The arts commission overlooked it

EDITOR: It was good to see Amie Windsor’s article about Sebastopol’s upcoming installation of Bruce Johnson’s sculpture on Petaluma Avenue (“Late artist’s work hits trail,” October 15). However, I haven’t seen a single mention of the Sebastopol Public Arts Committee’s significant role in bringing this landmark to our fair city. The paper has previously graciously highlighted the activities of the Petaluma and Santa Rosa arts committees, but coverage of Sebastopol’s energetic, efficient, all-volunteer committee has often been lacking.

The Joe Rodota Trail installation is the third of four sculpture installations planned by our “Gate to the City” committee. “Sebastopol Spire” by Ned Kahn and “Grey Matter” by Michael McGinnis were the first two; Sebastopol’s Vibrant Community Sculpture Garden in Ives Park is another gift from the public art committee to the cultural life of West County.

I hope the Press Democrat will remedy this omission and improve coverage of the activities and contributions of the Sebastopol Public Arts Committee worker.

MARGHE MILLS-THYSEN

Member, Sebastopol Public Arts Committee

Smell in the court

EDITOR: The Supreme Court ruling, ignoring the facts of the Donald Trump immunity case, has placed our democratic republic on a slippery slope. It is anathema to the rule of law. Oversimplified for brevity, the court ruled that a sitting president is immune from prosecution for official acts, but not for private acts. In the 250 years of this democratic republic, no other president has needed this type of immunity. This decision is odious to our constitutional republic.

Apparently, the far-right majority justices who profess to adhere to the theories of constitutional interpretation of originalism (the original meaning of the Constitution at the time it was drafted) and textualism (based on the plain text of the Constitution) have no problem spinning a theory. of whole cloth immunity. These theories of interpretation used by the court in overturning Roe v. Wade (a woman’s right to choose) were not relied upon to fabricate the rule of immunity for official acts. The sound you hear is our founders turning over in their graves. Smell in the court.

THE COLOMBIAN GENEALOGY

Santa Rosa

To feel safer

EDITOR: Americans in our country have voted. Hats off to Donald Trump! We’re all sick and tired of the weirdness of the liberal left, and Kamala Harris has backed it all up. I feel safer now knowing that law enforcement will be supported 100% under Trump. Our world will be safer because I believe Trump will end wars. We needed a strong leader, and thanks to the Americans, we have one. God bless America.

GAYLE KOZLOWSKI

Santa Rosa

Reports of torture

EDITOR: Americans have not been told about the deeply disturbing torture of Palestinians in Israeli prisons. It is done openly, probably for deterrence. According to an article in the New York Review of Books, techniques used include sleep deprivation, denial of food and medical care, beatings, blindfolding, and sexual torture. More than 60 people have died in Israeli prisons since October 7, 2023.

The Israeli government is bound by the international laws it has ratified that provide for the prosecution of perpetrators of torture. When three soldiers in military prisons were tried for torturing Palestinians, political pressure ended their prosecution. George W. Bush in 2011 canceled a planned trip to Sweden to avoid arrest and prosecution for promoting torture. The US “Leahy Act” prohibits us from assisting the government forces of countries that engage in torture.

ROBERT D. McFARLAND

Petaluma

Choosing a criminal

EDITOR: Please help me understand something that may seem unimportant to many. A felon cannot vote, hold a commercial driver’s license, or work for the FBI or many other occupations. So here may be a dilemma for some: how on God’s green earth can a criminal become president of the United States of America?

JANET HERBELIN

Sonoma