Encouraging and sublime

Thank you for a very encouraging and sublime front-page story today (Jan. 13) telling of many people gathering in many churches to support each other in this time of disaster. Your article beautifully revealed that our community spirit of helping each other in times of crisis is still alive and well here. Gives me hope that even in this day and age of division and anger in our country that we can still be OK.

— William Stremel, South Pasadena

Results are in

Californians now see the results of a one-party rule.

— Dennis Cito, Arcadia

In a landslide

A single Sunday Opinion section hasn’t passed since as long as I can remember when your editorial board and columnists haven’t bagged on Gov. Gavin Newsom in multiple articles. Since term limits in California have been initiated no governor other than Newsom has had to endure more than two elections. He has had to succeed on three occasions and did so in each with about 60% of the vote. A recent press release from the Trump administration transition team said since Trump won in a landslide, he expects to have a mandate for his agenda. If Trump’s 49.5% is a landslide what is Newsom’s 60%?

— Ron Garber, Duarte

Aid in dying for dementia patients

Sen. Blakespear’s admirable attempt to impose some reality on the issue of dementia and medical aid in dying shows a light on the “I know better than you know what’s right for your body/life” crowd. The primary problem is the requirement that a patient has less than six months to live before medications can be prescribed. Nobody knows the prognosis with dementia, leaving a patient without relief of self-determination. Does anyone really want to face an end to life lying in diapers, unable to recognize loved ones, losing their financial resources to expensive ‘’memory care’’ facilities? If so, they’re welcome to it but I do not! Given the diagnosis of dementia, I want the option to purchase a way out, so I can choose my own end ... at my own timing. Why not?

— Pam Wright, Pasadena

As Jan. 20 arrives

At 89, I am a life-long conservative Republican, as were my parents. Graduating from Whittier High School in 1953 as an Eagle Scout, that summer I attended the National Scout Jamboree in Irvine with thousands of scouts and listened to President Ike Eisenhower’s new Vice President Richard Nixon of Whittier keynote the event. Next morning he sought out a Whittier patrol and as our guest personally helped me cook a breakfast of scrambled eggs.

Although Nixon was originally from Yorba Linda, he and his extended family soon made Whittier their home town as Nixon became the Whittier-area Congressman. I appreciated Nixon who decades later became president pushing an environmental agenda and later opening up Communist China to the world preventing it from becoming another hermit North Korea.

But he made one drastic error we cannot forgive: the Watergate cover up. Key Republicans stood for the Constitution and rule of law, failing to support him after the details were known. Nixon became the first president to resign from office in disgrace on Aug. 9, 1974.

Fast forward a half century to Jan. 6, 2021, when then President Donald Trump had lost the election to Joe Biden. Trump claimed the election was stolen although 50 separate courts and several Republican secretaries of state confirmed otherwise. He called together a roudy, armed crowd that stormed the U.S. Capitol and put all of our Washington legislators including Vice President Mike Pence in definite threat of their lives. Yet the still-in-office Trump, after urgent pleadings by his closest Republican allies, continued to let that violent mob run wild desecrating our Capitol! Over a thousand of these mobsters were later convicted. Literally all of the Republican leadership and legislators, with Democrats, publicly requested his impeachment or severe censure. All traitorous actions were documented by the bipartisan Jan. 6 House Select Committee and facts/testimony broadly televised in following months.

But Trump did not resign; for four more years he repeated lies that he had won the 2020 national election. And these same Republican leaders had soon turned-coat and streamed to Mar-a-Lago to cow-tow before the emperor.

Unfortunately, over half of voters in 2024 believed his propaganda lies and traitorous actions and voted him to high office once again! Is it any wonder that logical Americans, including many respected Republcan leaders, agree with me that the over 200-year existence of our Republic is in serious jeopardy?

— Lee Willard, Whittier