Letters 7/22/2024

• Where Are The Tax Default Lists?
• Still Scapegoating Nader?
• Sheriff Goes Deep
• Red Wine
• A Dual Crisis Response
• Overdose Trends In Fort Bragg
• What You Can Do
• Lighten Up On Us Geezers
• Just Lucky
• They're With Me
• Gaslit America
• Jumping Off
• Biden Set To Join List Of Those Making Big Mistakes
• Not Keeping Up
• Polls Said No
• Biden His Time
• J. Alfred Huffman
• Trump As Cure-All
• Time To Go, Joe
• Israel's Ethnic Cleansing

---

WHERE ARE THE TAX DEFAULT LISTS?

Dear Editor,

On July 9th I inquired with the Tax Collector's Office about the Default Property Tax list that I've been waiting to receive for over a year since Acting Auditor-Controller-Treasurer-Tax Collector Sara Pierce said there was now a Tax Lien list available.

On July 10th I was informed by Ms. Dailey, Deputy Treasurer-Tax Collector, that there is still no Default Property Tax list and that by Friday, this week, I would be emailed the Tax Lien list.

I'm not holding my breath.

How does it take five years to accumulate a report of default property taxes? There was a tax lien sale in 2019 and a current default property tax list printed in the Ukiah Daily Journal in that year. Note: I had to call the Ukiah Daily Journal last year to get the 2019 list from them as the County could not provide it.

Carrie Shattuck

Redwood Valley

---

PS/Update (by Mark Scaramella):

On Wednesday afternoon Ms. Shattuck received two excel spreadsheets listing the recipients of “Power to Sell” letters, and the delinquent taxpayers (so far). There are 284 parcels/names on the Delinquent list totaling about $1.1 million, and 167 parcels/names on the Power to Sell list totaling almost $3 million in taxes due. Legally, these lists are supposed to be published in a newspaper of general circulation before action is taken on them. The tax delinquent totals list includes a Mr. Michael Danna of Ukiah who owes $244,131 on one parcel. SWS Project Management LLC of Willits, a property management company, owes $258,605. There are several dozen who are delinquent to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars. The majority are under $10,000. The Power To Sell letters range from less than a thousand dollars up to almost $80k. Thanks to Ms. Cheyenne Gordon of the Auditor’s office for providing these lists in a timely manner. According to Acting Auditor-Controller/Treasurer Tax Collector Sara Pierce there are about $22 million in delinquent taxes, but her office is short of staff and experience and it’s not clear how they will go about collecting the rest of the estimated $22 million in tax delinquencies after they try to collect on these first two lists.

---

STILL SCAPEGOATING NADER?

Editor,

Here we go again, in 2024! Folks such as Deborah Friedell sobbing that Ralph Nader cost Al Gore the 2000 election because of Florida. They perpetuate this myth no matter how many times facts smack them over the head.

Nader got fewer than 100,000 votes in Florida, while 330,000 Florida Democrats voted for George Bush. Democrats!

Had Gore won his home state, Florida wouldn't even have mattered, but Tennesseans knew him best.

Had Nader not run, surveys showed that a significant number of his supporters either would not have voted or would have voted for someone other than Gore.

Finally, Gore DID win Florida, but he refused to fight for it even when it was evident the voting was crooked. Read Greg Palast’s The Best Democracy Money Can Buy.

Nader, who's devoted his life to public service, never wanted to be president. His campaign was always an educational one to raise issues both parties ignore: true universal health care, the need for a living wage, prosecution of environmental and corporate crimes, corporate ties to the military and its ever growing obscene budget, and more.

I always voted for Ralph Nader with pride! Haven't voted for a Democrat (and never a Republican) for president since George McGovern. and certainly won’t this year.

Jayne Thomas

Richmond

---

SHERIFF GOES DEEP

Editor,

I try not to weigh in on national stuff and keep to Mendocino County issues but here we go.

I hate it when we say “Not my President” if we were all acting like Americans we would likely not be saying that. There have been a few I liked and a few I disliked, however they were all “My President.”

I feel terrible about the shape our country is in at the moment. I also feel terrible for President Biden.

Lots of people are saying he’s in great shape for his age and honestly it’s a different game than that.

Michael Jordan is in great shape for his age, of that I am certain. That being said he doesn’t belong on the court with Steph Curry because he wouldn’t be able to compete.

