Speaker debacle showed GOP dysfunction
The expression, “the cream always rises to the top,” sometimes used to describe circumstances where the most accomplished people emerge from the crowd, is not absolute. With an embarrassing display of dysfunction by the Republican majority in the House, starting with Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s ouster, the fractious GOP rejected an unprecedented number of speaker candidates whose ideologies were out of alignment with certain factions within the conference.
After quashing bids by three prominent House members, Republicans finally settled on a known ally of Donald Trump and an active participant in the efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, Mike Johnson. Handing the speaker’s gavel to a known election denier who opposes providing support to an ally fighting to defend democracy, Ukraine, should send a message to the electorate that in the Republican Party, cream is not the only substance that can rise to the top.
Jim Paladino Tampa
How do we get to ‘two-state solution’ in Middle East?
Would it help our understanding of the Middle East situation if we were to recognize Palestine as a state? Many nations already do. And to say “Gaza, Palestine” and “West Bank, Palestine,” would recognize the two separate regions which comprise Palestine. How do we get to a “two-state solution”?
Sarah Wells Poinciana
Palestinians defending their land
On page 1 of the Saturday Orlando Sentinel there was a picture of a very young boy holding a sign which stated, “River to Sea a Free Palestine.” Other protesters held up signs such as, “If you support Israel give them your land.” Those signs encapsulate why a two-state solution is never going to work to bring peace to the Middle East. In the eyes of the Muslim and Arab world a free Palestine runs from the Jordan River, the boundary line between Israel, Jordan, and the West Bank, all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. In other words there is no room for the Jewish state of Israel; all this land belongs to the so-called Palestinian people. This is why Palestinian leaders have always refused land-for-peace deals.
Almost every Israeli Prime Minister has offered on generous terms to trade land for peace only to be rebuffed by every Palestinian leader. Radical terrorist groups supported by Iran wanted to stop the momentum of the Abraham Accords which ultimately would have helped the Palestinians and it looks like they have succeeded.
Stuart Peisner Longwood
‘Florida freedom’ has opposite effect
When our governor and his majority party refer to “Florida freedom” what exactly do they mean? What is it that Floridians are free from that other Americans are not?
Floridians are free from government transparency: The Republican legislature has recently passed legislation that hides facts and figures from the constituents that they were elected to serve. In what state of freedom does the constituency have to take to court the very Legislature they elected in order to gain public information regarding how they are spending their official time and our money?
Floridians are free from choice: Thanks to our governor and his Legislature, a small but deep-pocketed minority have chiseled away at women’s rights to choose, students’ right to choose, parents’ rights to choose and the choice to legally be yourself without fear of retribution.
Floridians are free from knowledge: If the goal of discounting historic facts, pulling books from shelves, attacking First Amendment privileged speech and inserting unqualified people as leaders of higher learning institutions is to dumb down the voting public, then the Florida Republican party is succeeding beyond any expectations.
My only request is that we advertise Florida freedom truthfully — Florida Free-dumb!
Dan McGarvey Orlando
