The Kennedys and the Clintons Are Full of It

I am 74, and I can’t tell you how I view all this environmental stuff. Some of it is pure crap, and if you don’t believe me, just ask folks who have lost their homes in recent forest fires or in mud slides. All past administrations have not reinforced the laws on the books, so it’s still a matter of who you know and how much are willing to pay to have all the inspectors look the other way. To throw yet another Kennedy in our faces [“Fresh Heir,” Weekly, Jan. 6-12] is a bit much. The article says, “when Bobby talks about how bad President Bush is [on the environment]he makes a point that is not about bashing Republicans.” To which I say: B.S.

In the eight years that Clinton and the Democrats had the power, what did they do? Clinton disgraced the office of the President. I want to know what the Democrats really stand for these days. Nobody ever says what a mess Clinton left. Nobody ever says he had all this war info, he knew what was going down. My only regret is that the rest of my life I’ll be stuck with the Clintons in the news. They are both hippies and yuppies who never grew up, and probably will be in denial of what their administration did to America forever. —Charlotte Aloia | Monterey

Rancho San Juan Whiners Are Stupid

I greatly dislike where people think the majority has divine right to force its will on the minority. Since people can’t be sure they’re the majority, they pretend that they are.

The ruckus about Rancho San Juan is nonsense [“Huge Development May Face Vote,” Weekly, Jan. 13-19.] Prunedale is a dump, yet some people in Prunedale whine they don’t want a large development between itself and Salinas. City officials have turned Salinas into a dump and oppose Rancho San Juan. Probably because they know the most productive citizens will flee to Rancho San Juan. Every other clown is protesting because they got theirs and don’t want anybody else to have anything.

With that kind of stupid mentality, the right to interfere with others, it could lead to maintaining a large military that tries to force the rest of the world to bend to United States whims. —W.L. McAtee | Salinas

Protest Bush, Not America

I drove by an anti-Bush/anti-war protest in Monterey on Inauguration Day and I noticed something that disturbed me very much. The American Flag was being displayed upside-down. I understand people’s contempt for the war; war is an ugly thing. However, particular disgust for a presidential administration shouldn’t carry over to disrespect of the American people.

The American Flag is not a symbol of a presidential administration; the Flag is a symbol of America and a symbol of its people and the strength and diversity which they embody. The Flag is a symbol of Freedom, and to hang it upside-down is to spit on the very Freedom which encourages the Freedom of Speech and the other Freedoms we as a nation have come to take for granted. To display the Flag in such a fashion also disrespects the memories of every patriot who has given their life in pursuit of that Freedom. We are all Americans and we must embrace, not defile our Flag; the symbol of our Freedom, the symbol of the American people. —Ryan Spriestersbach | Monterey