At some point we also have to look at the well being of the president and ask what is being done to him in this process. At times it looks like elder abuse.

My pop was about 81 when we noticed he was suffering from cognitive decline, it worsened over the next six years until he passed. We sheltered him from what could be a tough world for someone suffering this condition. That’s what sons and daughters do and we were lucky to have an RN sister, without her knowledge it wouldn’t have been possible.

I can honestly say I wouldn’t let my father go through this. So as the children of our nation, is this OK? That’s my question and, That’s my 2 cents.

Sheriff Matt Kendall

Ukiah

---

RED WINE

Editor,

I would love to have a glass of wine with dinner, make that two! Mmm, I can taste it, feel the cool liquid warming me, the alcohol aftertaste, but if I drank it there’s a good chance that I’d wake up in the middle of the night and be unable to get back to sleep for three or four hours, a very annoying result from drinking a delicious glass of red.

I stopped drinking twenty months ago as part of my campaign against insomnia and only have insomnia about once a month now. (I have adopted new rules for better sleep: having a set bedtime, no electronics in the bedroom, no eating, drinking, or screen time three hours before bedtime, no alcohol, no coffee after noon, no chocolate after three, and no saunas after two. I remember fondly the days, years, and decades when I did whatever I wanted whenever I wanted, what happened?)

Oh for a glass of wine with dinner!

I started buying red wine by the case twenty or thirty years ago when I heard it was actually good for you. One night when staying in my friend’s very old ten room mansion in Austin, he and his girlfriend took me out to a high end wine bar and I noticed my glass cost thirteen dollars. “I’m used to buying five dollar bottles of Trader Joes wine,” I said.

“When ya gonna spend it?” Mike said, and after that I bought ten dollar bottles when I stocked up at TJ’s twice a year.

Maybe if I had a glass of wine with lunch, instead of dinner, it wouldn’t affect my sleep? I also liked to smoke a joint after drinking wine but I wouldn’t want to do that midday, a reminder of the wake ‘n bake daze back in ‘98, when at my worst, or best as Fat Freddie would say, I’d start about 10:30 am and smoke three fatties a day, in half joint increments.)

I haven’t been super strict: I had a beer at Christmas, another on Superbowl Sunday, and a quarter glass of watered-down wine with a friend out on the deck last fall, which turned into a regretful night of insomnia.

Last summer in Mexico, after eight months strictly on the wagon, I drank two or three glasses of wine with some friends, the only Americans who live on that mountain full-time. The wife got drunk enough to ask to see my fifty-eight second dance move, I was drunk enough to actually do it, and her husband sat there looking seriously unamused. It was a very fun time, weed and homemade apple pie included, but then I had insomnia for three of the next five nights, and realized I just couldn’t, shouldn’t, drink anymore. (Well, it was a good time to stop as the latest studies say, oops, alcohol is actually not good for you, what?!)

I had a guest last month and finally lived a little: We tried some of Mushroom Mike’s strong tasty weed, drank the bottle of Peach Bellini which the previous guests left as a gift, a strange fruity beverage made with carbonated wine and peach flavor, and I slept soundly through the night, after all.

Paul Modic

Redway

---

A DUAL CRISIS RESPONSE

Editor,

Have you ever witnessed a person experiencing intense agony due to Mental Illness? Excruciatingly wailing and screaming while shoving their fingers so far up their nose to hopefully end the pain! Well, I have, and it is hard to witness, especially difficult because literally what can you do, what would you do? In this instance a street person I have never seen before was experiencing some very audible and dramatic psychosis. The truth is unless you are the one providing treatment (which is very hard to obtain) it does not matter the reason for such torment. There are many contributing factors to such a state of being, what is significant is in the way in which we respond, how we help and what we do to alleviate the persons condition.

Luckily, I know that to get this person help, I had to call UPD and request Dual Crisis Response. Which of course I did. I suppose I was not surprised when dispatch asked me if I was a Mental Health Worker but was a bit irritated with that question but realized they are unaccustomed to regular folks calling to aid street people.

Specifically, since I know almost every call for Dual Crisis Response is internal, not us regular citizens or family members calling for help, it is mostly interagency requests, and many are check-ins. I was definitely interested in how this would actually play out, what the response would be. So you bet your ass I was going to watch and wait. I did wait for about 15 minutes until the Crisis Worker pulled up in his County issued vehicle and I thought, Ok is he going to wait in the car till the UPD officer arrives or gets out? He got out. I thought, Ok hmmm. So I stopped him, we chatted I asked where UPD officer was. He said it was just him and if necessary, he would call them for assistance. Hmmm. Ok really. The whole big ta-doo for implementing this program was dual response to ensure safety of Mental Health Workers and keep police from responding alone and trying to determine if a person needs support or intervention.

