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Red flag reporting
highlights effective law
Re. “6 recent school-linked gun alerts,” Page A1, June 19:
Preventing gun violence requires looking at reality and then taking action.
The Mercury News does a commendable job reporting the facts surrounding gun violence, evidenced most recently by your article about red flag laws and threats against local schools. The results of your detailed, solid reporting are best summed up in your article by Nora Frimann, San Jose city attorney: “We believe (red flag laws) have been effective, not just in school situations but across the board.”
Please keep up the good work.
Robert Manetta
San Jose
Prosecution looks
inevitable for Trump
Re. “How Watergate punishment might have averted Jan. 6 hell,” Page A9, June 21:
No American is above the law; Donald Trump should be punished for his many criminal acts:
1. Trump asked Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn his defeat in Georgia. Attempting to defraud the residents of a state of a fair election is punishable under federal law up to five years imprisonment.
2. Trump illegally took top-secret documents to Mar-a-Lago and destroyed other official records by flushing them down the toilet; clear violations of the Presidential Records Act: punishable by disqualification from ever holding public office, and up to 10 years in prison.
3. Trump conspired with John Eastman and others to overthrow the U.S. government by force on Jan. 6 and to prevent the peaceful transfer of power; seditious conspiracy is punishable by imprisonment for up to 20 years.
Is 35 years in prison sufficient punishment for the most criminal president in our history? No, but it’s a good start.
Dave Whitaker
San Jose
Cartoon nails true
cost of gasoline
Sunday’s editorial cartoon (Page A12) makes it easy to understand a fairly obscure economic concept: the negative externalities associated with burning fossil fuels. An SUV is pulling into a gas station. Instead of showing prices per gallon, the sign lists things that have become more intense and costly due to climate change, such as wildfires, heat waves and drought. The driver exclaims, “Sheesh, the price of gas *has* gotten high!”
Actually, the true cost of burning fossil fuels has been high from the beginning. People make decisions based on price, and generally do not consider the indirect costs to those harmed by pollution. This is precisely why over 3,500 economists of all political stripes(https://clcouncil.org/economists-statement/) recommend putting a price on carbon. People then make buying decisions aligned with addressing the climate crisis. Fossil fuel companies should pay a carbon fee, with all of the revenues distributed in equal shares to every American household.
Karl Danz
Los Altos
Putin can’t be
placated with Ukraine
Sir Winston Churchill said, “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” The officers of the War and Law League San Francisco (“Instead of conflict, it’s time to talk peace,” Letters to the Editor, Page A6, June 16) need to check history. On Sept.30, 1938, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Italy signed the Munich Agreement giving Germany part of the Czechoslovak Republic in exchange for peace. On March 15, 1939, Germany annexed part of Bohemia and Moravia-Silesia in violation of the Munich Agreement. On Sept. 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland, starting World War II.
Vladimir Putin does not want just eastern Ukraine, he wants to re-establish the USSR as the leader of all eastern Europe as it was in the 1950s. Any peace agreement giving him less will be violated again and again until he either gets what he wants, or he starts World War III.
Max Steinke
San Jose
One can’t have freedom
without responsibility
Re. “Fillmore called it: Freedom under attack,” Letters to the Editor, Page A8, June 21:
The constant whining from the MAGA cult about their self-centered, irresponsible notions of “freedom” demonstrates how truly clueless these people are.
According to Ronald Reagan and Eleanor Roosevelt, “With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry his own weight, this is a frightening prospect.”
A society is a community of people with shared norms and laws. The Ten Commandments established foundational societal norms such as thou shall not steal, lie, or kill. Violating societal norms is anti-social behavior and criminal behavior when societal laws are violated.
If someone believes they have the “freedom” to steal, lie, murder or commit other crimes, they have demonstrated a lack of responsibility and need to be held accountable for their anti-social, criminal actions with consequences such as fines or imprisonment.
The price of freedom is taking personal responsibility for one’s actions.
Rob Charleston
Campbell
Source: www.mercurynews.com