In letters: Readers pan Donald Trump, praise David Middlecamp | Opinion
How to lose an election
Donald Trump has now said that Republicans will never win another election unless they take over voting in 15 states. For once, he may be right, but for the wrong reasons. Voter fraud will not sink the Republicans, but their policies will.
Cutting health care to finance tax cuts for billionaires is not popular, nor is invading U.S. cities with thousands of masked thugs who demand citizenship papers from people of color and break into private residences without judicial warrants. Doing nothing to bring down living costs while imposing tariffs that drive living costs higher and antagonizing our trading partners isn’t exactly popular, either.
The way to win elections is to do things that benefit the voters, not commit acts of war without consulting Congress or threaten to invade Greenland because the president needs it for his emotional security.
Unfortunately, nothing that would help working-class voters with much of anything seems to be on the Republicans’ Project 2025 agenda. The Republicans do have a problem with elections, and that is it.
Christopher Toews
San Luis Obispo
Martin would be proud!
On Super Bowl Sunday the San Luis Obispo community, for its 57th year, came together to celebrate Martin Luther King’s dream that our children walk hand-in-hand as they realize their dreams. The Elks opened their facility and the MLK Scholarship Fund Board volunteered to serve the community a chicken barbecue, raising funds for our graduating seniors at Mission College Prep, Pacific Beach High School and San Luis Obispo High School.
The San Luis Obispo community makes dreams come true.
Mary Matakovich, President
MLK Jr. High School Scholarship Fund
Remembering Miss Ethel Cooley
Thank you to David Middlecamp for his Jan. 31 “Photos from the Vault” story about Miss Ethel Cooley, SLO’s Goodwill Ambassador.
The History Center recently hosted, “Who Was Ethel Cooley?”, an exhibit drawn from the scrapbooks Cooley (1905-1995) kept for decades. Executive Director Steve Schmidt and collections team curated pages preserving civic life, student activities, exchange student letters and everyday scenes that might otherwise be lost.
Cooley, SLO High’s longtime dean of girls, demanded effort and then created opportunities. She also led a postwar “peace project.” In 1948, she helped start a partnership with Stuttgart, Germany. What began with care packages grew into a yearlong student exchange; the first student arrived in 1953, and the program continues today through Rotary Club of SLO de Tolosa and the German American Partnership Program.
Amy Kardel, San Luis Obispo
Co-Chair, German School Committee
Youth Exchange Officer, Rotary Club of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa
Too much baiting and switching
Bait and Switch is alive and well in 2025 and beyond.
Bait: DOGE getting rid of “fraud, waste and abuse.”
Switch: In reality, it just got rid of whole agencies; let our data and Social Security information be taken by unauthorized and unvetted people.
Bait: ICE rounding up the “worst of the worst” illegal criminals.
Switch: A government-created federal police force needed to chase down and detain anyone they feel like harassing. DHS reinterpreted the 1st Amendment, 2nd Amendment and 4th Amendment. Get in their way, and you could be dead.
Bait: Protecting the U.S. from drug smugglers on the high seas.
Switch: Blowing up boats in international waters with our cool military weapons. No need for evidence, investigations or funerals. If you are a survivor clinging to the bits of boat, fear not, second missile on the way.
Bait: Iranian people need to be free; they are rising up against the regime. “Help is on the way,” per Truth Social.
Switch: If you kill too many protesters, the U.S. will send some ships your way. The U.S. supports the sovereignty of other nations, unless it is Ukraine, Greenland, Canada, Venezuela, Columbia, Cuba or Denmark.
Rachelle Toti
Arroyo Grande