It’s very simple: Treat others with respect | Letters to the editor
As a regular Sun Sentinel reader and periodic contributor to letters to the editor, I am very pleased when I read an opinion that I find extraordinary in terms of making people open their eyes to a world beyond their own.
One such letter was published in the Sunday, Sept. 10 edition from Nina Leonard of St. Augustine, and entitled “The Lessons of Mount Dora.” While noting that she is not LGBTQ, her message shows us the hypocrisy of people who will fight for their right of freedom yet at the same time take away those same rights from people whom they do not identify or align with.
She is right: America is only as great as the people who live here. If, as a society, we can’t give others the same respect and opportunity that we want for ourselves, we are nothing more than a keg of hate and division that will eventually end in the downfall of our nation. The Golden Rule can only work if resulting actions are equal to its words.
Dominick Austin, Dania Beach
Pot and public opinion
Political writer Anthony Man’s article about a poll showing most Floridians want legal weed was one-sided.
Who was asked their opinion? College students, drug addicts, drug users? How many adults were asked? Passage of recreational marijuana use is guaranteeing more deaths and accidents from people who are “stoned.”
Have any readers seen how a person under the influence of marijuana acts? I have.
Have you ever investigated a motor vehicle accident where a young person or older adult gets killed from a driver under the influence of marijuana, or gone to someone’s house to tell them their loved one was killed in an accident? I have. People under the influence of drugs do stupid things that can cause serious injuries and death.
We lose thousands of people a year in DUI accidents. Do we need to lose more from people driving under the influence of weed? Read about what marijuana does to your depth perception before you vote on this referendum. This has nothing to do with your political affiliation. This is common sense, people.
Harold Brown, Delray Beach
(Editor’s Note: As Man reported, the poll of 600 Floridians was conducted by FAU and USF. The poll methodology was fully disclosed. More than half of those surveyed were age 45 and older).
Poll the public first
Palm Beach County commissioners may vote on Oct. 24 whether to approve a land swap that will give GL Homes $1 billion in revenues and effectively destroy the county’s Agricultural Reserve. The reserve was created by a public referendum and approved by voters by a 2-1 margin.
Developers like GL Homes are a constant presence inside and outside the offices of commissioners. Voters who care about conservation do not have the time or huge financial stake to visit commissioners. How can the commission justify making such a decision without seeking to find out what the public wants?
A referendum cannot be scheduled before the vote, but the commission can and should conduct a nonpartisan scientific survey of Palm Beach voters to determine whether they approve of this swap.
The time and cost of such a survey would be small when you consider the magnitude of this decision. Up until now, GL has presented no details or data to justify their swap, but Mayor Gregg Weiss wants an immediate vote the same day this information will be presented.
We need time, both to have outside experts review GL’s promises and also to conduct this survey of the public’s wishes before any decision is made. What possible reason could commissioners have for refusing to ask the public what they want except their fear that the overwhelming majority want to save the Ag Reserve?
No decision should be made before we find out what taxpayers want done. Making a decision of this importance without consulting the public represents gutless pandering to a powerful developer.
Bruce Rocheleau, Delray Beach
The 9/11 anniversary
The 22nd anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks should serve as an unmistakable reminder to all but the most willfully ignorant of what happens when you have open borders and no idea who’s entering your country.
Are you listening, progressives and supporters of our current White House occupant and his insane minions?
Barry Godofsky, Port St Lucie