The story of the slippery slope is about a dangerous path and finding it hard, if not impossible, to change course.
Americans are weakened by reliance on unknown sources of information, rivers of intentional misinformation and loss of trust. Most people, including myself, find it difficult to care enough to spend time and find out what’s actually happening beyond attempts to manipulate our opinions.
We are in fact on a slippery slope toward a dictatorship. This is all real: Federal troops deployed in cities whose leaders disagree with the president; people rounded up without cause by masked agents and placed in camps; the federal government suing businesses and universities who disagree; tampering with congressional districts to lock in partisan power.
Our Constitution and laws are pushed aside to concentrate and abuse power. We are one small step from people being arrested simply for criticizing authority.
I’ve decided to protest. The question is, what will it take for more of us to care enough to get out in the streets to stop it?
Dave Pepper, Boca Raton
Stop electing Broward judges
Your recent editorial, “No end to bad behavior on Broward’s bench,” caused me to think about the wisdom of judicial elections.
The editorial noted that in the past year or so, five Broward judges faced sanctions by the Florida Supreme Court. Is it a coincidence that all five were elected to the bench, and not appointed?
Given that judicial candidates do not provide voters the same materials they would submit to a Judicial Nominating Commission or the governor, do voters have enough information?
Or has this become a name game, a race game and a religion game?
There’s an alternative. The state Constitution (Art. V, Sec. 10) allows Broward voters to exercise a local option to select judges by merit selection and retention rather than election. To initiate it, residents of the county can file with the supervisor of elections a petition signed by the number of voters equal to at least 10% of the votes cast in the county in the last presidential election (in Broward, it’s about 88,000 voters).
I think it may be time for us to give serious thought to this alternative.
Howard A. Tescher, Fort Lauderdale
Leave bears and cubs alone
Gov. Ron DeSantis claims he has not received any phone calls of protest about the upcoming bear hunt — a hunt that should not take place.
Here’s a “maybe” as to why he has gotten no calls. I called his office (850-488-4441) and I pressed “2” to leave a message. The mailbox was full.
I called back and pressed “1” to speak to a staff member. No one answered.
A robotic voice told me to leave a message. I tried to leave a message. The mailbox was full.
DeSantis can’t get calls if one cannot leave messages, so here’s mine. Leave us our bears and more importantly, the cubs, to be raised by their parents, who face being indiscriminately slaughtered by hunters who will flout the rules to get a trophy.
Bill Gralnick, Boca Raton
Defending Pat Beall
Letter writer Osvaldo Valdes of Hollywood wants the humor columns by Pat Beall removed from his paper because he does not appreciate her “trashing” (his word) the present administration with humor.
He should know that this type of column is as old as the printing press and part of human culture.
Wit is intelligence.
I would advise him to skip her articles — just like I skip the articles written by rabid Trumpers.
Nina Leonard, St. Augustine
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