Letters: Stand tall in D.C., Mayor Johnston. Denver did the right thing.

Stand tall in D.C., Mayor Johnston. Denver did the right thing.

Re: “On second thought, don’t go to Washington, D.C., Mayor Mike. ‘Tis a silly place.” Feb. 9 commentary

While I agree with Krista Kafer that congressional hearings are essentially theater and Washington is a silly place, I urge Mayor Mike Johnston to keep his date. As a 45-plus-year resident of Denver, I would like him to know that I am proud of the way Denver responded to the influx of undocumented migrants. I am proud that we worked hard and at considerable expense to find shelter. I am proud that our schools have taken on the role of helping their children. I am proud that we rose to the challenge rather than dumping these folks on the streets of another city at midnight (I’m looking at you, Texas). I am proud that we responded with humanity.

When the congressional theater group finally allows another voice, I would like Mayor Johnston to proudly tell the world that when times were tough Denver stood tall.

William Pincus, Denver

“Yearning to breathe free”

If an illegal immigrant is held in jail, why is that person being released? Because there is no evidence to continue to hold them for a committed crime. Therefore, why would any human not deserve the same rights afforded to a U.S. citizen?

The United States claims to be a beacon of democracy and human rights in the world. Therefore, why is any human treated differently than a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil? I don’t have a problem with deporting criminals rather than filling up our jails, but there are ample statistics to show that immigrants — and probably illegal immigrants — are, in general, more law-abiding than U.S. citizens.

A National Institute of Justice web page regarding “undocumented-immigrant-offending-rate-lower-us-born-citizen-rate” has been recently taken down by the Trump administration.

Kevin G. Wilson, Parker

Domestic violence and the No. 1 relationship lesson

Re: “Homicides, shootings fell; domestic violence surged,” Feb. 9 news story

I am a retired teacher who taught “Social Problems” at Thomas Jefferson High School in Denver. The question was, “When should you leave if your boyfriend hits you.” The answer was and is the first time.

Real men do not hit women.

There will always be the hearts and flowers routine. They are always sorry afterward. I should point out that women are far from perfect. If you feel she deserves it often, it is time to say “bye.”

Frank C. Queen, Denver

Let the girls have their restroom privacy

Re: “Give us back the girls’ restroom at East High School,” Feb. 9 commentary

When I was in high school, the girls’ restroom was my safe spot. So, I was angry to read that East High School had turned the girls’ restroom into a gender-neutral restroom.

During my high school years, I was painfully shy and extremely self-conscious. My menstrual periods were sudden, heavy and extremely painful. Whenever my period started at school, I would be mortified. I would escape to the girls’ restroom to clean up and put on protection. It was hard enough for me if there were girls in the restroom; I can’t imagine opening the door to find a boy, or a transgender person, standing there.

Dealing with an unwanted, unexpected menstrual flow during school hours is something a transgender person will never have to deal with. People have been speaking out for our transgender youth. Now it is time to speak out for teenage girls making that difficult and painful transition into being a woman.

Return the restroom on the second floor to the girls. It is the right thing to do.

Diane L. Potter, Wheat Ridge

President Trump pointing fingers

Re: “Trump, Musk attack journalists by name on platforms they own,” and “Lundeen Sculpture creates bronze Trump statue,” Feb. 9 news stories

Everyone should be — but isn’t — disgusted by many of the things President Donald Trump has done in the weeks since his re-election. Among them are his attacks on journalists who don’t “share the vision” of his ego.

Where has this been seen before? Russia? North Korea? Syria?

This man and his “bull in a china shop” approach to everything is undoubtedly putting a grin on a lot of Republican faces. But for millions of others who care about this country, the Constitution, and, importantly, uncensored journalism, these times couldn’t be worse.

Meanwhile, up in Loveland, artist Mark Lundeen is putting the finishing touches on a Trump statue that is a tribute to the then-candidate’s defiance in the face of an assassination attempt, spawned by what a Los Angeles art broker said was the Secret Service’s failure in “doing their job.”

Attached to everything that doesn’t go his way (including those “witchhunts”) are three little words that sum up his existence: Blame someone else.

