Now that the death penalty is once again front and center, thanks to the abscess in the Oval Office, I think we should do it up right. So, let’s bring back public hangings. Because they are state-sponsored killings, using our tax dollars, we should all be able to enjoy them. We’ll put them on live TV in prime time. The shows will be called Saturday Night Dead. The method of execution will change every episode to make it fun. Given the chickenshit way we murder prisoners these days, behind closed doors so that no one sees how many racial minorities are involved, in this manner we will shine a light on the way we conduct public business, in the land of the free and the home of the brave, for all the world to see. Think of the ratings. It’s a terrific idea, assuming it’s well executed, of course. Jeffrey Epstein, get in here, you’re up first.

Craig J. Corsini

San Rafael

Drive-Bywords

Ho Hum! Another drive-by shooting in Oakland or Chicago, or San Jose. We hardly notice them anymore. Tragic as it is to the victims, it’s yesterday’s news. Only the major terrorist attacks get much attention anymore.

The truth is, drive-by shootings usually take place in inner city neighborhoods which are largely invisible to the eyes of middle class or more affluent folks. We may not say it, but unconsciously we expect that “drive-by’s are a dime of dozen in those areas, and there’s nothing we can do about it anyway.”

Well, we are dead wrong about that. Drive-by shootings happen for many reasons, but they are all connected one way or another with you and me, with the dysfunctional prison system, with the deep and ever-widening chasm between the haves and the have-nots, our underfunded education and mental health programs and our outrageously out-of-balance military budget. All of which we, as citizens, can do something about.

We are also guilty of a different type of drive-bys. We are not pulling the triggers of those AK 47’s, but we too easily accept the murderous results of their actions. We drive by the black kid being hassled by a police officer for no other reason than the color of his skin. We don’t see the elementary school in need of repair or the veteran waiting for the benefits long overdue him or the working family who have been priced out of a housing market unresponsive to the needs of ordinary people.

We are not bad people, you and me. Most of us are not totally unaware of what is going on in our midst. We don’t consider ourselves racist. (Hell no! my friend Jose is a great guy. We bowl together on Saturdays.)

But folks, we are not hitting on all eight cylinders. Our potential for leaving this world a much better place is not being tapped fully, not even close. It’s so much easier to escape into the womb of a comfortable lifestyle.

Hey, we are not breaking any laws (well, maybe we’ll fudge a bit on our taxes). We might even go to church on Sundays and not cheat on our spouses. Is that enough?

The future for ourselves and our children is being written right now. Do we want to be an active participant in making this a better world or just another drive-by?

Hank Mattimore

Windsor

Dung Hope

My sentiments on President Trump are simple: he is not a president, not a leader, not a great mind, not a success, not a billionaire, not a businessman, not an iconoclast, not a negotiator. This is a small, inept, corrupt, ignorant, racist, misogynistic criminal who will find himself under indictment once he’s out of office. May his name be forever tossed onto the dung heap of history and ultimately forgotten for anything other than his criminality.

Jonathan Derovan

Via Pacificsun.com