Letters to the Editor
Free Republic
Last week the House Intelligence Committee released a memo claiming the FBI obtained surveillance warrants against a Trump campaign advisor (a citizen) based on a fabricated dossier funded by the Clintons. I am not surprised.
People are “ambitious, vindictive and rapacious” (Alexander Hamilton, “The Federalist Papers, No.6”). Human nature is imperfectible and terribly irrepressible. Laws and due process exist to mitigate society’s and government’s selfish, capricious and arbitrary actions. Biases constantly chip away at the integrity of any process, and deliberate failures, especially against the public trust, must be dealt with openly and swiftly, i.e., “You’re fired” (at a minimum). “Accountability” means “consequences.”
I suppose nothing much will come from this memo, except for political spin and defensive theatrics. It takes leadership and guts to police your own, something not often seen in Washington but for the occasional politician — and current President — who cannot be bought.
It is up to us, the law-abiding American, to support them. A free Republic requires eternal vigilance and constant struggle against the proponents of lawlessness and hate.
Benito Alvarez, MD
Chester Township
Eliminate Gerrymandering
Last spring, the League of Women Voters of Ohio, Common Cause and other non-partisan organizations began circulating petitions to eliminate gerrymandering of congressional districts.
The plan is to amend the state constitution to provide for the redrawing of congressional districts every 10 years following the U.S. Census.
The bipartisan Ohio Redistricting Commission — which is now established in the state constitution — was approved by voters in 2015 to redraw state districts to make them fair for voters. (One person equals one vote.) The petitions we are circulating now will do the same for congressional districts.
Now the state legislature is suddenly trying to shove through their own congressional redistricting plan that will be worse than the one we currently have, which is one of the five most gerrymandered maps in the country and the worst in Ohio history.
Congressional redistricting reform is too important to be pushed through in private meetings behind closed doors. If you think we should have fair districts, please call the following key decision-makers and let them know that we want, need and deserve real redistricting reforms, not more gerrymandering disguised as reform.
- Senator Matt Huffman, (614) 466-7584
- Rep. Kirk Schuring, (614) 752-2438
- Senate President Larry Obhof, (614) 466-7505
- House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, (614) 466-3506
Rosemary Balazs, President
League of Women Voters of Geauga County
Chester Township