Craig Marshall Smith, Highlands Ranch

President’s cuts ripple through economy

When someone loses their job, they don’t go to restaurants, they don’t travel, they don’t buy cars, they don’t buy from Amazon and they cut back on groceries. When hundreds of thousands of people lose their jobs, how long do you think it will take for the impact to ripple through the economy, affecting everyone in this country?

With the shutdown of USAID, U.S. farmers had $340 million in crop sales stalled. They’ve already faced uncertainty with the freezing of some USDA funds. How long do you think it will take for the impacts to ripple through the economy in the rural areas, affecting businesses in small towns, zero investments in new machinery, and defaults on machinery and home loans?

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, you aren’t a stupid man. As you travel the world trying to address tensions with diplomacy – you just lost one of your most effective negotiation tools with the shutdown of USAID (the United States Agency for International Development). Why will anyone take you seriously when any promise you make can be negated on a whim by the current occupant of the White House and his puppet master? How effective will you be and how safe are the people who serve in the State Department?

Members of Congress, Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, Pete Buttigieg, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, George W. Bush: We need you out there, organizing and rallying people against these illegal actions and draconian measures. We need to see you speak up and join the fight!

Mary Wheeler, Durango

Musk is right to look for spending waste

Trump’s executive orders and Elon Musk’s DOGE actions are being vilified. Musk is a “special government employee” with authority to investigate executive agencies and the Department of Defense. He doesn’t make changes. Trump, as head of the executive branch, makes changes.

With our massive debt, I didn’t like U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) sending billions to foreign countries, but I (stupidly) assumed funds were being well allocated.

Now Elon shows us that billions were wasted in USAID and at the State Department, millions in programs to promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) alone.

How do you feel about your tax money being used for: $2 million for sex changes and LGBTQ projects in Guatemala; $25,000 for an opera called “As One” about a transgender individual in Colombia; $32,000 for a comic book that featured an LGBTQ superhero in Peru;  $425,622 to help Indonesian coffee companies become more climate- and gender-friendly; $446,700 to a religious freedom group accused of promoting atheism in several countries including Nepal; and $16,500 to foster a united and equal queer-feminist discourse in Albanian society?

The U.S. State Department has spent millions on groups that help recent immigrants regardless of legal status. Remember when the Clinton Foundation worked with USAID in Haiti, and there was little to show for it?

This is just the tip of the iceberg in only one government agency. There are hundreds of agencies.

We know federal programs are rife with waste. Politicians always say they’ll cut it, but never do. Why are Democrat politicians so opposed to these cuts and exposures? Follow the money.

Angie Many, Eckert

Fact check the Capitol deaths

Re: “The absurdity of comparing Jan. 6, George Floyd uprisings,” Feb. 9 letter to the editor

Much is made in today’s political climate regarding “misinformation,” “disinformation,” and so on. Rightly so.

Self-styled fact-checking is now an industry and editors in all media are now under deserved scrutiny.

This is why I was surprised to see a letter that asserted a blatant falsehood, unchallenged or edited. The writer, in response to an earlier published letter that argues an equivalency between the Jan 6, 2020, riot at the Capitol and the George Floyd riots in May of that year, contends no such equivalence exists. Fair enough. But then he exclaims, “For God’s sake, policemen were killed.” No, no they weren’t. That’s neither disinformation nor misinformation but a flagrant deceit. A lie. More than four years after the fact and still this fallacy lives on.

Four people died that day at the Capitol, all Trump supporters. Only one of those was killed. She was unarmed and shot by one of the police officers as she tried to crawl through a shattered glass door.There is reasoned debate about the deaths of officers who died in the weeks and months after the riot and their correlation to the event, (four by suicide) but the only death on that day, caused by the events of that day, was the former military female who was shot and killed.

Be outraged by the “insurrection,” by the pardons from the president, and by those of us who support the president. But try to tell the truth. With the constant repeat of this lie (I heard Wolf Blitzer on CNN recite it again just last week) and print media failing to exercise its duty to faithfully edit toward the facts, I’m unconvinced that it’s possible.

Jon Pitt, Golden

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