When it comes to moving sign, safety tops politics
Before commenting on "Houston deputy mayor uproots campaign sign along Parks Highway (Page B-1, Wednesday), I need to say Deputy Mayor Lance Wilson is my neighbor.
While we seldom agree on state or national politics, we share community safety concerns.
Democratic House candidate Patricia Faye-Brazel's sign at the intersection of West King Arthur Drive and the Parks Highway was a definite hazard.
The city's inaction justified Wilson's taking the sign down. He did so as a citizen, not an official.
As for any vandalization, when I saw the uprooted sign it was not "in the brush," but on the gravel and placed on its side so as not to damage the message.
I don't believe Wilson's action was to assist the Republican candidate.
Nor, as Faye-Brazel claims, was it retaliation for her vote against an industrial zone while on the city's Planning and Zoning Commission. I serve on the commission and the vote was 4-1 in favor of the change. Her vote made no difference in the outcome.
As an Independent with progressive leanings, I intended to vote for Faye-Brazel. I am now inclined to simply leave the House District portion of my ballot blank.
— Len Anderson
Houston
Trump’s true colors were there to see long before recording
I guess I'm missing what all the fuss is about with regard to Donald Trump's "hot mic" comments. The comments are vulgar and misogynistic. He implicates himself as a sexual predator. So what? These are exactly the type of comments one should expect from a person of his character. What does this audio recording tell us about Mr. Trump that we didn't already know? That he made such comments cannot be a surprise to anyone who has been paying even casual attention to his candidacy over the last year or so.
The fact that many Republican leaders are severing themselves from Mr. Trump now, and only in the wake of the recordings, says more about their judgment and character than it does about Mr. Trump. That they could endorse such a person to begin with is the real issue. Anyone in public life who endorsed Mr. Trump for president should have known that at some point they would be pulled into the sewer with him, and smeared with the foul effluent in which he wallows. Is it possible that only now they are realizing this? I think not. They closed their eyes. The surrogates ran cover. The endorsers just went along with their own propaganda until confronted directly with public, tangible, and irrefutable evidence that even their spin machine couldn't obfuscate.
— Philip John
Anchorage
Trump supporters
One final election thought: My father, millions of other fathers, and perhaps your fathers, fought and died in World War II to prevent men like Donald Trump from spreading their racist views throughout the world. Now Mr. Trump has added his sexist and debasing views to the mix.
I will not tarnish their memory by voting for Trump; this is something I believe you need to consider before you go to the polls on Nov. 8.
— John Kehr Jr.
Chugiak
Election offends Christians
The current political food fight now incorporates rhetoric offensive to a huge Christian population. No matter what side you happen to be on politically, this should set off alarms. Whenever you condemn someone's God and faith, it's easier to promote your own agenda and gain control.
— Jacqueline Fries
Anchorage
Trump’s numbers don’t add up
Donald Trump celebrates himself as a job-saving protectionist who would boost tariffs to punish countries that he says hurt American workers. He would, for example, slap a tariff of up to 45 percent on goods from China.
What would happen if Donald Trump got his promised 45-percent tariff on imports from China? Since Trump's tariff would blatantly violate World Trade Organization rules, China would simply go to the WTO and easily win the right to impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports in the amount of the damage caused by Trump's tariffs.
Let's do the math: Multiply total Chinese imports into the U.S. ($500 billion in 2015) by the 45-percent tariff rate. Result: $225 billion in WTO-authorized retaliation against U.S. exports to China. That's almost twice as much as total U.S. exports to China ($115 billion in 2015). Bottom line: China's retaliation would effectively close off the third-largest market for American exports — a catastrophe for American exporters and the American economy.
It's one thing for Donald Trump to mismanage his own companies into bankruptcy. It's another thing altogether for him to mismanage the entire American economy.
— Dale Gerboth
Anchorage
The views expressed here are the writers' own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a letter under 200 words for consideration, email letters@alaskadispatch.com, or click here to submit via any web browser. Submitting a letter to the editor constitutes granting permission for it to be edited for clarity, accuracy and brevity. Send longer works of opinion to commentary@alaskadispatch.com.