The problem with this singular response is that it is completely the opposite of the entire reasoning for a combined action through Behavioral Health and Law Enforcement.

I do understand that in some instances a well-known person would not require both agencies to respond. However this individual was an unknown street person; there was no way to determine how he would react to being approached.

Luckily all went well, and the Crisis worker engaged with him well, even got him to smile as he stood a few feet away conversing with him about his condition and circumstances.

During the convo I witnessed almost a complete 180 in his behavior, maybe about a 120, really. The difference was very noteworthy because he was much calmer, not yelling at the voices anymore. He had something to focus on rather than his pain and suffering.

A man unknown to the crisis worker who was homeless, hungry, in great distress, then presents as almost normal. I suppose that is because that is the part of the brain that responds by rote and learned behavior, so it tricks us into believing all is alright, when it is not. So we respond without necessary intervention.

He was in agony and it’s a good thing police did not arrive because he stated to the Crisis worker that he was afraid of cops. It would definitely be a better practice to have Dual Crisis Response be an officer in street clothes instead of uniformed. However for whatever reason that was not initiated as part of the protocol when they decided to operate a Dual Crisis Response program.

Unfortunately, the man was not taken to the Emergency Room for some intervention and evaluation and a possible 5150 (gravely ill or danger to self or others). As the Behavioral Health Specialist told me, there was not much he could do; the man was unwilling and not considered a danger or gravely disabled.

Huh? Trying to bore a hole into your brain with your finger seems quite a desperate attempt to a gravely demise. Being an educated witness in these matters and my concerns tossed aside just as this person's dignity and well-being were of no matter, I am once again disgusted by the powers that be.

The crisis worker stated very concisely that if the man was taken into the ER he had no control of next steps or the necessary action plan after the person would be released!

So, what in the actual hell is going on here? You do not get to decide to do nothing because you have no control of the outcome. But you actually have control of the intervention and next step! Absolutely ridiculous statement and decision-making abilities that affect all of us!

I was very happy to have a great conversation with the Crisis worker. However it just hammers home the fact that what we are currently doing, or more appropriately not doing is dangerous! What the crisis worker was able to do was purchase the man some food, which is great; he was hungry, probably starving.

But what we really need to happen is to intercede accordingly on someone's behalf when they are out of their mind, The mind does not get well without intervention, and it causes more brain damage and mental deterioration the longer a person remains in that state. Why are we so ignorant to act appropriately?

Families and individuals have to rely on this ineffective system that acts as if all the pieces are working nicely together and creating safety and intercedence. It is not, not here in our little neck of the woods where things are not as they seem.

My greatest wish in this life is to invoke a sense of unity and responsibility in addressing these issues. I am not going anywhere, and I will not give up, ever! I often feel my head being pounded against the brick wall is reason to fold. It is painful, but more excruciating is the loss and negligence we experience. Shifting and juggling services and programs and outcomes is a deflective practice and keeps us from implementing any meaningful assistance. We then end up with these interactions that provide nothing to alleviate what we face.

Mazie Malone

Ukiah

---

OVERDOSE TRENDS IN FORT BRAGG

Editor,

Fort Bragg Police Department has been following overdose trends for the last two years for the purpose of developing a strategy to combat fatal and non-fatal overdoes in the City of Fort Bragg. We have applied and been granted access to ODMAP (Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program). ODMAP is able to provide real time updates for overdoses within the U.S. We are able to obtain their data and cross reference it to our calls for service. The data entered into the database reflects EMS calls for service. Often there is a suspected drug listed, however they are not able to confirm the drug until proper testing is concluded.

