The media used to be called the Fourth Estate that kept the public informed. Our media is no longer fulfilling that function. For a democracy to flourish, the public must know and understand what is happening on the local, state, federal and global stage. What went wrong? When President Reagan overturned the Glass-Steagall Act, which […]
Opinion
Posted inOpinion
Harris should look to history for VP pick
All Americans—not just Democrats—should be eternally grateful to President Biden for his success in defeating Donald Trump in 2020. We applaud his forbearance in turning over this task now, four years later, to his inspired choice for vice president, Kamala Harris. Democrats are already uniting behind Harris and will make every effort to elect her […]
Posted inOpinion
Cold, hard facts?
Homelessness is not an issue that the majority of Santa Maria’s City Council seems interested in tackling, solving, or taking a bite out of. To me, it simply sounds as if Mayor Alice Patino would simply like for it to just go away. Patino, by the way, is running for mayor, again. She doesn’t seem […]
Posted inOpinion
The kerfuffle over the Ten Commandments in public view is totally unnecessary
The Ten Commandments have existed for centuries. Early on, people realized that there should be a set of common-sense rules to guide civilization. The basis of our Constitution and public laws are found in those guiding principles. For people to coexist in harmony they must become familiar with them at an early age. Some states, […]
Posted inOpinion
Give our firefighters the wages they deserve
This past week proves to be the perfect time for this letter. Why? The sky was dull with smoke and ashes cover everything. Fire! A big one and out of control. We’ve all seen the convoys of firetrucks and support equipment … some staged at our local Elks rodeo grounds. Firefighters from all over the […]
Posted inOpinion
Line of fire
Our country’s celebrity obsession hit a new low earlier this month. If it please the court of readers, I’d like to submit these exhibits regarding the Lake Fire. Exhibit A: “The battle to save Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch from destructive Lake fire” is the headline for an LA Times July 12 feature-length piece. Exhibit B: […]
Posted inOpinion
The center must hold if there’s any hope for the presidential election
In November 2016, immediately after Donald Trump’s election, Yeats’ famous lament over the apocalyptic carnage of World War I seemed to capture that moment in our history. Of course, our nation survived the next four years. The “centre” did hold, but just barely: On Jan. 6, 2021, for hours “mere anarchy” was loosed upon the […]
Posted inOpinion
Cover the other side of the YMCA issue
Your feature article of July 4 titled, “All day, all night: A YMCA in Santa Ynez wants to stay open 24/7, but its neighbors are against the plan,” by Taylor O’Connor is very one-sided, whether intended or not. Most of the article focuses primarily on the reasons why it is a good idea to convert […]
Posted inOpinion
No president should be above the law
What, if anything, can be done to avert the coming disaster of living in a country where our president is “above the law”? Where criminal violations of the oath of office are ignored? Where Supreme Court of the United States candidates can lie under oath to the Senate selection committee and, once confirmed, render baseless […]
Posted inOpinion
Let freedom Zoom
Can you believe that governments aren’t required to record their public meetings and post them in an archive so anyone can view them? It seems like they have to, but they don’t. They have to keep “minutes”—and depending on the governing board those can be extremely detailed or not detailed at all. Basically, if you […]
Posted inOpinion
The presidential debate lacked substance but cleared up one serious question
The last time I watched a presidential debate was in 1956 when surrogates represented Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson who was challenging incumbent Republican President Dwight Eisenhower. Since then, I have relied on press/media reports and analysis of what was said or how the candidates acted. But I changed my strategy when President Joe Biden “debated” […]
Posted inOpinion
We should not shrug off Trump’s potential to be a dictator
As I read the letters and editorials in your paper, it seems as if Republicans must really hate this country. Everything to them is doom and gloom, and they seem to believe Biden is ruining the country. On the brighter side, this country has now had seven straight quarters of economic growth and unemployment is […]
