‘No Kings’ peaceful protests
The “No Kings” peaceful protests throughout the country prove that millions of us prefer democracy over authoritarianism. It’s important that those of us who are aggrieved by a wannabe autocrat feel free to speak out at any time in any venue. We can cite Trump’s sanctimonious words and double-dealing actions which are unacceptable to many of us. We can call “foul” when a foul is committed. We have the right to protest. If we remain silent, we imperil ourselves. Recklessly, House Speaker Johnson warns that the protest is a “hate America rally” that would draw “the pro-Hamas wing” of “the antifa people.” What happened to free speech and the right to assemble?
We can choose to be uninvolved, to ignore Trump’s overreaching, to fool ourselves that he’ll change, that he’ll act as a reasonable, fair-minded leader who wants what’s best for America. That would be self-delusional. He’s most comfortable when intimidating someone else. He’ll continue with selective and vindictive prosecutions. He surrounds himself with dingbats, hoping that he’ll shine in the midst of the dimwitted. He sows division. He’ll please the rich, disappoint the poor, and increase his own wealth and that of his family. His fans will excuse his greed, stupidity, lies, pontificating, criminality, bullying, misogyny, and his acceptance of white nationalists. Almost inexplicably, some actually identify with his vileness. He’s a loser who too many of us admire. Those of us who recognize what he is must speak out.
Kevin McNally, Bonita Springs
MAGA hypocrisy
MAGA Republicans this week are baring their hypocrisy full-frontal in continuing to pay homage to the deceased Charlie Kirk, who was posthumously awarded on his birthday the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in this country, at a gala ceremony Tuesday at the White House.
One feature of his influential activities praised by his adherents was his dedication to freedom of expression and the exchange of clashing viewpoints, which he was espousing at the very moment of his unjustifiable and enormously tragic slaying last month. It’s anomalous, therefore, that his Republican acolytes in Congress are going to great pains dissing the “No Kings” rallies this Saturday. Those protests of Trump administration authoritarianism include one here in Naples at the Collier County Courthouse, two in Fort Myers, and one on Sanibel, along with about 75 others throughout Florida.
Kirk was iconic to his supporters as a champion of freedom of speech. But Republicans in Congress, led by Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson, along with other members of the party’s leadership, have gleefully gone full-frontal in degrading the movement as “hate America” demonstrations comprised of “Marxists” and “pro Hamas” protesters in an effort to dissuade people from attending them. These gatherings are nothing of either kind. But that does not stop the MAGA men (and a few women) from falsely lambasting those who are engaged in the very type of freedom of expression that Kirk supposedly championed.
The MAGA Republicans need to get their act together: encourage freedom of expression in honor of Charlie or denigrate it, as his MAGA adherents are now doing.
Charlie would not agree with many of the anti-Trump sentiments to be expressed at the rallies Saturday, but he would, as Voltaire proclaimed, “defend to the death” their right to say so. Indeed, he did.
Marshall H. Tanick, Naples
Left-leaning lemmings
The Left is really good at playing follow the leader, but are very limited at creativity. For some time, their attack on Trump was that he was another Hitler. They repeated it over and over. When that didn’t sell, their new approach was Trump was a threat to democracy. They repeated that over and over and it didn’t sell either. Then Trump gets elected and he is charged with being a dictator and they repeated that over and over. That didn’t seem to work either so now they have decided to call him a fascist. They are now repeating that over and over. They are like lemmings. I would be willing to bet that 99% of them making that call could not define what a fascist is, but that is their word for the day and they follow the leader regardless of the facts. Of course, we have no idea who their leader is and, in fact, they don’t either.
Ron Wobbeking, Naples
Effects of road renaming
Idiots. Fools. Morons. Unfeeling, unconcerned. These terms describe the Lee County Republican Assembly, the group that wants to rename Summerlin Road for a Republican political activist! With no concern for the effect on the citizens who live or work on Summerlin Road.
Here’s what they will be required to do. Get a new driver’s license. There’s a time limit and a fee for that. New vehicle registration – the current one has an incorrect address. File address change with Social Security. Change of address notifications to all banking, credit card, financial, medical, insurance providers. Send change of address notices to all out of area correspondents, subscriptions etc, regardless of frequency of contact with those people or organizations.
For businesses on Summerlin, all of the above plus dump all of your stationery, advertising and promotional materials and have them all reprinted with the new address, at your own expense.