For transparency, we will be providing monthly statistics of overdoses within the City of Fort Bragg and quarterly comparisons

2023 Quarter 1: 2 overdoes, unknown drug.

2024 Quarter 1: 5 overdoes, 2 unknown, 1 Alcohol, 1 Methamphetamine, 1 Fentanyl

2023 Quarter 2: 6 overdoes, 5 unknown, 1 Cocaine

2024 Quarter 2: 4 overdoes, 2 unknown, 1 Alcohol, 1 Fentanyl

If you know someone who is struggling with substance use disorder (SUD), please refer them to Project Right Now for assistance in navigating substance use treatment or if you are a family member of someone with SUD, there is support for you too. 707-962-7061

(Fort Bragg Police Chief Neil Cervenka)

City Of Fort Bragg Police Department

---

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Editor:

I’ve been tabling at farmers’ markets urging people to take action to curb climate change. I hear the same lament over and over: “There’s nothing I can do.” Well, now everyone can do something really significant by voting yes for Proposition 4, the state climate bond on the Nov. 5 ballot. It’s an all-encompassing measure, cutting greenhouse gases, shifting to renewable energy, conserving lands to absorb unwanted carbon and increasing protection from wildfires, droughts and flooding.

Yes, the measure comes with a hefty $10 billion price tag. But if Donald Trump is reelected, fossil fuel companies will take precedence once more. California’s climate bond will look like an even better deal then. So, yes, Californians, you can make a difference this fall with a single stroke of the pen. It’s well worth the money.

Jane Bender

Santa Rosa

---

LIGHTEN UP ON US GEEZERS

Editor,

We need understanding of aging to show compassion.

In many cultures, the elders are seen as wise and there is little judgment about their physical and mental manifestations of aging. In recent years, we have made progress on the themes of racism, feminism and homophobia. When it comes to ageism, it is unfortunately a very different story.

Many of my liberal friends, all of whom are passionate about anti-racism and anti-sexism, lack understanding and compassion when it comes to aging.

In the recent presidential debate, Republicans and Democrats rushed to the conclusion that President Joe Biden is unfit to be commander in chief. When former President Ronald Reagan was showing signs of slowing down and had memory lapses while still in office, I don’t recall people declaring that he should resign.

Cognition is not a black-and-white issue. Stress and fatigue can impact alertness and speech. While I am not trying to make excuses for a poor performance, someone like Biden, who is uncomfortable with interactions that involve verbal attacks, could easily exhibit cognitive symptoms in a combative situation.

There is another aspect of cognition that rarely gets discussed. Former President Donald Trump, who was alert and articulate in the debate, shows serious signs of delusional thinking. How serious is this for a commander in chief?

Dennis Portnoy

Greenbrae

---

JUST LUCKY

Dear Editor,

Some say Trump pumping his fist after he was grazed let the audience know he was okay. Others saw the gestures, the extreme facial anger, and the repeating of what appeared to be the word “fight” three times, as not just encouraging support for his candidacy but exploiting the moment to build resentment and perhaps even retaliatory violence. His son Eric wrote, “This is the fighter America needs.”

One politician offered, “First they tried to keep him off the ballot, then they tried to jail him, and now this.” Blame for the event was already being deflected away from the unidentified dead shooter onto the political opposition, the black-hearted demon democrats of the left. Another politician said, “Joe Biden sent the orders.”

His audience got the angry message. One of the attendees said, “Trump is immortal, I will fight for him to the end.” This was clearly an opportunity to elevate Trump from human to super-human. Commentator Martha MacCallum offered, “There are not too many humans that are made that way. Support for him will exponentially increase.” Hannity said, “He’s been through more than most people can take.”

Former Republican leader Newt Gingrich took the failed assassination attempt as an indicator of God’s partisan view of the election. He said, “It was providential” that Trump turned his head at the right moment. Perhaps it was just very lucky.

Kimball Shinkoskey

Wood Cross, Utah

---

THEY'RE WITH ME

Editor,

I am writing about the recent passing of Orlando Cepeda. His death made me remember a story that taught me something about that man.

Many years ago, my friend Bill Vespa and I made our way into the lower level access tunnel (without tickets for that area) at a Giants game. We started up some steps (with two men in front of us) that would take us out to the expensive seating behind home plate. We all waited for a break in the action before proceeding. After a pitch, we were to go forward. The men in front of us (one of whom wore a white straw hat) started to enter the stadium. The usher welcomed the men in front of us and acknowledged the one in the hat as “Mr. Cepeda.”

We followed and the usher asked us for our tickets. Before we could give up and turn around, Cepeda offhandedly said “they are with me” and the usher let us enter.

From everything I have heard, this is indicative of the kind of man who filled those shoes (and that hat) — thoughtful and kind. He will be missed.

