Help save America. Protest
I just met a retired Hispanic farm worker who was born in Oklahoma and who picked tomatoes, apples, cherries and oranges and other ag products, from Texas to Michigan to Florida over his working years. He ended up in a security job with a prison in SW Florida. He told me that growers in the region are cutting back on their crops because of the uncertainty of ICE-induced labor shortages. The obvious question we discussed was “Who is going to pick the crops?” This opens the door wider for foreign grown produce and will significantly affect costs for consumers due to transportation and tariff expenses. The current White House cabal is tax and power happy and seems to have plans to control everything.
Did you vote for this kind of mindless crackdown on immigrant workers (not criminals)? This is shaping up to be another bait and switch tax on average Americans in order to build ICE into a national secret police. This current bully crew running our government has big plans to take over elections and the judicial system.
You can sit by and watch or get involved to push back and avoid the destruction of our country by heartless, greedy, wealthy idiots. Time to get off the couch and help save America. Protest, contact your representatives, find a demonstration and vote out the enablers
Terry Robinson, Naples
Come join us!
People who love truth, who love democracy, who want to protect our country need to begin speaking with ONE VOICE. This administration has unleashed unfathomable destruction in every area of our lives, here and abroad. Understandably we each have our own issues of highest concern.
But the ONE THING that will impact all the attacks on freedom is impeachment of the entire administration. Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution outlines the grounds for removing the president, vice president, and other federal civil officers from office, stating they can be impeached and convicted for treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors, as determined by Congress.
Look it up for yourself: Article II, Section 4 of our Constitution. This clause provides the constitutional basis for impeachment as a political remedy for serious misconduct by high-ranking officials, ensuring accountability beyond ordinary criminal laws.
Congress has to act, but we need to start demanding it now and build momentum, along with voicing our individual issues. Who knows what atrocity is next? Congress may crack, even before midterms, assuming we have them.
Every Friday 8:30-9:30 a group of concerned citizens meets to picket and encourage one another at the intersection of McGregor and Shell Point Blvd. January 16th will be our 27th week. Come join us!
Debby Topliff, Fort Myers
Put Trump on Mount Rushmore
After reading the mailbag for the past few days I have come to the conclusion no matter what happens in this country the liberals are going to blame President Trump. I have not read one letter from the liberals about the previous administration high inflation, corruption, poor foreign policy, (Afghanistan) for example DEI etc. Trump has done a great job so far, recently he took out a dictator who was demoralizing his country and all we heard was negative comment from the Naples liberals. As far as I am concerned based upon his first year in office, he should be on Mount Rushmore.
Jim McMenamy, Fort Myers
Anti-Trump letters
As a diligent reader of the Letters to the Editors Opinion Page, I can’t help but notice that anytime an anti-Trump letter writer blesses us with their thoughts on any issue, those letters are published. Could it be because their opinions match those of the editors? Just wondering.
Thomas Rivan, Estero
Extremely ironic
It’s extremely ironic that Trump is threatening military action against the Iranian government for its treatment of peaceful protesters when our government under Trump‘s direction is abusing and murdering American peaceful protesters, plus pardoning 1,500 insurrectionist that injured and killed law officers on January 6.
Tom Beck, Naples
Hope we can continue to resist
Quite recently there was a brief letter from a reader who had a nephew visiting him and when the nephew was asked about the future of the country and the current leadership, his nephew replied with something like: “my hope is that the administration is so incompetent, so lacking in honor and loyalty that they will soon devour each other.” That small statement made me smile, and smiling is not easy these days. This country has stood so strong and so good for so long, but we see the goodness slipping away, as day after day, acts of illegality and acts of dishonor continue. We continue to hope and pray that the citizens of this fine country, little by little, are so turned off by the daily brutality we are seeing that we are shifting ourselves into a stance of realization and strength to go on to a better world. Perhaps it will take the “devouring of the other” to achieve normalcy again?
So, if we become discouraged by youth these days, we can see there is hope in the young that are now seeing the dark reality, face to face. I am encouraged by these small things and hope we can continue to resist and move beyond this.
