Not enough water for new developments
How can the Manatee and Sarasota County commissioners not realize what they are doing?
Already homeowners associations are rationing water and we are advised to conserve. Local governments allow us to water our lawns only one or two days a week.
How in the world do they possibly think that these new developments with 4,000 and 7,000 homes will have enough potable water to sustain normal life?
Their argument that everyone deserves a spot in “paradise” will create “Paradise Lost.”
Please stop this madness.
Dr. Joel Feder, Sarasota
Take DOGE chain saw to pricey parade
President Donald Trump has long wanted a military parade. And the Army’s 250th birthday June 14 happens to coincide with Trump’s 79th birthday.
The Army festival, which has been planned for more than a year, was originally a simple event.
Now it is slated to include nearly 7,000 troops, displays of Army equipment, military demonstrations, musical performances, fireworks and a fitness competition.
While there are still no specific cost estimates, this pricey parade comes as Trump and his DOGE department have slashed federal government departments, personnel and programs, with thousands of workers losing their jobs (including civilians in the defense department).
This parade won’t be to honor the military but Donald Trump.
If he cared about the military, he would have been there last month to receive the bodies of soldiers who died during training in Lithuania, instead of golfing.
Imagine being in the military and celebrating a draft dodger.
I am not against the military having a celebration, but given the current fiscal atmosphere, spending millions of dollars on an extravaganza is excessive.
It’s despicable to ask taxpayers to pay for the birthday party of a man who is destroying the lives of thousands of federal employees.
Elana Carnes, North Venice
Breaking oath of office deserves front page
On May 5, the Herald-Tribune ran the article, “Trump unsure on upholding Constitution,” summarizing an interview with the president on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Thank you for running the piece. However, an American president had just disavowed the Constitution and your editors buried it on page 7. You and your parent company downplayed a coup by our nation’s highest elected official.
This should have been front-page news. But in the dystopian world that is President Donald Trump’s America, elected officials betraying us isn’t news anymore.
In a more normal time, your headline might have read: “President shocks nation, breaks oath of office.”
What Donald Trump should have said to us on Jan. 20, 2025, with one hand raised and the other on the Bible, is, “I do not solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and I’m not really sure if I will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution.”
Instead, he lied to us, again.
Steven Phillips, Sarasota
Letter writers unfair in treatment of Trump
Numerous letters on this page since January have as their common theme that the Trump administration is destroying democracy and the rule of law.
Here are a few friendly critical comments about this theme with the counter-theme that those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
First, the very same liberal letter writers had no criticism when the Biden administration ignored Supreme Court decisions against his unconstitutional student loan “forgiveness” program and sponsored and staffed the legal crusade against Trump’s democratic candidacy.
Many other “silences” could be listed if space allowed.
Second, the Trump administration is actually pursuing his win in the 2024 popular vote, as well as the electoral vote, to enforce our immigration laws and our anti-discrimination laws, which do not pick and choose which genders, races, identities and national origins “deserve” protection under the law.
Third, these same writers never previously were heard to defend the Constitution, separation of powers or the rule of law when Supreme Court packing, abolition of the filibuster, suppression of the speech rights of college conservatives, school parents or the faithful were the order of the day.
Conclusion: Beware of the holier-than-thou sound bites of liberals claiming to defend democracy and the rule of law!
Douglas P. Seaton, Longboat Key
Group seeks to protect civil rights
To stop the assault on your civil rights, you must first know what your civil rights are. And that’s a huge problem these days.
A recent survey found that more than 60% of Americans do not know that the First Amendment protects our freedom of religion and freedom of the press.
That’s why a group of lawyers, educators and activists has formed a new nonpartisan organization called Local Civil Liberties Inc. This grassroots organization will hold free events and seminars to provide basic education about your civil rights and give pro bono legal advice as needed.
The group’s stated belief is that “everyone who lives here deserves a quick answer to any civil liberties questions they have, rather than having to wait – sometimes for weeks – for overburdened national organizations to respond.”
Founders of this new group include Grissim Walker, Josephine Motter, Daniel Rein, Brenda Green, Michelle Champion and Bridget Sermon.
You can meet volunteers from Local Civil Liberties on Saturday, May 10, at their tent during the “Be Fabulous Music & Arts Pride Fest” at Five Points Park in Sarasota.
For more information, call 941-321-2902 or email info@LocalCivilLiberties.com.
Pete Tannen, Sarasota
Tannen served as president of the ACLU’s former Sarasota-Manatee chapter.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Water, water everywhere – but only for Sarasota, Manatee developers | Letters
Reporting by Sarasota Herald-Tribune / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
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