Letters to the Editor, Feb. 19: Give Amazon a chance

Give Amazon a chance

EDITOR: The proposed site to house a last-mile delivery system for Amazon is being tested by the same people who protested a school in their neighborhood but allowed a WCT limo and winery on the corner across the street from the fire station not to mention the grill.

They had no problems with the pallet shop recently moved, nor the firehouse having the welcomed chicken barbecue, but Amazon is deemed too heavy?

If they are concerned about traffic (albeit it's now for the first time being addressed with a roundabout) look to Schellville which, for generations, has backed up the only northern route between Napa and Marin.

Like your reporting as just facts, however, we need to flesh out both sides, as Amazon isn't getting a fair shake here and we do need that new blood in the community.

Rik Granucci

Sonoma

Gallows of the mind

EDITOR: It’s that image of the gallows that does me in when I consider the whole mess of Jan. 6, 2021. The idea that these folks brought in the wood, the tools, the rope tied in a tight noose, and then constructed a gallows on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol is just so utterly extreme.

I know it looks like a make-shift structure, and I doubt it had the full trap door and all. But the noose looks mighty real and there are stairs up to the platform, which is honestly chilling. It’s a strong and evil symbol on many levels. Lynching, hysteria, vigilante justice. Is this us? Is this the state of our nation?

I mean think about: What if?

What if the rioters had broken through and reached Mike Pence? I’m no Pence fan, but execution? Would they have actually killed, possibly by hanging, the vice president of the United States?

And what if Nancy Pelosi had not also been forced to leave the chamber? Would she have been next in line? At the gallows? Like Pence, she reportedly refused to leave at first. What would they have done? How far would they have gone?

The makeshift gallows was dismantled; the reflecting pool on the U.S. Capitol grounds appears restored to its intended tranquility. But I struggle to get that image out of my mind. And I’m afraid the mindset that led to the planning, and building of the gallows, as well as the angry chanting to “hang Mike Pence” will not so easily be removed.

Laura Zimmerman

Sonoma

Loss of enthusiasm

EDITOR: I find it a bit ironic that, as the Sonoma City Council reviews its selections for Rachel Hundley’s vacant council seat, I am resigning from the board of the Sonoma Valley Cannabis Enthusiasts.

I no longer feel that the enthusiast organization fits with my views on cannabis in the Sonoma Valley.

I joined this group with my late wife, Jewel Mathieson, grounded in the principles of good medical cannabis policy.

The recent lobbying by those connected to the industry is disrespectful to Jewel’s core belief in unfettered public access to medicinal cannabis.

I will continue to advocate for a second dispensary at council meetings, and for positive conversations with folks in the industry and concerned citizens of Sonoma.

I am a prompt responder to phone calls and emails, so please feel free to contact me.

Ken Brown

Sonoma

Flip your Whig

EDITOR: Make the GOP the Whigs of the 21st century.

I'm not one of those earnest liberals who want to figure out how to better understand the Republican base:

I want to end the GOP.

They are the most dangerous political party in the world. They have abandoned democracy, and pursue a reckless nationalist foreign policy that has destabilized the Middle East, emboldened white ethno-nationalist states and jeopardized the NATO alliance.

It's time to fracture the GOP corporate money from the reactionary regional rump party of cultural grievance. Finance capital, the tech sector and the Fortune 500 are already moving into the Democratic Party at an accelerated rate.

Without the heavy money base, it’s just culturally alienated white men with guns in the former slave states and the descendants of the Indian-killers in the western states. They are the neo-Confederacy, risen up again. Their insurrection failed.

Imagine the end of the GOP as a national party.

Ben Boyce

Sonoma Valley