Intimidating lawmakers should not be allowed

Judge was right about addresses

Re “Blogger sees tyranny; is armed man following along?” (Forum, March 5): Judge Lawrence O’Neill’s move to halt the California law restricting internet publishing of home addresses and phone numbers of lawmakers is an unconscionable act.

That gun-rights activists want published the home addresses of gun-control-voting lawmakers is an invitation to cranks to hunt down and harass those people. There is no need whatsoever to publish their private information since their office address and phone is public record. Anyone with a beef can go to their offices.

But no one has a right to harass someone at their home for their political stance. With the huge increase in the number of gun licenses given out by Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones in the last year or so, I am alarmed for the safety of those people who advocate for sensible gun laws.

Essay should be required reading

Re “After Holocaust, he worries about America’s future” (Forum, March 5): Thanks to Bernard Marks for so clearly exposing what many of us feel is happening in America today. The mistruths, the lack of transparency and the incendiary rhetoric of the current administration is horrific and frightening.

Many of us can see the clear similarities with the rise of Nazism in the words and actions of those currently in charge in Washington, D.C. What I find even more disturbing is (to quote Marks) the liberation of opinions and actions that were once socially unacceptable.

The strength of American democracy rests with its citizens and our free press standing up against the bigotry, lies and unacceptable actions currently embodied in the current administration.

Marks’ essay should be required reading for all of us. Thanks to him again.

Feds should help finance CalTrain

Re “Let counties pay for CalTrain” (Letters, March 5): Harvey Swenson is off base in his argument against federal funding of the CalTrain expansion. Yes, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties are some of the richest in the state. Consequently, the citizens of these counties contribute a sizable portion of their earnings to the IRS with little to show for it.

California is considered a donor state, i.e., for every federal tax dollar it contributes, it receives less than a dollar in federal spending. Furthermore, it is easy to surmise that those counties get even less for each of their tax dollars. It seems only fair that they get some federal aid for this environmentally friendly transportation project.

Kevin McCarthy and his fellow Republicans were wrong in opposing it.

Report on Trump accurately, please

Re “We’re the enemy, so we risk floods and danger zones to bring you the news” (Forum, March 5): I am so fed up when reading articles, opinions and letters to the editors in The Bee with the inaccuracy of reporting what President Donald Trump really says.

He said fake news is the enemy of the Americans. If The Bee did all these wonderful actions Joyce Terhaar said about reporting the Oroville Dam news, good for The Bee and her. That is her job.

Trump is not talking about her. Fake news is a terrible problem. Americans deserve accurate reporting.

Change is difficult but can be exciting

Re “What if we didn’t shed new light on the Tower Bridge?” (Opinion, Op-Image, March 4): All of us in Sacramento love our Tower Bridge. It has become a Sacramento icon. When you drive over the Pioneer Bridge and look back, it is an absolute jewel.

In 1989, several Sacramento citizens lit the bridge with all private money to honor Sacramento’s sesquicentennial. Twenty-seven plus years have passed and today everyone is talking about energy efficiency. In comes LED lighting. Converting to LED will save energy and result in much less maintenance. That is the basis of the project (again with all private money) to update and brighten the look of the bridge. We need to showcase our nationally recognized bridge.

Downtown Sacramento is coming alive. Things are happening. This project committee thought adding a color capability could be unique to celebrate an occasional special regional event. The Tower Bridge will remain exactly as is for 95 percent of the time and only on special occasions a pre-programmed tasteful uplight of color can be used.

I enjoyed Jack Ohman’s article, but I am politely disagreeing with him. As he wrote, “But ‘progress’ happens. So, fine. Have at it.”

This story was originally published March 12, 2017 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Intimidating lawmakers should not be allowed."