Trump, Clinton, locker room, Sacramento principal, plastic bag supporter

Sad truth about Trump supporters

Re “Media hit a new low with Trump” (Letters, Oct. 11): The writer who accuses the “liberal media” of trying to destroy the hopes of millions who thought Donald Trump could change Washington corruption represents a very sad truth about Trump’s “hear no evil, see no evil” supporters: They actually believe a demonstrably morally and ethically corrupt individual is somehow going to rid Washington of corruption.

It would be laughable if it weren’t so sad.

The clown and the corrupt

Re “Clinton team strained to hone message, emails show” (Insight, Oct. 11): We have a clown running against a corrupt woman; some choice. But choose we must. It is up to the American people to decide – not the media, not the talking heads on TV, and not the Washington politicians.

The people’s ability to make that choice, in large part, depends on the information presented by the media and the talking heads. If that information is incomplete, the ability of the people to make their decision suffers.

Coverage is not close to being even. For example, even though it was reported, there will be no scrutiny of the apparent fact that, as revealed by the hacked emails, that the only policy important to Hillary Clinton is “What will get me elected?” Donald Trump’s past is fair game. Hilary’s record, honestly examined, is not good.

His locker room is full of losers

Re “Haslem: ‘Ain’t our locker room talk’ ” (Sports, Oct. 11): Miami Heat captain Udonis Haslem and other athletes may not appreciate Donald Trump referring to his now infamous 2005 conversation as “locker room talk,” but that doesn’t mean that Trump is wrong in his description. They just have to realize that he frequents a locker room different from theirs.

Trump’s locker room is filled with obscenely rich, aged, obese, misogynistic white men with dyed hair, hair transplants, bad comb-overs, spray tans and expensive suits tailored to hide an expanded gut. Banter about unwanted kissing, groping and sexual assault is their equivalent to points, rebounds and assists.

And that also explains why Trump’s locker room inevitably belongs to the losing team.

Boasts of shooting and sexual assault

I am a lifelong gym rat. I have spent many hours in many locker rooms. It is a place where men feel safe to say things they really feel but cannot say in public. I have heard every derogatory reference to women and men one can imagine, usually personal and harmless catharsis. Yet I have never heard the kind of boasting that Donald Trump engaged in. “It’s only locker room talk” is not an excuse; it is an admission of guilt.

And, by the way, there is a straight line from his previous declaration that he could shoot someone in Times Square and not lose votes to his current boast that he can get away with sexual assault. So, which candidate should go to jail?

Lewd, disgusting in Sacramento

Re “Under fire, principal gets new six-figure job” (Insight, Sept. 25): While leaked recordings of Donald Trump’s vile misogyny seem to finally have impacted his candidacy, the depraved sexual and racist threats made to a young female subordinate by a veteran male Sacramento City Unified School District administrator has generated nary a peep in disapproval.

The story is chilling. As reported by The Bee, former Hiram Johnson High School Principal Felisberto Cedros engaged in racial and sexual harassment, which prompted the district superintendent, Jose Banda, and the school board to approve a six-figure payout to the victim and – astonishingly – the creation of a new job for the perpetrator, at six-figure salary. Because this decision was made out of the public view, closed session, we will never know how it unfolded.

One particularly troubling question: Did any of the four women of the Sacramento City school board majority express reservations?

We can no longer condone the accommodation of sexism, harassment and misogyny in our public institutions. But it seems it is being condoned here in Sacramento.

The truth behind bag ban props

Re “Truth behind bag ban propositions” (Letters, Oct. 6): Letter writer Peter McCallister said he “did a little research to better understand the plastic bag debate” before reaching the conclusion that the out-of-state plastic bag companies pushing the deceptive Proposition 65 were justified in their efforts to continue to allow more than 10 billion bags to enter our state’s oceans, rivers and streams every year.

I did a little research, too. Turns out McCallister is on the staff of a tea party AstroTurf group deployed by the plastic bag industry – a detail he left out of his letter. Sadly, his comments on behalf of the bag companies reflect the dishonesty of their campaign to promote Proposition 65.

This story was originally published October 12, 2016 at 2:30 PM with the headline "Trump, Clinton, locker room, Sacramento principal, plastic bag supporter."