Non citizen voting
I was interested in Mr. Talbott’s (very long) letter concerning non citizen voters! I was also dismayed that he chose to shift the body of his letter from its subject of law to a political rant, much more interested in proving a plot by “those Dems” than of the law breaking that is importqnt. In my blissful ignorance I had always presumed that only citizens were permitted to vote. He notes his source, Old Dominion (College?), as saying that all 50 states bar non citizens from voting, but in his next paragraph he also notes his source as saying that some 25% of non citizens were registered to vote (how many millions?) and their actions had had a significant result. I cannot believe that a reputable organization would not follow this astounding conclusion up with deeper investigation and a serious letter to the FBI!
Guff Worth, Lakeport
Shocked by political support
This is in response to “Appalling pundit silence” by Shirley Howland in 2016 August 16 Lake County-Record Bee. I have been acquainted with Ms. Howland for several years and admit to being amazed by some of the statements made in her letter. Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein is an outspoken advocate of positions on peace, justice, and sustainable prosperity that align well with those I understand have been dear to Ms. Howland.
That she would impute that Dr. Stein is acting as some kind of agent or saboteur of the Clinton campaign is absurd. Ms. Clinton’s vote in favor of the Iraq invasion was indeed an error of judgment for which she should deservedly be held accountable, as should all holders of all public offices who promoted that patently misguided and destructive action. I demonstrated against that invasion and am willing to bet Ms. Howland did as well. President Bush himself showed he had no real confidence in his own ballyhooed claim that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction by the fact that he allowed American forces and war materiel to be exposed to attack on Iraq’s very borders for weeks prior to the invasion.
It didn’t take any great act of genius to figure out the WMD alarm was a scam. Ms Clinton’s candidacy has now been backed by Robert Kagan, one of the key players in the Project for a New American Century, whose manifesto “Rebuilding America’s Defenses” served as a blueprint for continuing American military engagement in the Middle East.
Admittedly I don’t watch much television journalism, but Ms. Howland’s complaint that an MSNBC did not press Dr. Stein for sources of her criticisms of Ms. Clinton does not impress me. I can’t recall television interviewees being cross examined for sources for their opinions.
What we do know, thanks to the Wikileaks releases of Democratic National Committee emails, is that Clinton backers unethically used that organization’s resources in support of the Clinton campaign to the detriment of Senator Sanders, whose campaign was operating within the established rules for choosing a nominee.
The persons who sent the emails in what amounted to sabotage of Ms. Clinton’s opponent have loudly objected to the source of exposure of their treachery, but have not disclaimed their content or apologized for what they did, nor done the honorable thing of withdrawing their support for Ms. Clinton. It is increasingly apparent that honorable behavior plays no role in the scramble for the presidency. Ms. Clinton herself has not taken these misguided supporters to task and so has become complicit with their actions.
Ms. Howland also seems to be supporting Ms. Clinton to some degree on the basis of her lack of a Y chromosome. Gender and race ought not to play a part in one’s advocacy of any candidate.
For what it is worth I will likely be voting for the third consecutive presidential election for a female candidate, one of whom is African-American. My choices are predicated on a candidate’s wisdom, knowledge, courage, and his or her program that will enhance peace, truth, justice, educational opportunity, environmental protection, and sustainable prosperity, not on celebrity, gender, race, or supposed rhetorical skills.
This is our opportunity to reject the notion that only cheaters can win. If the Democrats cannot nominate an acceptable alternative to the Republican candidate in a fair and open process, they can only blame themselves if they lose.
Steve Harness, Witter Springs
Cancer and cause
Napa County is rated 12th in California for cancer and 1st in childhood cancer. Sonoma County is not far behind.
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to conclude that there must be some correlation with the massive vineyards in Napa being sprayed with herbicides and pesticides and those alarming statistics.
With the exception of commercially grown strawberries, vineyards use more pesticides than any other fruit crop.
The only difference between Lake County and Napa and Sonoma Counties is that we have a large body of water we use for drinking water and recreating, which is certainly being impacted by unabated run off consisting of excess nutrients, pesticides and herbicides.
So where will Lake County be ranked in the near future if the over expansion of vineyards continues unabated.
Thomas Nickel, Lakeport