Sarah Wilmarth, Fort Myers
President has shown restraint
The president has shown great restraint by not invoking the Insurrection Act in MN. What’s that? Here’s a refresher. The Insurrection Act grants the president the authority to deploy the U.S. military domestically and use it against Americans to enforce the laws of the United States or to suppress rebellion against the U.S. government whenever unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion make it impracticable to enforce federal law. Invoking the act temporarily suspends the Posse Comitatus Act. The authority to decide whether to invoke the act belongs exclusively to the president, and his decision is conclusive upon all other persons.
Troops can be deployed under three sections of the act. Each section is designed for a different set of situations. Section 251 allows the president to deploy troops if a state’s legislature, or governor, requests federal aid to suppress an insurrection in that state. Sections 252 and 253 allow the president to deploy troops without a request from the affected state, even against the state’s wishes.
The act has been invoked about 30 times throughout American history. Presidents Washington, Adams, Lincoln, Jackson, Hayes, Cleveland, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Bush (41) all invoked the act.
Protesters, agitators, the media, and elected officials in blue states are using vulgar language to incite violence and provoke law enforcement. Be careful. Renee Good’s death is a tragedy, but a tragedy of her own doing. Obey the law and instructions from law enforcement. You might not like ICE enforcing federal law in your cities. Keep it up and the U.S. military could join them.
Michael Mainelli, Estero
Candidate to defend home rule
Sally Peterson on Home Rule. Defend it collectively or lose it permanently. Among the candidates for Naples City Council, this threat is not treated seriously. State politicians want to give control of Naples Airport to Collier County and have passed laws that preempt the city from updating codes that improve storm water resiliency.
Sally Peterson supports Naples joining a statewide coalition of cities and counties to challenge and repeal laws that preempt local authority, unlike Council candidates who signal quiet concessions or favor one-off negotiations with Tallahassee politicians. Sally Peterson understands that state preemption has become systemic, and isolated cities rarely prevail alone. Her position reflects an understanding of governance reality, and why defending Home Rule requires coordination, resolve and legal strength.Sally Peterson is strongly independent and deserves your vote on February 3rd.
Elizabeth Rogala, Naples
DUI case drags on
What is going on with the DUI case of the Naples’ mayor? The case has dragged on, delayed, and now seems to be in the shadows. Will it ever be brought into court? Is she “special,” above the law, protected by some secret “something”? Videos are present, witnesses are alive and present, on-spot DUI testing was done and documented. She is represented by a lawyer. This event happened 17 months ago. A “speedy trial” is supposed to be part of the legal system. What’s up? Something the public does not know? I want to know because if I was arrested for DUI (as an average citizen), I would already be finished with the legal system. Innocent or guilty.
Elaine Traxler, Naples
Speak out against abuse of power
“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final and most important directive.” These words from G. Orwell’s “1984” seem disturbingly appropriate today, in light of Renee Good’s death at the hands of ICE agents in Minneapolis on January 7.
According to President Trump, Vice President Vance, and Kristi Noem, the white 37-year-old, stay-at-home mom of three was a damaged leftist, domestic terrorist who, on her way home from dropping her 6-year-old off at school, rammed an agent with her car.
All of this was declared in spite of not knowing or caring anything about her, and in spite of 4 circulating videos revealing those accounts to be lies. We are being told to abandon reality in favor of whatever the administration says. If this works, it would be a demonstration of totalitarian power, the ability to control what people think. That would be the final nail in the coffin of our democracy.
As Americans, we must speak up and speak out against gaslighting, the lies, cruelty, corruption, and the abuse of power we are witnessing.
Gloria Kauls, Estero
Resist, stay informed
In one short year, Trump/MAGA/Federalists have disrupted the entire, fragile global systems of governance, politics, diplomacy, finance, and trade. To DOGE’s discredit, tens (hundreds?) of thousands of unnecessary deaths are growing daily at home and around the world. Cruelty and misery are rampant in the U.S. even before massive cuts in domestic aid kick in for food and health. ICE murders citizens without compunction or legal consequence. Congress/GOP has given up their authorized powers in a stalemate designed and supported by this administration.
With the unconstitutional kidnapping of the president of Venezuela, Trump has completed the forfeiture of our standing as the only remaining super broker in the international community. Today, the world no longer respects but fears the United States as a thuggish country and a regional bully. So much for the survival of Ukraine and Taiwan.
Who knows if landslide victories in Democratic elections for Congress later this year and in 2028 can turn things around? Trump will still have his bully pulpit and will continue to disregard all constitutional restraints for the executive branch for two more years.
