Trump’s election doesn’t make wrong right

Donald Trump, whose campaign was a pile of lies, has been elected our next president.

A lie doesn’t become truth, wrong doesn’t become right and evil doesn’t become good just because it is accepted by a majority.

“Get all the fools on your side and you can be elected to anything!” (Frank Dane).

— Martha Dolciamore, Soquel

Voters were held hostage by ‘racial capitalism’

I don’t know a single person who went into this election with optimism. In fact, the majority of people I know explicitly chose their candidate based on the influence of fear. Last week, renowned writer Saul Williams gave a critically important speech at UCSB, viewable on YouTube, in which he emphasizes that we are all went into this election with a proverbial gun to our heads.

No matter the outcome, every American is being held hostage by machinations of racial capitalism, a system of government that requires our participation in ideological violence, indifference to mass suffering and civilian death on a growing scale, to meet its bottom line.

No matter the outcome, this apathetic subservience to imperialist interests is what is being asked of us, and by voting we accept this exploitative relationship on a mass scale, every four years, without choice.

So wear your “I Voted” sticker if it makes you feel empowered, but understand that no vote can alter the genocidal agenda of empire, only civil disobedience in coordinated solidarity can do that.

— Gabriel Kittle-Cervine, Santa Cruz

Abortion as an election issue was a ‘red herring’

Democrats and especially VP Harris attempted to make a “women’s right to access reproductive care” (an interesting euphemism for unfettered access to abortion) a national election issue. Do not be fooled by this obvious “red herring.” The Supreme Court decision in Dobbs clearly states that according to the U.S. Constitution, the federal government does not have the authority to grant access to nor to regulate medical abortions. That power is retained by the states.

Had the Democrats and Harris won the election, any attempt to do so would immediately have been met with a lawsuit from the several states that already have laws covering this issue. When states sue the federal government, the case immediately goes to the Supreme Court. The six justices who voted for Dobbs are unlikely to reverse themselves so soon.

Thus, any effort by the Democrats to codify Roe is futile and any promises to do so are obviously designed to simply garner votes for the candidates. Do not let the Democrats gaslight you on this issue.

— Edward Peltzer, Soquel

Resource Center trafficking in antisemitism

Years ago I wrote that the Resource Center for Non-Violence should change their name to the Resource Center for Violence Against Jews.

Over the years I commented on their antisemitic rhetoric in singling out Israel for condemnation. This year they have amplified their antisemitism and undercut what they claim to be their mission of a non-violent approach for social change. The RCNV is honoring UCSC professor Christine Hong with its Insperator Award. Hong not only opposes the Jewish people’s right to their ancestral homeland, but has justified the barbaric attack against Israeli civilians on Oct. 7, 2023.

The RCNV by honoring Hong is dishonoring the memories of Martin Luther King Jr. (a proud Zionist) and Mahatma Gandhi who the RCNV pretends to admire. Support or justification for the atrocities committed by Hamas cannot be justified by an organization that claims that non-violence is the way to peace. It should not be honoring one who does, unless of course an exception is made in the case of Jews.

— Gil Stein, Aptos

Gault school’s thank you to Penny Ice Creamery

The Gault Community would like to send a huge thank you to the Penny Ice Creamery for their contribution to our school celebrations

In the same week, they provided a free ice cream party for the class of our winning student from the “Walk-n-Roll to School” drawing, and then joined us, days later, at our annual Halloween Carnival where they handed out free ice cream cones to all!

We are so grateful for Penny Ice Creamery’s generosity and the example that they set as a community partner, invested in bringing joy to our school.

— Amy Spiers, Principal, Gault Elementary, Santa Cruz