Mailbag: Congressman’s support for Putin’s Russia puzzles

Much has been written about Donald Trump’s dysfunctional admiration for Russia’s Vladimir Putin, but relatively little has been chronicled about Rep. Dana Rohrabacher’s support of Putin.

My home is in Orange County, but I live and work in Kyiv, Ukraine. I have developed a unique view of Russian interference and aggression in Ukraine and am opposed to reelecting Rohrabacher this November because, in part, of his support for Vladimir Putin’s dangerous, revanchist, unreliable Russia.

Rohrabacher’s support of Putin, as documented by the New York Times, puzzles me as the Russian leader is a career Soviet KGB officer who has intimidated and invaded his neighbors while crushing democratic dissent and bungling the Russian economy at home. This demonstrates Rohrabacher’s basic lack of respect for international law and pluralistic democracy.

Go no further than Rohrabacher’s full-throated countenance for Russian aggression in Crimea, a Ukrainian region illegally and militarily annexed by Russia in early 2014, where native Tatars are harassed and imprisoned, their language actively discouraged by Russian occupation authorities and the Tatar parliament, the Mejlis, outlawed by the Kremlin-controlled Crimean Supreme Court.

The 48th Congressional District deserves better representation in the U.S. House. In November, there is an opportunity to retrieve our congressional representation by electing Democrat Suzanne Savary (drsuesavary.com), who does not support or make excuses for Putin’s repressive regime and showing the door to Rohrabacher and his misguided values.

Michael Getto Jr.

Aliso Viejo

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Council candidate improved Westside

I am an Hispanic American who grew up on Center, Pomona and Placentia avenues. I have lived in Costa Mesa for 50 years.

Early on, my family lived just above the poverty level. We lived in locations that consisted of mostly hardworking immigrants.

Unfortunately, we also lived side-by-side with the criminal element. And we saw a lot! What people don’t realize is that these criminals rarely went away from their neighborhood to find their victims.

Very few immigrants reported the crimes against them because of fear of retaliation, which was common. Mind you, many of the criminals were gang members with affiliations to the Mexican mafia and cartels.

This activity was rampant in Costa Mesa until former mayor Allan Mansoor decided to do something about it. Mansoor, in my opinion and in the opinion of many, was a lifesaver. Cleaning up the criminal element was and is something he should be very proud of. Until he started, our city leaders talked about how bad the situation was, but did nothing about it.

Many speaking against him really have no idea what Hispanic residents of the Westside went through. Just knowing that when criminals were arrested they would not be sent back to the neighborhood was a relief. A man who has guts like this should be elected as a Costa Mesa council member.

Louise Rose

Costa Mesa