Santa Maria Sun / Letters to the Editor

We should get used to silence on illegal alien issues

Glen Zenda - Santa Maria

I noticed the glaring absence of any questions regarding the illegal alien problems in Santa Maria (“Council contenders,” Aug. 26), from the gangs, to the uninsured/unlicensed drivers, to the drain on county services. From the runaround you guys got from any officials in the city and county in your article about illegal problems several weeks ago, I guess nobody is going to answer that one, right?

I guess we should just get used to it. It’s readily apparent that the profits some are making are going to keep this problem from being solved.

Where there is smoke, there may be freedom

Kim Watson - Los Osos

If safety is the biggest community concern in Nipomo, then the eradication of Mexican cartel marijuana should be on the top of the list. Regulating a cooperative of local growers defies organized crime and puts the money back in the pockets of our community. It takes forward-thinking vision, the ability to see through narrow-minded anti-marijuana propaganda, and courage to save our children from gangs. Why not through a strategy of cannabis self-reliance? Nipomo and the County of SLO have shown themselves to be mired in ill logic and prejudice on all accounts. Uninformed is an understatement.

To allow (soon-to-be-ex) Sheriff Pat Hedges’ swan song to be the theme of the Aug. 27 appeal of a proposed cannabis collective was disappointing to say the least. My four children testify to the impotence of the D.A.R.E. program, and if anything is an illusion, it is the notion that taxpayer money on that was well spent. What they need is law-abiding people to be able to make lawful choices in a setting of respect and security. A collective/cooperative in this county would provide that.

As far as Rebecca Prewett is concerned, I am ashamed that she has presumably at one time had possession of a uterus. What is really “ridiculous” is that she is ignorant of the fact that PMS can be a serious and debilitating condition. I sincerely hope that she and Pat Hedges do not incur the ugly karma of an affliction or malady that herb can alleviate, because their pride and self righteousness would probably not allow them to eat those crow brownies.

Wake up, people, to these GOP drunken pirates

Scott Jenkins - San Luis Obispo

Sam Blakeslee, the local boy, wants to cut services to the needy in California. Sam and the rest of his republican ilk across the country represent the Greedy Old Party, and the only constituents they care about are the insurance companies, mega-corporations, and the top three percent of income recipients in the nation who don’t really earn that money. They have more than enough money—compared to the remaining 97 percent of the country—to pay a little more in taxes to keep America from falling apart. Bush’s tax cuts should not be extended for this elite few. These people do not create jobs. Ask Alan Greenspan if they do. And Warren Buffet said he pays too little in taxes. Mr. Buffet acknowledged that his receptionist pays more in percentage in taxes than he does.

The GOP wants to dumb down our nation by cutting education. They want to repeal healthcare and privatize social security, Medicare, and other social programs that help the poor and the shrinking middle class. None of these services should be “for profit” businesses. They are essentials, needs, and should be set up as strictly nonprofit agencies to serve the public.

Blakeslee and the Republican minority’s obstructionism and divisiveness have strangled our state’s budget and resulted in the “Fearful Fifth” cult that follows Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh. They don’t share facts; instead, they make up hateful ghost stories that the intentionally uneducated eat up. They all seem to love fear and hate and want endless war—Crusades forever. They do this in the name of their special religion, which is the only religion that should be recognized in the world, in their opinion. Just ask Glenn Beck. This is verging on delusional, and for Glenn Beck, a very lucrative livelihood.

These conservatives, who spent borrowed money like drunken pirates on wars during the last two administrations, want to divide our country through misinformation and lies to feed hate based on the old prejudices they have kept alive and well in Southern politics. They appear to want to start another civil war. Do they really want a confederacy for a government? Chinese democracy and a Wal-Mart world? Wake up, people, and don’t forget to vote in November.

Don't infringe on Muslim American rights

Roy Berger - Arroyo Grande

Fundamentalist, hate-filled Christians are rabble-rousing Americans against all Muslims. I hope no one will fall for this abominable un-American garbage against free choice of religion.

Although no records were kept on what
religions the victims of 9/11 were, it is estimated between 200 and 300 innocent Muslims were victims of that horrendous attack.

To not allow the Muslims to have a center near Ground Zero is a horrific infringement of the rights of Muslim Americans, as well as all of us who cherish every one our Constitutional Rights.