I hope you are pleased with your concern for the good of the people!
John Sinclear, Fort Myers
Red light safety cameras
Florida consistently has one of the highest accident rates in the U.S., contributing to expensive insurance premiums, health care costs, law enforcement costs, and personal wellbeing. All of these are affected by busy roads, extra insurance requirements, accessible health care, high-risk drivers, uninsured drivers and severe weather risks.
According to recent insurance industry reports, the average full coverage premium in Florida is 55% higher than the national average. This dramatic price tag puts Florida in the top three most expensive states for auto insurance. Florida also ranks among the worst states for uninsured motorists, with about 1 in 5 drivers lacking active auto insurance. This adds further pressure on the system because when uninsured drivers cause accidents, insurance companies often end up paying out more than expected due to the requirement to carry Uninsured Motorist coverage.
Driving is a regulated activity, and people who obtain licenses are agreeing to abide by the law. Just like any other law enforcement tool, red light safety cameras are a way to catch people who break the law.
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, red light safety cameras reduce 21% of fatal red light running crashes, and 14% of fatal crashes at signalized intersections. There is also a slight increase in less severe rear-end collisions. This is primarily due to drivers being inattentive to a car in front of them stopping for a red light.
The Lee County Department of Transportation under the Lee County Board of Commissioners is responsible for operating and maintaining the traffic signal and traffic management system cameras; while the Lee County Sheriff’s Office is responsible for using cameras for enforcing traffic laws, such as red light running. It is time for these governmental entities to get together and figure out how to implement Lee County wide red light safety cameras.
Some will squawk that it “violates their rights, ignoring the fact that the Sheriff’s Office already uses cameras to monitor most public spaces and streets. It is time to curb the carnage on our streets. Implementing Lee County wide red light safety cameras will reduce fatal crashes, reduce violation rates, and reduce insurance and health care costs.
Daniel Becker, Fort Myers
Irony of penalizing teachers
Lee County School Superintendent Denise Carlin has decided to strip the livelihoods and ruin the careers of three teachers for posting comments about Charlie Kirk’s views on their personal social media accounts. She said, “The School District recognizes the First Amendment rights of staff. However, those rights must be balanced against the School District’s interest in protecting its school operations.”
Most Republicans are touting Mr. Kirk for some sort of sainthood. Let’s see what violent, racist, antisemitic, and misogynistic things St Charlie has said while exercising HIS First Amendment rights …
• “I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year, so that we can have the Second Amendment,” (Turning Point USA, 2023)• “Black people were ‘better’ in the 1940s under Jim Crow laws. It was bad. But what happened? They committed less crimes.” (Jubilee show Surrounded)• Black women “do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You had to go steal a white person’s slot to go be taken somewhat seriously.”• “Democrat women want to die alone without children.” (charliekirk11 on X, 2025)• “Birth control like really screws up female brains…. “It creates very angry and bitter young ladies and young women,” (Streaming on “Rumble”, 2024)• “Women should have children, not careers…” (Fox News, 2025)• “Deportations Aren’t Enough: We Need Cuts to Legal Immigration” (Charlie Kirk podcast, 2025)• “In urban America, prowling Blacks go around for fun to go target white people, that’s a fact. It’s happening more and more.” (The Charlie Kirk Show, 2023)• “Jews deny they are white and foment anti-white prejudice.”(Charlie Kirk Show – 2024)• “The body politic of America was so Christian and was so Protestant that our form and structure of government was built for the people that believed in Christ our Lord,” (Charlie Kirk Show – 2024)• “So you cannot have liberty if you do not have a Christian population. A white Christian population.” (Charlie Kirk Show, 2024)
I assume that Carlin defends comments like these since she advocates for him and not her district’s teachers. She apparently agrees that language like Kirk’s can now be freely published by her teachers on social media since it’s become politically trendy.
Charlie Kirk championed free speech as a fundamental American value. So, it’s sad and offensive that the murder of the conservative activist has triggered an abusive round of censorship − alarmingly aimed at teachers. “You should be allowed to say outrageous things,” Kirk told the Oxford Union earlier this year.
It’s ironic that Ms. Carlin seems completely ignorant of Charlie’s political statements. Perhaps she’s simply poorly read and ill-informed – quite an indictment for a school superintendent.
