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Wake Congress to
danger posed by Trump

Re: “Cities eyed for military drills” (Page A1, Oct. 1).

This is truly scary and should be opposed by all. What is Trump planning to mobilize for or against? Free speech? Freedom of Assembly? Freedom of Religion? Being Black, brown or Asian? Or maybe being Palestinian? Jewish? Anything he opposes?

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It’s time to contact your U.S. representatives and senators and tell them to exert whatever pressure they can to stop this scary attempt at silencing us.

Eleanor Levine
Oakland

Trump abandoning last
shred of following law

Re: “Cities eyed for military drills” (Page A1, Oct. 1).

The emergency meeting of high-ranking military officers at Quantico this week was a thinly veiled maneuver to prepare the military for the coming police state.

Donald Trump says, “We’re under invasion from within. No different than a foreign enemy but more difficult in many ways because they don’t wear uniforms.” That enemy is anyone who disagrees with Trump. This sets the stage for a police state right here in America. Generals might have to decide to disobey an illegal order or face termination with a possible loss of pension. Sure, this termination is probably illegal and can be fought in court with very expensive and lengthy legal counsel. What would you do?

Laws do not seem to matter anymore. Witness the continued shipment of 2000-pound bombs to Israel in support of the relentless slaughter of innocent women and children of Gaza in direct violation of our own Leahy Laws.

Forrest Cioppa
Benicia

Antioch must do more
to protect citizens

Re: “Two dead, two hospitalized in shooting near restaurant” (Page B3, Sept. 20).

I was saddened and infuriated by the recent double homicide in Antioch. With the crime rates going up and incidents seeming to be never-ending, I have become numb to all of the violence that has been happening.

I have to always ask what the mayor of the city of Antioch and the City Council are doing about the violence? There needs to be something to get the youth and young adults off the streets and direct their attention and late-night activities to something more productive. Imagine a thriving city and bustling downtown Antioch with restaurants, nightclubs, art galleries and maybe even poetry slams.

The city needs to execute a solid plan to create a safe space for all of its citizens.

Bunnie Mays
Antioch

Moraga Canyon housing
opponents silenced

My neighbors and I in and around Moraga Avenue have been working hard to bring to the public’s attention our concerns about the enormity of scale of the 197 units proposed by ​the Piedmont​ Moraga Canyon housing development.

Moraga Avenue is a​ very windy, two-lane road ​with blind spots in an extremely high-fire area​ that begins and ends in Oakland. Our main focus is safety as it relates to evacuation in case of fire or earthquake, and our goal is to attempt to downsize the project to the original number of 133 units. One of the ways that we’ve been ​getting the word out is the use of lawn signs that show what 197 units would look like. In recent weeks, these signs, on private property,​ have disappeared.

These actions impinge on our rights to free speech. It is disheartening that we are feeling it at our community level.

Jane Pingatore Holland
Oakland

Walters is letting
Trump off the hook

Re: “State has only itself to blame for big issues” (Page A6, Oct. 1).

In his column, Dan Walters bashes Democrats for all California’s problems, Donald Trump for none.

This is ridiculous, as Trump targets Democrat-controlled states, deploying the military to intimidate and crush the lives of immigrants and anyone who fits ICE racial profiling, cuts funding and sues our institutions.

The East Bay Times publishes diverse perspectives, and that’s great. But Walters is published almost every day. He detests Democrats and especially Gov. Newsom. To those of us with a more nuanced view, it’s reprehensible how much more space he gets than anyone else.

Doug McKenzie
Berkekey

Conservatives abandon
poor, common decency

Re: “Mallard Fillmore” (Page B9, Oct. 1).

I am horrified by this comic today. Insinuating that poverty is a choice and that conservatives think this is common sense is why there are fewer and fewer safety nets for people in real need. What poll is this referring to? A made-up poll to support not funding social services. This is propaganda at its lowest. There are many reasons for poverty, but not one is by choice.

In the instance of African American poverty, being robbed of generational wealth and experiencing systemic racism are good places to start to understand why that group has faced poverty. Add to that, poor levels of education and health care, and you have a great recipe for poverty across the mainly red states.

Why don’t conservatives use common sense and common decency to help people out of poverty instead of making policies and defunding programs to keep them there?

Kim Clark
Danville