Don’t equate killing to free-speech debate
A letter to the editor published Sunday (“What counts as freedom?”) called to task the tasteless, offensive comments of some folks who seemed to celebrate or joke about the killing of Charlie Kirk. However, the writer went on to compare the slaying of the man, who often said tasteless and offensive things himself, to the issue of free speech.
Killing is killing, illegal in every moral or statuary sense, regardless of motive. There is no excuse, no justification for it. It is a tragedy. Yet people kill one another every day in Florida and elsewhere on highways, homes and businesses, for any number of supposed reasons (excessive machismo, robbery, road rage, being bullied, domestic violence … the list goes on). Clearly Kirk’s killing was a heinous violation of the law, and his killer will hopefully be facing the justice the law allows.
However, the killing of Kirk, or of anyone, is in no way comparable to the government curtailing free speech, either by mandate or leverage, of entertainers or writers or anyone because they don’t like someone’s message, or because their words may be in poor taste or offensive to someone. This is an administrative punishment if you will, an overreach, and probably the sort of thing that inspired the First Amendment to begin with.
This is not a time to taunt or throw stones that only further to inflame folks on various “sides” of issues (sides often manufactured and leveraged for a political purpose). Instead, it’s time for everyone to just tone it down a bit, reflect and think a bit more of what we all have in common.
MB Powers Longwood
Focus on Florida’s spending issues
We see $3.9 billion taken from the Florida Education Finance Corporation for public education and diverted to school vouchers. The Florida Forever Program allocates $270 million for conservation. The Florida Cancer Innovation Fund, another Casey DeSantis program, is allocating $60 million in grants for cancer research. Remember Hope Florida? Cancer is a great cause, but this seems like a drop in the bucket over the billions of dollars for vouchers to many children who already attend private school.
Florida is becoming overdeveloped. The aquifers will run into a critical shortage and reclaimed water or treated wastewater will be the answer. Eliminate property taxes? How about we use some of our tax dollars from vouchers to help with critical resources and conservation. Where is Florida DOGE?
Cynthia Skrock Oviedo
Can GOP learn from George Santos debacle?
Does anyone remember the case of New York Rep. George Santos back in 2022? It seems to me that Florida Rep. Cory Mills is heading down a similar path. The Sentinel wrote a very telling editorial on Sunday (“The GOP must stop stalling in the case of Cory Mills”) pointing out why Mills might not be worthy of his title.
Do the Republicans have the ethics to remove Mills? The Democrats stood up for honesty in 2022. It would be hypocrisy for the Republicans to ignore Mills’ situation.
Mary Haddad Oviedo
Trump’s Comey hunt will falter
OK. Now we have seen what happens when a president calls for the prosecution of a “boy scout.” Seriously. The president of the United States just asked a woman who looks like a beauty queen and has never prosecuted a federal case in her life to bring a case against one of the most honest and hard working FBI leaders in the recent history of our country.
She is so beyond her scope of prosecutorial law that I could do better. And I am a medical technologist who worked in my field for more than 25 years. Donald Trump would have better luck using me to prosecute this Boy Scout.
Can I have a job in the White House? Just asking. Thanks.
Joy Putnam Daytona Beach
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