Karen Evans, Cape Coral
This comparison unwarranted
In honoring Charlie Kirk with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, he compared his sacrifice to Abraham Lincoln, Socrates, Martin Luther King and St. Peter − really? Despite people’s differing opinions of Kirk, he did not deserve the fate he suffered, but to compare his “sacrifice” to those mentioned above, is just another outrageous comment by Trump. Kirk was controversial in his opinions on immigration, race, women and religion to name a few and some would say he was radical. It’s not right that Kirk died as he did, but please do not compare him to these great men.
E.A. Blair, Naples
Real cause of shutdown
House Republicans claim their “clean” Continuing Resolution would have prevented the government shutdown and that Democrats are to blame. That’s simply not true.
The House version wasn’t clean or bipartisan — it left out vital priorities like disaster aid, Ukraine assistance, and domestic programs both parties had previously agreed to fund. Senate Democrats and several Republicans supported compromise measures to keep the government open; what they rejected were bills filled with political gamesmanship.
The real cause of this shutdown is division within the House majority, not Senate obstruction. A small faction of Republicans continues to hold the process hostage, putting ideology ahead of governing.
Shutdowns hurt veterans, seniors, federal workers, and families who rely on essential services. Floridians deserve leaders who will negotiate honestly and stop using the government — and the public — as leverage for partisan gain. It’s time for both parties to put the country first, reopen the government, and work toward real bipartisan solutions.
Quentin Greeley, Naples
An affront to all of us
Aiming the guns of the most powerful military ever assembled on this planet, not outward but inward towards its own citizens, who also fund this same military, is an abomination and a desecration of the values of this republic. The weaponization of my government via the DOD and the DOJ in order to bully, intimidate and attack my fellow Americans demonstrates to anyone who is engaged with reality that our leadership has abandoned any pretense of representing all its citizens. The Posse Comitatus Act allows the National Guard to perform police duties if they are under the jurisdiction of the state. When these troops are federalized by the government the protections of the Posse Comitatus are engaged and the National Guard is prohibited from performing any types of enforcement that normally fall to local and state police.
The idea that the powers in this country are federalizing National Guard and putting them in Democratic run cities is an affront to all of us, Democrats and Republicans. I understand that elections have consequences, and I understand this may result in policies with which I disagree. However, the blatant refusal of this administration to include into the sacred camp of the worthy anyone who might voice disagreement with these policies is where the real harm is happening. This president has so debased the political rhetoric in this country that I fear he has permanently scarred the zeitgeist or our historic brotherhood, that even through the worst of times has nurtured our citizenry and fostered its repair.
Going forward seek common ground with those with whom you disagree and when this seems most improbable or even impossible remember we the everyday working man and woman are brothers and sisters and we mustn’t let our leaders, for their own power-hungry motives, break the bonds that truly unite us.
Mike Burns, Fort Myers
This guy is different
The poet tells us that hope springs eternal in the human breast. Well … maybe so. But for many of us who have found the stewardship of Ron DeSantis appalling the default emotion has been closer to despair. The man has remained popular despite his cruel and retrograde policy positions and less than optimal people skills, and resistance from the “other side” has been largely ineffective. And it feels inevitable that his successor will be more of the same. I get it. For Floridians who would welcome a change of direction, finding reasons to hope is a heavy lift these days.
Or is it? A few days ago, I reluctantly attended a campaign event for David Jolly, the presumptive Democratic gubernatorial candidate in the next election. I wasn’t expecting much, just more feckless gesturing on the left from a candidate without a prayer. Well, as is often the case, I was wrong. This guy is different. Mr. Jolly has “it” factor to spare. He is smart, informed, likable, energetic, relatable and deft at smoothly deflating talking points from the “other side.” And he projects a balanced, common sense approach that will appeal to the moderate center right and center left voters who can swing elections these days. I guess you can see where I’m going with this. Sure, he’s running uphill here in Florida, but this guy could win!
That’s right; I said it. In politics, the singer can matter almost as much as the song, and David Jolly has something very close to perfect pitch. Those of you who have had enough of DeSantis and his ilk might want to get to know this candidate for at least two reasons: You will like what he has to say, and you will love the way he says it. It’s almost enough to make a guy (or gal) hope again.
Geremy Spampinato, Naples
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Letters to the editor for Saturday, October 18, 2025
Reporting by Letter writers / Fort Myers News-Press
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