Our senators aren’t listening to us
Few things in life are worse than listening to endless hold music when connecting to live customer service agents at your bank, utility, or airline. But eventually there is light at the end of these tunnels. Eventually, with enough patience, you can at least talk to a human to raise a concern.
Unfortunately, I have discovered one of those few things worse: calling our United States Senators in Florida. Attempting to contact Rick Scott and Ashley Moody surpasses even the worst customer service experiences.
Our Florida senators — I use the pronoun only to represent they are listed as representing Florida and not as the possessive that they are common treasures for us constituents — have never answered their Senate office phones in the many days and hours I have tried to call. Their staff have not answered the phones. Even their voicemails are usually full. In the off chance the voicemail accepts a message, there is never a callback. There is never even an unwanted enrollment in a propaganda-filled newsletter.
I believe our Florida senators are intentionally ignoring Florida constituents.
We don’t have to agree on everything. I am not asking the senators to vote in favor of the policies I care about. I certainly don’t expect them to ignore their massively funded super PACs at the expense of us Floridians.
But I do expect them to at least acknowledge that I do live in Florida and have submitted feedback.
— Jake Mervis, Maitland
School vouchers lead us in right direction
Both Seminole County Schools and Orange County Schools are having recent budget cuts. They both blame the lower enrollment on declining birth rates (“Orange County Public Schools to cut 200 district-level positions,” April 15). This isn’t “The Handmaid’s Tale.” We The People are smart enough to see through the gaslighting. Lower enrollment (and lower funding) is because parents are pulling their kids out in droves, to take advantage of Florida’s voucher program where you can get money toward private school. I would love nothing more than to see the day where both school systems are taken over by the state, and all the “woke” stuff like DEI initiatives and the “Pride agenda” and the “transgender agenda” are over for good.
— Joy Stricker, Longwood
Magic’s Weltman should be out, too
In his May 5 column, Mike Bianchi said that Jamahl Mosley’s firing as Orlando Magic coach was par for the course in the NBA, given the Magic’s three straight first-round playoff losses, and particularly this season’s playoff meltdown. What Bianchi failed to mention is the same standard should also be applied to the Magic’s president of basketball operations, Jeff Weltman. Since Weltman took over in 2017, he has made seven lottery draft picks, and I believe three would be considered major disappointments in Jonathan Isaac, Mo Bamba and Jett Howard. The other four of Jalen Suggs, Franz Wagner, Paola Banchero and Anthony Black have been a mixed bag, but all share the fact that they are below-average outside shooters. Weltman’s draft picks outside the lottery have been unremarkable as well. The teams that Weltman has constructed over the past nine years have, in my view, consistently lacked good 3-point shooting or an athletic presence at center. The performance of a team that has no playoff series wins during Weltman’s tenure is more a reflection of personnel decisions rather than coaching.
— Scott Smith, Winter Park
Comey litigation is economic revenge
I believe a major issue was not covered in the May 6 editorial (“James Comey’s seashell indictment is laughable”). When the Department of Justice is constantly trying to punish perceived enemies of the president with spurious actions, they are actually achieving some of what the president wants to accomplish: They are subjecting individuals to economic punishment because they have to hire attorneys to defend them against the lunacy of these actions.
There are provisions for reimbursement of legal expenses when a court judgment goes against the prosecution. However, there is no such reimbursement when these clownish actions result in costs even though the action is thrown out before it ever reaches trial.
This economic punishment is a flagrant embarrassment in our legal system. We are going through a period when the president, who has spent a lifetime suing people, is gaining vengeance for his perceived harm and thereby, to use an expression of Native American tribes, “counting coup” on American citizens who are doing nothing more than their legal duties or daily activities and exposing the foibles of the president as an individual.
Maybe we need a new law that establishes reimbursement when actions of the Department of Justice are costing our fellow Americans substantial sums.
— William E “Bill” Thompson, Apopka
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