Letters: Let’s thank and remember the veterans who have kept us free

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Let’s thank, remember
vets who kept us free

At the Veterans’ Plaza at Milpitas City Hall, there’s a sign that reads: “LEST WE FORGET THE COURAGE, HONOR, AND SACRIFICE OF OTHERS FOR OUR FREEDOM.”

The late David McCullough advised that “we should never, ever take” for granted the blessings of American life. So true.

President Ronald Reagan said, “We are forever indebted to those who have given their lives that we might be free.”

This Veterans’ Day, let’s thank and remember the men and women who wore our nation’s uniform. Let’s especially thank and remember those who gave their lives so that we, and future generations, might live in freedom.

Pete Campbell
San Jose

Law meant to protect
threatens free speech

Re: “California law to protect Jewish students faces challenge over free speech concerns” (Nov. 3).

I thank the California teachers and parents who have sued to block a law passed in October establishing a new Office of Civil Rights to “protect Jewish students from antisemitism.” The new law doesn’t define antisemitism and leaves teachers in fear of punishment if they teach facts about Israel or Zionism that a state bureaucrat considers antisemitic.

This setup will suppress teachers’ freedom of speech and students’ right to learn. What if the new antisemitism coordinator is a fervent Israel supporter who condemns all those, like Human Rights Watch, who call Israel an apartheid state, or those, like Amnesty International, who call Israel’s war on Gaza a genocide? The law’s supporters, such as the Anti-Defamation League, are working hard to get someone like that hired.

In the interests of our students’ education and of freedom, this so-called antisemitism law should be invalidated. Let teachers teach.

David Spero
San Francisco

Let’s address vote
maps nationally

Now that Proposition 50 has passed and we have balanced the scales somewhat, it is time for Gov. Newsom and all the people who care about our democracy to come out loudly for a constitutional amendment that addresses some of the issues around gerrymandering.

The amendment should forbid the use of information on voters, including gender, race, income, political affiliation, religion, etc., to create congressional districts. Unless it is critical to getting balanced counts, the district should keep natural boundaries like county, city and postal districts intact.

Currently, our country is on a race to the bottom, and this is a small but important way to bring some sanity to our politics.

John Holton
Los Altos

What’s missing defines
Trump’s presidency

Donald Trump’s presidency is marked not by what he does, but by what he fails to do.

He neglects core issues — affordable housing, health care, education and fair wages — while advancing policies favoring the wealthy. His leadership style lacks empathy, dignity and responsibility, modeling hostility and self-interest rather than civic virtue. Trump’s divisive rhetoric ridicules opponents and deepens national wounds instead of healing them. Internationally, he alienates allies and aligns with autocrats, weakening America’s global standing. Domestically, he undermines democratic institutions, dismisses electoral legitimacy and disregards constitutional principles. On climate change — the defining challenge of the era — he offers denial instead of action.

These absences aren’t mere oversights but moral and civic failures that cost lives, corrode trust and diminish the nation’s future. True leadership requires showing up for people and principles — something Trump repeatedly fails to do.

Paul Osborn
Morgan Hill

With tariffs, Americans
pay for Trump’s faults

Donald Trump told the American people — with a straight face — that tariffs are not a tax but “income” for the Treasury, paid by foreign governments. Yet before the Supreme Court, his own lawyer said the quiet part aloud: It’s a tax. Chief Justice Roberts confirmed it — Americans pay it.

When asked if he agreed, Trump replied, “I think, no, I don’t agree. I think they might be paying something.”

That “something” is nearly $200 billion already drained from American pockets — expected to reach $3.3 trillion within 10 years. A tax by any other name, imposed unilaterally and illegally, since presidents cannot levy taxes — only Congress can.

And for what? No benefit. No progress. Just a costly illusion of strength sold as “economic patriotism.” The truth is simpler — and darker: Americans are paying for one man’s ignorance, deceit and lust of power.

Mark Grzan
Morgan Hill

Will Trump face justice
for maritime killings?

Re: “Senate votes down legislation to limit Trump’s ability to attack Venezuela” (Page A3, Nov. 7).

It is horrifying that President Trump has already committed 66 cold-blooded murders by destroying 17 small Venezuelan boats 2,000 miles from the U.S. coastline — clearly in international waters.

Even more horrifying is that 51 Republican senators are aiding and abetting Trump’s murderous rampage by voting against bipartisan legislation to require Trump to seek approval from Congress for his obviously illegal military actions — as clearly required by the U.S. Constitution (Article II, Section 2) and the War Powers Resolution of 1973.

Luis Moreno Ocampo, a former chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, has said that Trump’s systematic attacks against Venezuelan civilians during peacetime should be treated under international law as crimes against humanity.

Will there be a Nuremberg-like trial for Trump and his aides and abettors?

Dave Whitaker
San Jose