Matt Gaetz withdraws as Trump’s AG pick

I never liked the cut of Gaetzs’ jib and was dumbfounded by Trump’s nominating him. What really galls me are the feminists and their male church lady allies professing umbrage at his dalliances with the ladies. These were grown women who rendered services for which Gaetz paid. These same people recoil at such commercial contracts yet under the mantra of “my body, my choice” applaud a woman’s reproductive right to kill her unborn child. The girl who was allegedly 17 by operation of law was incompetent to contract as a minor. Perhaps they had Gaetz on the minor, but spare me the outrage over these girls getting paid for services rendered after all it’s their bodies, their choices. Meantime, before the Bondi news, I was rooting for Matthew Whitaker for attorney general.

— Mary Emily Smiley, Lawndale

New sanctuary policies for Los Angeles

Re “Council adopts sanctuary city law” (Nov. 20):

We voters just elected a tougher-on-crime DA and tried to undo Prop. 47 by passing Prop. 36. Now the will of the people is being ignored again by the City Council and Mayor Bass by passing new sanctuary policies. Were these on the ballot I’m sure sanctuary policy would not have passed. Are they/is she not listening? Don’t we have enough homeless and criminals in the Civic Center and central market areas already? Do we have to put out the welcome sign for the rest of the country’s homeless that we don’t already have? Will we be proud of the enormity of the downtown tent cities when the Olympics returns? This resistance to deport criminals in my opinion is misguided hubris that Bass, Raman and the rest of City Council are not thinking clearly about what’s best for the law-abiding citizens of Los Angeles. It is wrong to protect criminals. We don’t want them released among us. I suspect ICE will not be deterred by these shenanigans and will make a larger impact because of this.

— Dean Berkus, Encino

Trump’s cabinet picks so far

Some of Donald Trump’s key position selections have caused consternation among the Democrats and establishment Republicans. However, it’s his right to choose loyalists since he has a broad mandate to govern. All of his choices will have to undergo Senate vetting. Similar to other presidents, Trump could also make some recess appointments if push comes to shove from the media or Senate. Most of Trump’s picks so far have been acceptable and reflect how he wants to shake up the executive branch and implement his vision for the country. Although Trump values experience for these positions, he isn’t fixated on political experience. Sometimes the most experienced individuals become part of the problem in bloated departments rather than the solution for a more streamlined government. He wants to tap government outsiders who have business experience and are accustomed to solving problems instead of accelerating the bureaucracy.

— Christian Milord, Fullerton

The Democratic Party

I just read Adam Sieff’s Nov. 17 column. His solutions are sensible. Unfortunately, the only response I can give is: good luck with that. I agreed with every word he wrote. I doubt the 93 Democrats in our Legislature did.

— Mike Allred, Norco

Trump’s cabinet

Though several picks were reasonable, four stood out as being totally ridiculous — obviously made to reward the selectees for their allegiance to Trump’s campaign and not for their competence. Fortunately, the AG nominee (Gaetz) removed himself, and was replaced by top-rated appointee Pam Bondi, the former Florida AG. Hegseth, the secretary of defense appointee may be a decorated soldier, but he has no qualifying experience. Why Trump picked Gabbard for director of national intelligence is puzzling because she also has no intelligence background. The fourth selectee, RFK Jr. for secretary of health and human services, is troubling because despite no experience in health matters, he makes crackpot pronouncements about vaccines and medical research. Hopefully, the Senate confirmation hearings will dispose of the troublesome three.

— Oliver Watson, Orange