Moms for Liberty misnomer; mass shootings; Biden vs. Trump; Vero Beach 

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Here’s a second Second Amendment history lesson

Richard C. Silvestri in his opinion piece again followed an incorrect interpretation of the Second Amendment.

The Second Amendment is one of 10 amendments made to the Constitution in 1791. All of the 10 amendments were written specifically to protect “Individual” rights vis-a-vis the federal government. Today, all states have almost identical “rights” in their constitutions assuring individuals’ rights vs. the states. The entire Bill of Rights, including freedom of speech, right to a trial, unreasonable search and seizure, etc., secure individual rights vs. government.

The notion that “militia” has some government-sponsored authorization is completely false. Each state had a “militia” of volunteer citizens ready to take up their own arms and ammunition against any threat to their country, state or their liberty. There was no federal military in 1791 and the entire Bill of Rights was directed at protecting individual rights against governments, not providing rights to government. The Bill of Rights balanced the power of the government (given to it in the Constitution) with the rights of the individuals (given to them in the Bill of Rights).

As for most of Silvestri’s other comments, I can only point again to history. George Washington led an “insurrection” against an oppressive government with a band of volunteer Individuals fighting for freedom. They fought against superior “government sponsored” military and we won! The Ukraine is fighting a much larger army with superior offensive weapons and is holding its own. So much for the rifle against the tank notion.

Thomas Jefferson: “A government big enough to give you everything you want, is a government big enough to take away everything you have.” Tells you exactly what they were thinking!

Before advocating change, understand what you are trying to change.

Joe Thoma, Port St. Lucie

Clarence Thomas had dealings with money man after ruling in case

Ethics experts have conflicting views of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in relation to financial interactions with Harlan Crow.

Thomas has said this sort of personal hospitality from close friends, who did not have business before the court, was not reportable. However, as reported by Bloomberg, in January 2005, the court declined to hear an appeal from an architecture firm that wanted more than $25 million from Trammel Crow Residential Co. for allegedly misusing copyrighted building designs. When the court issued a one-sentence order denying the petition, there were no recusals nor dissents.

Ergo, Thomas participated in this denial. In this particular case in which Crow had a vested interest, Thomas’ dealings, with Crow should have led to a recusal, or a disclosure. Thomas consulted with unnamed colleagues. It would be interesting to know who those colleagues were.

Ronald D. Roberts, Sebastian

Vero Beach airline a Breeze; door-to-door in five hours

I am sorry to hear that your editor, Adam Neal, and his family had a bad experience on a Breeze flight to Connecticut in March.

However, I must say that delays worse than what happened to him and his family have happened to us on flights with other airlines between Florida airports and the Northeast, and that Breeze’s on-time performance overall compares very favorably to that of other carriers.

Members of my family have taken a total of four flights on Breeze since the airline started operations to and from Vero Beach in the beginning of February and we have no complaints about on-time performance — or any other issues, for that matter.

On our last flight from Westchester County, New York, to Vero Beach, we arrived back here a full half-hour ahead of schedule and with free parking close to the terminal, we were home even before the plane had been supposed to land! This was the return trip from a visit to my son in the mid-Hudson River Valley, and, door-to-door, we made the trip in five hours. Even in a private jet, we couldn’t have done it any faster.

Breeze has been a great addition to Vero Beach!

Christine Matus, Indian River Shores

Mass shootings fault of gun promoters

Again we hear from legislators and others that another gun massacre of the innocent is God’s wlll.

No, it isn’t. God doesn’t manufacture guns and He doesn’t pull triggers. I’d argue the gun slaughters of innocent people, including children, is the fault of those who tacitly sanction these murders — Wayne LaPierre, CEO and executive vice president of the NRA, and his foot soldiers, like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron Desantis — so they can sell more guns.

Joan Fox, Vero Beach

Get real: Biden’s America not a pretty picture

I really do wish I had been blessed with a pair of rose-colored glasses through which Joan Parvin sees “All Things Biden” in her rebuttal of my recently published letter.  

She says “foreign policy experts” say there is no “there” in Hunter Biden’s laptop, claiming that neither Biden has committed a crime and that somehow Donald Trump is responsible for the allegations against them. Are these the same “foreign policy experts” who signed a letter attesting to the laptop being Russian disinformation, which we now know was false and possibly drawn up and sanctioned by the White House?

You may dislike Trump, but his accomplishments are many: energy independence, a secure border, no new wars, moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, and many of us don’t see the undoing of the Iran nuclear deal as a bad thing.

The 34 “criminal charges” against him are politically motivated, especially the ones in New York.

We are indeed much worse off than we were four years ago, as anyone who goes grocery shopping knows. Eggs, milk and bread have gone up dramatically in the past few years, causing hardships for lower-income families. Real wages have fallen every month for two years and are now 3% below where they were before Joe Biden took office.

Biden has a terrible record on spending, financial regulations and inflation. Shifting the focus to Trump and his 34 “criminal charges” will do nothing to help everyday Americans.  

The only thing that will is for people to take those glasses off and see the world we live in as it really is. It’s not a pretty picture. 

Patricia Perrone, Stuart

Book issue shows Moms for Liberty a misnomer

I don’t know why the “Mothers for Liberty” are taking great books off the school library shelves. This is how the Nazis got started.

Most kids in school are too busy with their iPads, computers and games to even read. They also watch a lot of violence on TV (which some emulate). I don’t know why the Moms aren’t protesting guns. Florida is an open state to carry guns. Don’t they worry about their children’s safety? Kids in school have drills as what to do if there’s a shooter. 

Doesn’t this worry the Moms? What they’re protesting is not liberty, but censorship.

Rita Wolper, Stuart

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