Letters to the Editor, Saturday April 27

Johnson’s leadership

EDITOR: What it truly means to be a Republican is to uphold our republic. What it truly means to be a Christian is to walk the path of truth for the sake of others. House Speaker Mike Johnson, if I understand the news right, has just done both by obtaining a resounding vote in favor of renewing aid to Ukraine (“House approves $95 billion for allies,” Sunday).

All the hoary metaphors are dusted off: Liberty’s torch remains alight. The American ship of state again sails toward liberty’s shores. Johnson voted the conscience of the republic over the convenience of being a yes-man to a demagogue, rekindling bipartisanship in Congress. The great majority of representatives joined him. It’s a vote to uphold what will remain true far, far down the road.

NATHANIEL SCOBLE

Santa Rosa

Cannabis indulgence

EDITOR: In 2017, Sonoma County voters approved commercial cannabis cultivation in return for taxation “to fund essential county services such as addressing industry impacts, public safety, fire, health, housing, roads, and environmental protection.” After providing the industry with what was to be a temporary tax reduction in 2022, the Board of Supervisors in 2023 provided another reduction, this time for 45%. Now on April 16, the board approved yet another reduction, this one for 24% (“Supervisors approve tax reduction for cannabis,” April 18).

The cannabis industry does not generate enough tax revenue to pay for its direct program costs, let alone achieve the goals of Measure A, the 2017 ballot measure. Further, the county projects this deficit will continue for years to come. We, the taxpayers, will be on the hook.

Despite repeated tax reductions to support a failing industry, Supervisor Lynda Hopkins went so far as to suggest eliminating the cannabis tax. No more inconvenient discussions, problem solved. No other businesses receive this same indulgence. They sink or swim on their own. Why is cannabis treated differently? Why doesn’t our Board of Supervisors respect the clear intent of the law instead of eviscerating it?

BILL KRAWETZ

Sebastopol

Repressing some speech

EDITOR: I don’t imagine I’m the only one outside your newsroom who noticed the irony of David French’s April 19 column (“When a mob gets to veto a valedictorian’s speech”). After the multitude of times that we’ve read about progressive mobs shutting down a conservative’s right to speak, somehow when it happens to a liberal, suddenly it’s a big deal. How did that happen?

JOE GAFFNEY

Rohnert Park

Skipping the big picture

EDITOR: Your coverage of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce’s hearing on antisemitism at Columbia University missed one very important point (“University president grilled by House,” April 18). While Republicans frequently mentioned the Oct. 7 attack as they browbeat Columbia President Nemat Shafik about her alleged failure to protect Jewish students from harassment, not one legislator mentioned the genocidal pounding that Israel has been inflicting upon the civilian population of Gaza since Oct. 8.

They conveniently omitted the very topic that has given rise to protests on campuses and around the world. Watching the hearing was like being in a made-up universe, where all Jews are peace loving victims and all Palestinians are terrorists, and the main job of the campus president is to protect Jews on campus, period.

And in a chilling display of arrogance and meanness, Republicans made it clear that if the president didn’t follow through to their liking, they would exert pressure for her to be fired or resign. It was a frightening example of totalitarian fabrication and manipulation, and unfortunately The Press Democrat and other mass media focused mainly on the personal drama and left out the big picture.

LARRY HENDEL

Bodega Bay

Community spirit

EDITOR: While reading the May 18, 1986 Press Democrat in the California Digital Newspaper Collection, I noticed where State Farm Insurance won the Grand Sweepstakes in the 1986 Rose Parade. Makes you wonder where that kind of community spirit is today.

JOHN SERGNERI

Petaluma

Overlooking Annadel

EDITOR: Alongside the Associated Press’ California wildflower article was a list of local parks for good wildflower displays (“Time to stop and smell the flowers,” Monday). Conspicuously missing was Trione-Annadel State Park, which has a spectacular array of blooms now. My three-hour hike April 19 turned into a four-hour hike while photographing more than 50 different varieties of wildflowers. Not including Annadel in the mix is like naming the 10 most popular candies and leaving out chocolate.

BILL KRUMBEIN

Santa Rosa

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