Letters to the Editor Tuesday, March 14 – From readers in Scotia, Niskayuna and Wilton

Term limits should be seriously considered. I suggest two terms for a senator, six for a representative, and ten years for a Supreme Court Justice. Elections should be publicly financed, cutting out the power of PACS and lobbyists; debates should be required among serious candidates (based on number of signatures on petitions and party nominations); free time should be provided by the major networks. No other programming should be allowed during the debates.

Guy, realistically, you are probably right, but I believe term limits have some merit. But then, so do publicly financed campaigns; it is most likely we’ll never see that either. Politicians like to have their palms greased and most have a lust for power. Note, I said most, not all.

Joe, you frequently do what Guy describes above, create false equivalencies. Acknowledging that some people on both sides are capable of acting out of control in no way diminishes the threat the 1/6 insurrection represented to this country, its values and democracy. Even though you equivocate by calling 1/6 “the Everest of craziness” your intent is clearly to diminish the evil scheming on the part of the MAGA movement. To imply Maxine Waters is anything like an MTG, Boebert, Gaetz, or Gosar is an affront to common sense.

This report is from CNN on 4/19/21. No thoughtful person, taking into account the horrible treatment of Black suspects by some police officers, would ever see this as comparable to the rantings of the above congresspersons or Trump himself:

“Rep. Maxine Waters on Saturday night called for protesters to “stay on the street” and “get more confrontational” if former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is acquitted in the killing of George Floyd.

The comments by Waters, a California Democrat and icon among progressives, were immediately seized on by Republicans who claimed that Waters was inciting violence. The congresswoman denied in a subsequent interview that she was encouraging violence, but the remarks come at a time of immense national tension amid several high-profile killings of Black people at the hands of police officers and as American cities brace for a fresh wave of protests as the Chauvin trial nears a close.

Waters said she was in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on Saturday night to show her support for protesters amid ongoing protests over the police killing of Daunte Wright and to also support his family.”

“We’ve got to stay in the street and demand justice,” Waters said to reporters, according to video posted on social media.

Demonstrators hold signs honouring George Floyd and other victims of racism as they gather during a protest outside Hennepin County Government Center on March 28, 2021 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. – Opening arguments begin on Monday in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the white police officer accused of killing George Floyd, a Black man whose death was captured on video and touched off protests against racial injustice across the United States and around the world.

“We’re looking for a guilty verdict and we’re looking to see if all of the talk that took place and has been taking place after they saw what happened to George Floyd. If nothing does not happen, then we know that we got to not only stay in the street, but we have got to fight for justice,” she added.

Asked what protesters should do if there is no guilty verdict, Waters said protests should continue.

“We got to stay on the street. And we’ve got to get more active, we’ve got to get more confrontational. We’ve got to make sure that they know that we mean business,” she said.

Asked about the curfew put in place, Waters said, “I don’t think anything about curfew. Curfew means I want you all to stop talking. I want you to stop meeting. I want you to stop gathering. I don’t agree with that.”

The congresswoman’s comments come at a particularly fraught time in the nation’s history. Closing arguments are underway in Chauvin’s trial, and protests continue over the killing of Wright. Authorities have ramped up security around Minneapolis, with crews installing razor wire around some police buildings and National Guard troops have been deployed in parts of the city’s downtown.

In an interview with theGrio that was published on Monday morning, Waters said she was “nonviolent” and said her remark about being “confrontational” was in regard to changing the justice system in the US.

“I talk about confronting the justice system, confronting the policing that’s going on, I’m talking about speaking up,” she said. I’m talking about legislation. I’m talking about elected officials doing what needs to be done to control their budgets and to pass legislation.”

Waters told CNN on Monday evening that her reference to confrontation was meant in the context of the civil rights movement’s nonviolent history, saying that “the whole civil rights movement is confrontation.”

Joe states, “Thats it ? What about the nut that shot 60 rounds and hit 5 ppl because they were republicans??

Maxine waters is a dirt ball that has enriched herself and her family with campaign dollars & on public tit while her district suffers.”

I repeat there is no equivalency, even if true, between these two individuals and Trump’s orchestrated plan to illegally and finally violently stay in power in spite of losing the election.

Don’t believe me? According to his VP in an article from AP on 3/12:

“President Trump was wrong,” Pence said during remarks at the annual white-tie Gridiron Dinner attended by politicians and journalists. “I had no right to overturn the election. And his reckless words endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol that day, and I know history will hold Donald Trump accountable.”

Pence’s remarks were the sharpest condemnation yet from the once-loyal lieutenant who has often shied away from confronting his former boss.”