

The larger gift, which I never take for granted, is having a wonderful, local daily newspaper. Our local newspapers are critical for a functioning democracy, and we are lucky to have such a good one.

NANCY WOLTERING

Santa Rosa

You can send letters to the editor to letters@pressdemocrat.com.