Letters: Bill Dodd, Mariko Yamada, Clinton, Sanders, Trump

Legislators should not duck votes

Re “Are Dodd, Yamada headed for a faceoff in November?” (Insight, May 28): As someone who is deeply concerned about climate change, I watched in dismay in September as Assemblyman Bill Dodd did not vote on Senate Bill 32, voted in favor of SB 350 after 50 percent reduction in petroleum was removed and then sent an email saying he was proud to vote for SB 350 without mentioning SB 32 or removal of the petroleum reduction portion of SB 350.

I take umbrage with Dodd’s assertion that not voting on SB 32 was strength. Strength, in my opinion, is voting yea or nay. I support Mariko Yamada in Senate District 3.

Nora Campos is a fine legislator

Re “Oil vs. environmentalists: A fight among Democrats” (Insight, May 26): Sen. Jim Beall is engaged in a phony war against Assemblywoman Nora Campos. Rather than take her on directly, Beall is using diversionary tactics claiming Campos is against solving global warming even though her voting record matches his voting record.

Judge Brooks is a decent man

Re “Nelson Brooks for El Dorado Judge” (Endorsement, May 25): Nelson Brooks has been doing an outstanding job as our Superior Court judge for seven years. Brooks is, hands down, the candidate with the greatest breadth and depth of experience.

Wide experience and excellent performance are reason enough to vote for Brooks, but the best reason is that he is a fine human being. I have known this man for 16 years. I would trust Judge Brooks to make the best decision possible.

Sanders’ backers play with fire

Re “Die-hard Sanders backers see FBI as answer to push out Clinton” (Insight, May 28) These “liberals” are actually hoping the Democratic Party front-runner gets indicted? These people don’t realize what they are wishing for. This is not a video game. It is real life with real consequences.

Bernie Sanders is the answer

The headline presupposes that Bernie Sanders’ backers think the campaign’s dying. The truth is – and I’ve volunteered from the start of Sanders’ campaign, full time – none of us feels or behaves as though we are even lagging.

We are lit-from-within by hope, by our huge numbers of volunteers and our organizers’ skills, and by knowing the United States and world need us to win. When Bernie wins, it will also be a victory of the people over commercial media.

Attacks on Clinton emails are unfair

Why, when Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice’s top staff used private email accounts for their State Department emails, did no one call their character into question? Why wasn’t an inspector general telling them they violated the rules?

Hillary Clinton handed over 55,000 pages of hers but still got criticized. It seems there’s a double standard for Clinton because she’s running for president. You can add this to the decades-long baseless Clinton accusations in the vein of Whitewater, Vince Foster, Ron Brown and Trooper-gate.

Here’s a name for Donald Trump

Donald Trump’s pandering knows no bounds. He will tell any Republican what they want to hear. Many Republicans have taken a principled stand. But it is disheartening to see others I previously respected fall in line behind a lying, cheating, loud-mouthed bully. Trump is fond of branding people. Let’s give him one: Degenerate Donald.

This story was originally published May 31, 2016 at 5:31 AM with the headline "Letters: Bill Dodd, Mariko Yamada, Clinton, Sanders, Trump."