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Who will stand up to
parties’ redistricting?
Re: “Texas, California at center of fight on redistricting” (Page A1, Aug. 6).
Donald Trump has branded masked protesters in public demonstrations as terrorists, while the ICE brigands wear required face covers. Gov. Abbott of Texas has made Democratic minority legislators flee the state. Republicans want to gerrymander the state’s voting districts to ensure five new Republican seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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The promise of trouble came when Justice Roberts voted to drop congressional oversight of Southern states inching back into Jim Crow laws. The Supreme Court has been shy about ordering the redrawing of political maps. It is bad enough that Republicans can see no problem in rigging the election with a might-makes-right morality. Worse than that is the threat of California’s Gov. Newsom doing exactly the same thing.
My weakening hope is that some Republicans and a Supreme Court justice would realize what this would do to that tattered word “democracy.” The November 2026 election is a long way away.
David Eisbach
San Jose
Trump is purging
quality employees
Re: “The America we knew is rapidly vanishing” (Page A7, Aug. 7).
I was shocked, but not surprised, to hear about the firing of Erika McEntarfer, commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It’s true that the America we know is rapidly vanishing because government officials have lost their backbones and won’t contradict Donald Trump when he makes bad decisions.
How will people carry out business when the “numbers” from labor statistics will only be put out to Trump‘s liking? The jobs report wasn’t that bad in the first place. The world depends on the trustworthy statistics that the U.S. puts out.
We are losing top people with top integrity in important positions.
Celeste McGettigan
San Jose
mRNA research cuts are
black mark for RFK Jr.
Re: “RFK Jr. removes $500 million in funding for vaccine development” (Page A3, Aug. 7).
I walk from room to room as best I can, sometimes with Ibuprofen or Tylenol to dull the pain of cancerous hip and spine tumors I now have since chemo failed to eradicate them.
I’m doing better now on very expensive Pluvicto, which thankfully is covered for us, but what if this fails too? Will RFK Jr. reverse his half-billion-dollar cut to mRNA research he just announced? This money could lead to not only better vaccines, but, as I understand it, possibly new cancer treatments.
This administration has to go — now.
Robert Wahler
San Jose
Leave exotic animals
out of vacation plans
Re: “Wish You Were Here” (Page F8, July 27).
The July 27 edition of Wish You Were Here sadly showed a photo of two Mercury News readers atop an elephant in India. Elephants are intelligent, self-aware individuals who live in family units consisting of a matriarch, her daughters and their offspring for life. Elephants exploited for tourism are ripped from their mothers as babies and put in small cages called “crush” boxes, where they are beaten to break their spirit.
Elephants, camels, donkeys and other animals used for rides suffer for human entertainment, as do baby animals used for “selfies,” dolphins used in swimming encounters, and animals in roadside zoos who live in cramped, dismal conditions.
It’s easy to plan a compassionate vacation that doesn’t exploit animals and provides an opportunity to teach kids kindness and respect for other sentient beings.
Karen Rubio
Los Gatos