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Celebrate the idea
EDITOR: Your editorial “The idea of California” resonated with me — with a touch of pride. Of note, is another feature of California that makes it culturally unique, in a very enlightened way. California has its own EPA, known as CalEPA, as well as Prop 65, The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, generated by our state’s general electorate.
This last spring, when Scott Pruitt, chief of our national EPA, decided to lift the ban on chlorpyrifos, CalEPA sprang into action. Chlorpyrifos is the most toxic chemical in wide usage, was used by the Nazis during their genocidal reich, and is the biggest single reason for buying organic produce. It is now known to damage developing brains, which is why CalEPA’s panel of scientists voted unanimously to add chlorpyrifos to the Prop 65 list, so it cannot contaminate our water sources.
Scott Pruitt has generated a long to-do list for CalEPA, as well as other groups dedicated to actually protecting our environment. Chlorpyrifos represents a landmark beginning, and another reason to celebrate the idea of California.
Katherine Foster, MD
Member, Physicians for Social Responsibility
Pot dangers
EDITOR: From the Smart Approaches to Marijuana website: “Marijuana users are also three times more likely than non-users to become addicted to heroin, and a 2017 National Academy of Sciences report found a statistical association between marijuana use and the development of substance dependence for other drugs like opioids and heroin. The average potency of marijuana has skyrocketed since the 1970s and research demonstrates it is associated with substance use disorders, drugged driving crashes, lower IQ and other negative consequences. Today, more young people are voluntarily seeking treatment for marijuana addiction than for all other drugs combined, including alcohol.”
The younger people are when they use pot, the more likely they are to become addicted and the greater possibility there is for negative psychological outcomes.
Brent Gudzus
Windsor
The oath
EDITOR: Before entering office, Trump took the following Oath: “I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Really. How does Trump’s ignoring Russian interference in our elections serve to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States? Russia’s actions may not represent our usual definition of an attack — one that employs guns, grenades, drones and bombs — but Russia’s cyber-attacks are serious and insidious. I believe that these cyber-attacks aimed at disrupting our democratic systems and institutions are advanced warfare.
Trump is supporting and condoning this warfare right before our eyes. He has not lifted a finger, signed an executive order or even talked about defending this country from such warfare. He is in no way preserving, protecting or defending the Constitution of the United States. He is not a patriot, he cares nothing for the health and well-being of our democracy. He is concerned only with enriching himself and dismantling our democracy. He is speeding on the freeway toward tyranny, destroying everything in his path. How can this man be President of the United States?
What can we do to stop this madness? It is confounding and reprehensible that the Republican party aids and abets him. Not only is Trump corrupt; his Republican party is corrupt. Paul Krugman, Professor of Economics and a New York Times columnist, writes: “it is a party so intent on cutting taxes for the wealthy, deregulating banks and polluters and dismantling social programs that accepting foreign subversion is, apparently, a small price to pay.”
Day after day, right before our eyes, Trump shows us that he is a racist, a liar, a misogynist, a xenophobe, a hater, a cheater, an ignoramus and an embarrassment. Under his “leadership” our Constitution is under attack; our democracy and government institutions imperiled.
Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times wrote in a recent column about two Harvard professors, both experts in the field of political science and specializing in how democracies decay and die. They have compiled four warning signs to determine if a political leader is a dangerous authoritarian: 1. The leader shows only a weak commitment to democratic rules; 2. He or she denies the legitimacy of opponents; 3. He or she tolerates violence; 4. He or she shows some willingness to curb civil liberties or the media.
“A politician who meets even one of these criteria is cause for concern,” the professors, Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, write. They say that “with the exception of Richard Nixon, no major party presidential candidate met even one of these four criteria over the last century.” Unfortunately, they go on, “Donald Trump meets them all.”
History shows us that our only way out of this is to rise up and protest vigorously — but above all, in defense of rights and institutions, not just against the tyrannical ruler. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. Building extraordinary coalitions are necessary, even if that means making painful compromises, so that resulting protests are broadly based and include progressive activists, business leaders, religious leaders and crucially, as many conservatives and Republicans as possible. The first step is to figure out and agree upon what unites us.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead. Join us at
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Vicky Groom
Cloverdale