Jeff Moss

San Rafael

---

GASLIT AMERICA

Editor:

As Gerard Baker wrote in the Wall Street Journal on July 2, “They’ve deceived and gaslit us for four years, all in the name of ‘democracy.’ That collapsed Thursday,” during the presidential debate. Deception came, in part, by hiding the president’s infirmity.

Deception came with bad policies hurting Americans from all walks of life. Excessive regulation is one area used to compel an all-electric society by trying to ban gas cooktops, as well as changing standards to ensure only electric vehicles can be purchased. Political handouts were illegally given to people with student loans who no longer had to pay them back; taxpayers are now on the hook to pay for someone else’s degree. The list of progressive policies goes on. Hiding Joe Biden from public view and manipulating him behind closed doors was required to mandate dangerous policies using executive orders.

“So much for the moral high ground Democrats have claimed to occupy,” wrote Baker. “The events of the past week have exposed the depth of the Democrats’ deception and disregard for democracy.” Where are presidents like Ronald Reagan or Abraham Lincoln when you need them most?

Robert Koslowsky

Cloverdale

---

JUMPING OFF

Dear Editor,

They jumped off the frekking bridge!

I was appalled at the press releases you, us, and everybody printed about the young men who fled police, crashed into a car, and then proceeded to jump off the Jack Peters Creek Bridge! We all put in our stories and press releases the cop mumbo jumbo and buried the lede (I still like this spelling).

Have you ever heard of anybody jumping off that bridge? I remember a woman who was riding her bike in one lane and a big truck or camper went by the other way and blew her off the narrow bridge.

Exhibit A for Caltrans to replace it.

Back in 1988 or 1989, my mom then about 65, and I climbed up that cliff on the north side where they jumped. Mom, Betty Lou Hartzell was a wild lady on stuff like that. We tied ropes to a tree above and made this climb and were fascinated by all the history in that hillside. It's a rough hillside full of ancient boards, iron, and all kinds of stuff. We saw up close more bridges than should have been possible there.

We went back home to Fort Bragg and got Dad, who was an engineer, R and D man, and bridge builder up to the point the pilings and underground work was done. Dad was not a crazy climbing man like Mom and I, but he figured out what we were seeing was a wooden bridge built alongside the existing bridge while the new bridge was built during the Great Depression. It was needed because the canyon was so incredibly steep and narrow. He thought destroying the scaffold bridge must have been as hard as anything thus all the leftovers. And hard on that guy who at 21 is said to have a felony warrant and other stuff, drank, drove, fled police, wrecked some car, and jumped. I always wonder, were the two guys with him, one a minor and the other younger, in on it?

I have ridden with a few idiots in my life. if pulled over, everybody gets arrested. Bad way to start life guys! As far as the bridge, it's a two-year project. This will have closures for 2 years instead of 1 year like Pudding Creek Caltrans has a lot of bridges and projects urgently needing repair and the Biden admin has increased federal funding. When they held a meeting in Mendo, people didn't object to the 2-year timetable so they went with it.

The Hare Creek Bridge has also been taken off the table for now. In the days when Vince Taylor led the bridge rail revolution and locals got the Coastal Commission to turn down plans for the Ten Mile Bridge, Caltrans feared the activists in Mendo.

Albion River Bridge is another issue, we shall see what the Stewards do there. When I walked on the beach under the Jack Peters Bridge on the south side, I was showered with gravel and took a photo of a recently fallen guard rail and a teetering telephone pole above. (not the new ones but those are very close). At one time Caltrans planned to widen all roads here to 4 lanes, but that fell by the wayside long ago, I found out. Now they want to make all these bridges safer and wider. Russian gulch is also too narrow for modern standards as are Hare Creek and Little River bridges.

Interestingly readers today are offended when I want to question Caltrans about these things. I think the new leadership is the best they ever have had there, but they still have a job to do and its always good to look into these projects, but there is no market in 2024 for that sort of news, as it costs considerably. Sharon and Kate at Advocate News backed me when i did extensive stories on each bridge and people back then loved it. The world has changed and resistance is futile! You and I and Mark have to continue as we are no longer good for the sheep herding jobs anymore.

One other thing: DON'T walk the beach under Jack Peters. You will get stranded. I did from an hour before a super low tide to an hour after.

