More catty comments about ‘Kam-ala’ Harris

Who’s a cat lady now? Or a catty lady? Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Meow!

Nice talk Gov. Sanders.

Please learn how to pronounce people’s names and refer to them in the manner to which you would like to be referred.

— Pat Duncan, Aptos

The real threats to democracy – from Trump

Trump’s campaign bodaciously accuses the Democrats of inciting the violence that resulted in Trump being a target of an assassin by calling Trump a threat to democracy. The real threat to Democracy is a candidate and his running mate who deliberately spread a lie in Springfield, Ohio, resulting in bomb threats, harassment and closing of schools. The goal was to stir up fear and hatred toward immigrants. The real threat to democracy is to claim if he loses the election it would have been rigged. The real threat to democracy is a Supreme Court loaded with Trump appointees who overturn protections for women, expand presidential power to near impunity, and delay Trump’s criminal trials. The real threat to democracy is elected Republicans who tank immigration bills at Trump’s bidding, who fail to impeach the man who fomented the violence on Jan. 6.

That Democrats point out these dangers is not the problem, Trump is.

Last but not least, anyone who boldly shouts “I hate Taylor Swift” cannot be trusted.

— Christine DeLapp, Aptos

Ganging up on Trump doesn’t change reality

Hate Trump, Hate Trump, Hate Trump, Hate Trump.

Just kidding.

One “debate” (3 on 1) doesn’t change the worse and worse reality Americans have faced and now face every day that the current administration caused.

— Garrett Philipp, Santa Cruz

Three port commissioners erased O’Neill legacy

The Santa Cruz community was recently shamed by the Santa Cruz Port Commission, which voted 3-2 to give the O’Neill building at the harbor a new name. Renaming this building is an insult to Jack O’Neill, Harry Hinds, to our community, and to 60 years of legacy surrounding the use and activities that have occurred there.

Shame on you — three commissioners who pushed this process without public input and voted for erasing legacy that belongs to all of us.

— Niels Kisling, Capitola

Don’t give up on a better future for Santa Cruz

Mark Primack’s Sept. 1 Commentary contends, “We live in the path of progress.” How defeatist! That’s not the way to see our future. Instead, think of a tree with many decision points, many contributions, and a better way for us all. Books have been written about how we can have a better future when we envision it. “Happy City” by Charles Montgomery and “Death and Life of Great American Cities” by Jane Jacobs are just two examples.

We have our local past as roots to help us see the way to a brighter future.

Imagine if a golf resort had been built where Lighthouse Field State Beach is now. Imagine if the Coastal Commission had never been invented, and we had tall hotels with private beaches all along our coastline.

As humans, we have the power to imagine and build better alternatives. Don’t give up.

— Alice Levine, Santa Cruz

Claims Israel a ‘colonial occupier’ ignore history

Some people assert that Israel is a white European colonial settler state that occupies an Arab country called Palestine. This view ignores a good deal of history. There never was an independent Arab nation of Palestine. Arabs usually referred to the country called Palestina by the Romans as an integral part of Syria, or Bilad ash-Sham. Syria was partitioned by the League of Nations creating three Arab and one multi-ethnic state — the Palestine Mandate.

Also missing from this view is that the majority of Israel’s Jewish population today are Mizrahim, of Middle Eastern and North African origin. Jews are an indigenous people of the region.

In 1947 the United Nations partitioned the mandate into Arab and Jewish states. Surrounding Arab nations invaded and annexed Arab Palestine. In 1967, following further attacks, Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza. With a peace settlement, those areas would be the basis for the two-state solution, as originally envisioned in 1947.

— Mik Moore, Santa Cruz