Marin IJ Readers’ Forum for Dec. 15, 2024

Racist incidents in schools cannot be tolerated here

I am writing in response to the article published Dec. 8 with the headline “Marin students seek stronger anti-racism laws for schools.” I am supportive of Black students in Marin County who want to talk to Assemblymember Damon Connolly about tougher laws against racism in schools. It is very troubling to hear about racist acts at school among students.

I think these acts should be more widely called out to the community. There must be some type of feedback from student groups, as well as the community at large. Those actions cannot be condoned. I think silence equals acceptance.

If the state Legislature agrees to strengthen anti-racism laws, I hope all realize that racism is another form of division in our communities. Being of one heart and mind will make us stronger.

— Jade Leong, Mill Valley

No need to be critical of Biden after pardon

I wish I kept the daily barrage of damning newspaper headlines about President-elect Donald Trump. He has seemingly been in hot water most of the time since 2016. However, based on recent reactions I’ve seen, Trump’s transgressions have all been forgotten since President Joe Biden pardoned Hunter, his only surviving son.

How can Democrats shame him under these unprecedented circumstances? With all that Trump has gotten away with, he will still walk into the White House in 2025 to embody his envisioned legacy.

I don’t blame Biden one bit. It’s an illustration to voters as if to say, “if you want Trump, then you don’t care what the American president stands for or does.” With all that Biden has done over his lifetime for our country, we deserve to give him this, without judgment.

— Trish Barry, Mill Valley

Trump must fix American immigration policies now

I am writing in response to the recently published Another View commentary by Benjamin Powell (“Mass deportations are unfeasible, expensive and would undermine other goals,” Dec. 5). I found it to be a masterpiece of rhetoric that summarizes the conflict between politically “leftist” empathy and free-market brutality.

I think the U.S. immigration policy has been stuck for decades between those two realities. Issues related to immigration are far deeper than economics alone. Our sense of person, place, history, pride and love of what has been created over time is extremely powerful. You cannot put a price on that emotion, and Trump tapped that powerful voltage. It is a shock to the system.

Enough is enough: If deporting undocumented immigrants means a smaller economy, so be it. I don’t think anyone is listening to howls about labor causing inflation anymore. I think the vast majority of Americans have been robbed blind by the globalization fraud and declining real wages for the last 40 years. No amount of lies and statistics matter anymore. Trump can get the job done.

— Tim Peterson, San Anselmo

Honeymoon period for new administration is not real

In his recently published letter to the editor, Henry Burgin urges all Americans to get behind President-elect Donald Trump, arguing that “it is a long-standing tradition that Americans grant a honeymoon period to a newly elected president.” However, history says it’s not true.

No one should forget that, in 2020, Trump did not even acknowledge that President Joe Biden won. He still hasn’t. Also, it was nearly four years ago when Trump held a rally and gave a speech on Jan. 6, 2021, not long before a crowd violently attacked the U.S. Capitol. Remember that 147 Republicans loyal to Trump refused to even certify Biden’s win. Thereafter, House Republicans mounted an absurd, expensive impeachment inquiry of Biden that predictably went nowhere.

I wasn’t much of a “honeymoon period” for Biden. Nor was it one for former President Barack Obama when he won in 2008. Back then, Sen. Mitch McConnell said after the election that his goal was to make Obama a one-term president.

There is one time-honored tradition during an administration change: Republicans and Democrats alike love to criticize the president-elect’s suggested Cabinet appointments. I welcome it. Without Democrats and Republicans speaking up, I suspect former Rep. Matt Gaetz would be on his way to becoming our new U.S. attorney general.

Burgin is entitled to support Trump, but urging others to do the same (while supporting his Cabinet choices) because of an illusory honeymoon period is nonsense. We all know that Trump and his followers would never have acknowledged a victory by Vice President Kamala Harris, let alone grant her a honeymoon period.

— Ruth Dell, Tiburon