Frank Hartzell

Fort Bragg

---

BIDEN SET TO JOIN LIST OF THOSE MAKING BIG MISTAKES

Editor,

President Joe Biden is failing to acknowledge that his problem has morphed from concerns about his ability to serve to his electability. The issue has become circular, the very reason that led to the need for him to step down is the same reason why he refuses.

I believe the critical nature of this situation was spawned by three people: 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg and former President Barack Obama.

I believe that Clinton lost to Donald Trump because she permitted her campaign to turn complacent and sloppy. Ginsberg selfishly refused to do what’s best for the county by stepping down and allowing her seat to be filled by a different president. Obama relied on official channels to deal with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell during the blocked nomination of Merrick Garland. The dispute should have been settled unofficially by respective staff members behind the scene well in advance of going public.

Biden is well on his way to becoming the fourth member of the group. Moreover, there are no short term avenues to recover from the errant actions of the Supreme Court. Even if Trump loses in November, his supporters will still be here post election. Our country has proven to be remarkably resistant. It better be.

Steve McClure

Larkspur

---

NOT KEEPING UP

Dear Editor,

Imagine a cat lassoed then hoisted by the neck to dangle kicking and gasping until it is strangled to death. Imagine a dog caught by the leg in a trap, stuck twisting and turning for days while the jaws of the trap dig into its leg until it dies of dehydration and shock while trying to free itself by gnawing off its paw.

Even those of us who don’t keep pets have, I hope, sufficient empathy to shudder at dogs and cats being treated that way by someone who finds their straying into his yard annoying. There has to be a kinder, more humane way of removing unwanted pets from one’s yard, right? And of course there is: we call animal control to come and humanely remove the offending animal.

Now, extend your empathy a bit further to include other critters, like raccoons and skunks. They, too, can be annoying when under your house or in your shed. So, you want them removed humanely, right? Unfortunately, in Mendocino the County will send out a Wildlife Services trapper to kill the offending animal instead of removing it and sealing off its entryway.

That doesn’t have to happen. There are well-tested alternatives and people ready to bring them to our county. To accomplish that, all you need do is tell your Supervisor to vote against renewing the county’s contract with USDA Wildlife Services and in favor of working with Mendocino Non-Lethal Wildlife Alliance to implement a proven humane wildlife management program.

Sincerely,

Steve F. Sapontzis

Cleone

ms notes: The Supervisors voted to end the USDA Wildlife Services Contract a few years ago in favor of no system at all. We don’t know why Mr. Sapontzis is unaware of that.

---

POLLS SAID NO

Editor:

Thou shall reap what you sow. The Democratic Party should never have put President Joe Biden up for reelection. The polls were very clear. Seventy percent or more of respondents did not want a candidate so old. That was stated many times. The people knew what they wanted, and they were right. But, oddly, the leaders of the Democratic Party would not listen. Obama and Clinton, full of smiles and good humor, forgot their roots and with so many others took the easiest path, ignoring the cry from the populace. And now, here we are. It’s not a question of whether Biden can do the job. They don’t want him to do the job. God bless us in this Atomic Age, when such stupid mistakes can be made by our leaders.

Art Kopecky

Sebastopol

---

BIDEN HIS TIME

Dear Editor,

There are times when there is a kind of novel impulse to make a quick, apparently easy political move. What we see today is just such a time. Television can accentuate something like this, making it seem more important than it really is.

Three weeks ago there was a matchup between the contending presidential candidates. President Biden apparently stumbled; at an early moment he lost his train of thought. In spite of doing well the rest of the debate where his opponent, D.J. Trump, refused to give clear answers to simple questions and told several bold-faced lies.

Afterward the cable news analysts fell all over themselves to criticize the president. There have been three recent letters in the last week calling for Biden to step aside, despite the fact that he has more than enough delegates to be the Democratic candidate. Beware of those calling for changing horses in midstream. Joe Biden today secured a cease fire with return of hostages in the Israel vs Hamas War. The Democratic Party is lucky to have Joe Biden as its candidate. He has superior skills, intelligence, heart, courage, and faith.

Frank H. Baumgardner III,

Santa Rosa

---

J. ALFRED HUFFMAN

To the Editor:

Rep. Jared Huffman’s own town hall meetings with constituents are highly controlled and scripted affairs. Why? He doesn’t want to take questions about his own appalling behavior in being an apologist of Israel’s war crimes against the people of Gaza. And he doesn’t want to take questions about being an enabler of those very same war crimes by voting to approve U.S. military aid for Israel, including weapons of mass destruction, like cluster bombs and white phosphorous bombs.