It will not take just decades, but generations and trillions of taxpayer dollars to begin to repair the damage, and that may not be anywhere near enough. It’s almost impossible to get a 60% super-majority in any branch of government today — just the way they want it!
Only the oiligarchs (sic) have that kind of funds and they certainly won’t spend it to save our democracy, which they can barely tolerate. It is obvious that their united goal is to be un-regulated, which fits well with fascism when they hold all the cards — presidency, Cabinet, military, House and Senate, media, banks/financial, trade/commerce — and are willing to threaten, bully and squash all past allies in concert with the Kremlin and the Chinese empire — the ultimate triumvirate.
It’s much later that almost any of us think. This is a conspiracy decades in the making. Resist, stay informed, and plan for tomorrow with reality. What will you do?
Cliff Welles, Bonita Springs
Distracted drivers
It’s about time that Florida came into the modern era. I’m a Canadian snowbird and in Ontario where I live it has been illegal for many years for a driver to have any electronic device in their hand when behind the wheel, even if stopped at a red light.
In my opinion and that of many experts a distracted driver is worse than a DUI driver because a DUI driver is trying not to hit you but a distracted driver doesn’t care if they hit you because what they are doing with/on their phone is more important to them than your safety.
Just the other day when I was stopped at a red light, when the traffic with the green started moving, I noticed that the last car in the line wasn’t immediately moving. In fact by the time that it started to move the light was just about to turn red for that traffic and I knew exactly why it took this driver that long to regain consciousness as to what was going on around them.
Patrick Drumm, North Fort Myers
Wading birds in decline
Wake up Southwest Florida! I have been a volunteer naturalist for 17 winters in Southwest Florida watching the decline of Florida’s beautiful wading birds. The beloved wood storks, spoonbills, herons and other beautiful critters are sending a message. Listen to the birds before they are gone.
Florida needs to stop building new subdivisions and shopping centers and extending development further and further east of I-75 closer to the Everglades. Every time developers drain a Florida wetland to create a lake and subdivision they are contributing to the decline in the feeding areas for wading birds. Just 20 years ago Corkscrew Sanctuary had 500 to 700 wood stork nests annually. In 2024 they had none, that’s right zero.
Birds like storks, spoonbills, etc. need shallow wetlands, ideally no deeper than 20 inches to feed. Storks feed in a wide area (as many as 40 miles) to produce 400 pounds of food for chicks. When development drains wetlands there simply is not enough food to feed the chicks.
The wading bird population is in decline for the most part from over development. What looks like a scruffy forest is really a wetland with many 12 to 20-inch wet areas producing food for the wading birds. Removing the trees and leveling the land denies the birds life supporting food. Only Florida residents can vote to elect county commissioners who will say no to the developers and stop new subdivisions and shopping centers. Do it now before the wading birds are gone.
Bill Morris, Lake Forest, Illinois, winter resident of Bonita Springs
Critical analysis, not hate
Much has been written by President Trump supporters alleging his detractors are afflicted with Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS): an extreme negative reaction to all things Trumpian. While there are many folks from the progressive (and moderate) side of the political aisle who detest the man, I would suggest that the number of voters who abhor the policies, declarations, edicts, tweets and rhetoric of the sitting president far outnumber those who intentionally “hate” him. Separating the man from his presidential outcomes will be necessary if the nation is to extract itself from bipartisan discord. While it is not our duty to judge the man (as moral, amoral or immoral − that conclusion rests with the Creator), it is our responsibility, as citizens living in a democratic republic, to voice our concerns when elected leadership fails to lift up the human condition rather than debasing it. We are instructed to love all people at all times, but such an axiom does not prohibit criticism of deeds and words that fall short of enlightened leadership. In my opinion, both devotees and critics of any leader gain little when blurring one’s nature with his/her policies. Are there not four different possibilities when it comes to “personhood” and “administrative outcomes”: Positive-positive; Positive-negative; Negative-positive; Negative-negative? Blind followership and ad hominem attacks are counterproductive for an informed, rational voting public earnestly striving for that elusive more perfect union. Avoid hate and embrace critical analysis of executive decision-making.
James L. DeBoy, Fort Myers
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Readers protest ICE tactics. Others push back | Opinion letters
Reporting by Letter writers / Fort Myers News-Press
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