Letters 11.17.16

Panetta Power, Part Two

I voted for you! (“Jimmy Panetta pledged to work alongside Hillary Clinton. Only one of them won,” Nov. 10-16.) Remember, two terms and move on. So get to work and make a difference like we know you will! Good luck! Richard Finetto | via Facebook

Congratulations Congressman Panetta! I am thrilled that you will be representing us in Washington. I have so much respect for your family. I remember years ago, at a Carmel High School wrestling meet, I happened to sit next to your mom, who grasped me by my arm as you were wrestling. I have loved her since that moment. How proud she and your dad must be of you! Lynda Jardine | via Facebook

Oh… that makes me feel better. :-( Sandee Scott | via Facebook

Why am I not surprised. The good old Panetta family. Marilyn Pisano Galli | via Facebook

Frack Attack

Too bad the voters were misled by this (“Measure Z, a countywide fracking ban, wins big despite oil industry spending to defeat it,” Nov. 10-16). They don’t frack anywhere in Monterey County. Never have. And steaming wells doesn’t pollute the aquifer. This is devastating to so many [people] that depend on the oilfields of San Ardo to support their families. Tara Romagno Rowland | Nipomo

That was the whole point, we don’t want fracking in the Monterey shale formation, ever. Too many people depend on it not being fractured and leaking oil and whatever proprietary injection chemical cocktail they force down in there. We also don’t need any new drilling. Time to phase out fossil fuels. Wyatt Patry | via Facebook

By promoting Yes on Z, you helped ruin us. Tonia Chantell | via Facebook

Thank you, Monterey County Weekly for your thorough research and articles explaining why this was so important for the carbon footprint and potential future water supplies. Jan Shriner | Marina

Trump Card

We’ve just gone through the ugliest and least informative presidential campaign in living memory, in which both candidates were reviled by a majority of the American public, if not the Electoral College. Given their respective credentials, it would seem that the only really disqualifying factor to become president of the United States is being born without a penis.Eric Tyle | Monterey

No one has written or will write a better editorial on the presidential election than Mary Duan (“What the Trump,” Nov. 10-16). Don Condren | Carmel

You captured the shock, disbelief and devastation of the election. Nothing is going to make it better in the short run, but your editorial was an excellent start. Stephanie Taylor | Carmel

Thank you for your thoughtful editorial. The Trump election is particularly troublesome to me since it evokes very painful childhood memories for me. I grew up in post-World War II Germany. Spending my first years in a devastated country, I was made aware of how Hitler first usurped some political power, then made and largely kept economic promises (fueled by the war effort) while simultaneously creating an ever-increasing totalitarian and racist national belief system and eventually leading his nation into horrific ethnic cleansing and a devastating war.

Hitler, too, could be a charming and engaging speaker who developed a personality cult and promised wealth and greatness. Unfortunately, he used his relentless propaganda machine to brainwash his country and then destroy it, together with many other parts of the world.

I hope and pray that we will be spared a similar parallel with this new president-elect. I can only echo the call of the demonstrators: “He’s not my president.” Barbara Gloria Evans | Marina

To those who are protesting: You have the right to protest peaceably, but the election is over. Go back to work or class. Give him a chance. He’s stepping into a very challenging situation. In a democracy, decision-making by a majority guarantees some will be unhappy with the outcome. The process that put Hillary forward as her party’s candidate was filled with extensive, well-documented voter fraud intended to overrule the preferences of voters for Bernie Sanders. Jerry Fallenberg | Salinas

Formerly Known As

Way to go, Councilman Dave Pacheco! (“Monterey Downs, now called ‘Monument Village,’ approved by Seaside – for now,” posted Nov. 11.) You have more than Seaside’s residents thanking you for doing your homework. Patricia Domingo | via Facebook

New name? Lipstick on a pig. Rick Leach | via Facebook

How about calling Monterey Downs “Monumental Pillage”? Gordon Smith | via Facebook

Jobs are needed in Seaside! Robin Ryan | via Facebook

Jobs for an industry that they themselves have admitted is in decline. Otherwise, we have enough jobs serving drinks to wealthy out-of-towners and would prefer a project with jobs that invest in our community and future: sustainable technology and agriculture, expansions to the university, etc.

More people voted against [Mayor Ralph] Rubio than for him. Listen to the people and kill this project already! Alexandra Bee | via Facebook