It’s ironic that Huffman now observes, in an article in the San Francisco Chronicle by Shira Stein, in which Huffman is quoted, that President Biden’s meetings with Democratic House members are not the spontaneous and open Q&A affairs that members were accustomed to having, but. instead. the meetings are now “scripted and controlled” and limited to a handful of members who had questions written on cue cards.

When will a credible Democrat challenge Huffman in the next primary? It’s time for Huffman to go.

Maybe Huffman and his friend “Bibi” Netanyahu can retire together. Maybe they can retire to one of the West Bank outposts that are controlled by extremist Israeli group Lehava. Huff and Bibi could be happy together there. Lots of sunshine. Lots of hate. Volleyball on weekends.

John Sakowicz

Ukiah

---

TRUMP AS CURE-ALL

Editor,

When Joe Biden ran for president in 2020, I understood the implication to be that he would be a one-term officeholder due to his age. I think his wife, First Lady Jill Biden is to blame for his interest in running again. From what I’ve heard, she has been the one promoting the charade that Biden is still on top of his game with a bundle of energy.

Viewers of last month’s televised debate noted otherwise. Although I dislike Biden immensely, for a few fleeting moments, I felt sympathy as he grasped for coherence. It was more than just a “bad night.” I don’t think Biden is up to the immense job of continuing as president for another four years (or even for seven more months).

Donald Trump should be our next president, regardless of whom the Democrats choose to replace Biden on the ticket (if that happens). Trump’s tax cuts are due to expire next year. Contrary to what Biden says, they do not just benefit the wealthy. In a recent interview, Eric Toder, a fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center at the Urban Institute said, “The Trump cuts on average lowered taxes for most households, including on average those earning less than $75,000.” These tax cuts need to be continued even if slightly modified.

Unlike our other recent presidents, Trump is proactive. He dictates to our foreign adversaries and friends what our policies are and they know he means it. I suspect the war in Ukraine will likely end within a couple of months of his inauguration.

If Trump is reelected, I suspect we won’t have any more energy crises, oil shortages or price increases. The elitist Democratic Party is now the party of Wall Street, some segments of Big Tech, Hollywood and, yes, Marin County.

Henry Burgin

San Rafael

---

TIME TO GO, JOE

Editor,

The Democrats need to replace Biden as nominee.

The dithering, wait-and-see, ducking of responsibility of the Democratic leadership in calling for President Joe Biden to pass the torch seems premised on the faulty hope that he might string together enough strong public appearances to right his campaign. We’ve already seen and heard the highlight reel of his “sharp as a tack” moments, and they’re already baked into the evaluation that his “good days and his bad days” condition is not what the job demands.

Further, the proffered excuses for his performance in last month’s debate only hurt his case. Some have said he was still wiped out from travel that wrapped up a week before the debate. If that’s true, then he is too old for this job. If the common cold lays you that low, your constitution is too weakened to be president.

No spry appearances now can change the perception that the low points render Biden unfit for another four years. The party leadership needs to see that writing on the wall and respond immediately. Failure to call for Biden’s withdrawal for the sake of party decorum will yield another four years of Donald Trump — a fate to be avoided at all costs.

Stewart Johnson

San Anselmo

---

ISRAEL'S ETHNIC CLEANSING

Editor:

On July 4, The Press Democrat announced in a headline that Israel is engaged in the “Largest land grab in decades by settlers amid the war in Gaza."

Israel, in what is clearly a disproportionate response to Hamas’ inhumane attack, has killed in Gaza over 38,000 civilians, including 15,000 children. Famine now exists throughout Gaza. Disease abounds. Many remain buried under the rubble. So naturally there should be a focus on finding a way to end the war, which is reason enough to justify a permanent cease-fire.

But with full attention focused on Gaza, the spotlight is taken off Israel’s unrelenting quest to steal West Bank Palestinian lands by turning them into Jewish settlements. The Biden administration should label such conduct illegal. Many in the International community already do.

The settlers throw people out of their homes, and they have the Israeli army backing them. The misery the settlers cause to Palestinians by stealing their lands is immeasurable. The U.S. should demand an end to all new settlements on the West Bank and impose economic sanctions on Israel if it continues this practice. No U.S. taxpayer should subsidize the theft of another’s land.

Steven M. Delue

Petaluma