Reject DeSantis' radical agenda and elect moderate voices to Sarasota's School Board

Elect moderates to reform School Board

Imagine a world where book bans and attacks on teachers are not the response to fear and uncertainty.

Generations of this same noise have apparently taught us nothing, but if you break down the word “educate” by its parts, you’ll find that it literally means “the process of leading out.”

Banning books isn’t an effort to “lead out.” It is an effort to imprison and turning schools into intellectual correctional facilities is a disservice to us all.

Endorsement, School Board, District 2: Editorial Board chooses Liz Barker over incumbent Karen Rose.

As a parent and retired teacher, I can assure you that efforts to restrict a child’s exploration of the world around them largely fail. Most kids are naturally curious and telling them “no” invariably leads to the question “why?”

When the answer to that question is “Because I said so,” curiosity becomes a quest to find answers.

When fascists came to power in Italy a century ago, one of their first acts was to “reform” the education system and turn it into a vehicle to spew propaganda.

Sarasota County is on that precipice today, and it is time to reject Gov. Ron DeSantis' agenda and elect moderate voices to the School Board.

Randall Green, Venice

DeSantis decides when life begins

Owen Girard is a Tallahassee student who somehow deserved to have his radically anti-abortion views published without debate in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune on July 12 ( “I’m Gen Z, voting ‘no’ on abortion amendment” ).

Girard believes that he has inside information that life begins at conception.

He declares that he “tirelessly works with his fellow students, both men and women, white and black, conservative and liberal, to protect life at all costs on Florida State University’s campus and throughout Leon County.”

What nonsense! Life does not begin at conception. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said so. He signed legislation emphatically declaring that life begins at six weeks or 42 days. One day is the difference between legal abortion and murder.

If life begins at conception, then why would God’s anti-abortion advocate, the governor, grant abortion rights to Florida residents and out-of-state women up to 41 days past conception day?

Former President Donald Trump, a part-time abortion opponent, proclaimed that the law on abortion was “beautifully” up to the individual states.

Girard, did you know that the state of Florida warehouses children with complex medical needs in nursing homes? Is that pro-life? In Florida, apparently, it is!

Doug McClaugherty, Sarasota

So far, Trump is one untouchable felon

Former President Donald Trump, convicted of 34 felony counts, has surpassed the original “Teflon Don,” John Gotti.

With the Supreme Court's presidential immunity decision , which supports U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon's dismissal of the classified documents case and its effect on numerous pending cases, Trump seems to be one untouchable felon.

Luck really has nothing to do with it.

The systematic loading of the justice system with Federalist Society conservatives and Trump sympathizers from lower courts to the Supreme Court, coupled with Trump's finely honed practice of delaying proceedings and orchestrating minions to essentially “smudge his fingerprints” on illegal activity inside and outside the White House, is clearly working as planned.

Of course, all court proceedings, both decided and pending, go away if we allow this known felon to occupy the Oval Office.

Vote like your country depends on it.

Liza Gorin, Bradenton

Biden must accept it’s time to pass torch

I’ve been a strong Joe Biden supporter since before 2019. Last week, I canceled my monthly donation to his campaign.

Since the debate I have encountered no one who thinks President Biden has a chance to win. The ads for former President Donald Trump will write themselves – there will be debate excerpts over and over until Election Day.

During a recent ABC interview, Biden said, “As long as I gave it my all . . . that’s what this is about.”

Really? That’s not what this is about. This is about saving democracy and America as we know it, and whether Biden is the best person to do that. And the sad reality is that he is not.

Our only hope is replacing Biden with someone who can go toe-to-toe with Trump.

Please, do not let this great American be remembered for his worst moment − and for the worst decision of his political career. Help him be remembered for saving our democracy for a second time; this time by knowing when it was time to pass the torch.The world is watching. The clock is ticking.

Kirk Winters, Sarasota

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Reject DeSantis' radical agenda and elect moderate voices to Sarasota's School Board