Patt Morrison’s interview of Willie Brown; President Obama and religious confusion; recalling tainted eggs

Two votes for Willie Brown

Re “Patt Morrison Asks: Willie Brown, State’s man,” Column, Aug. 21

What a great interview.

Never a lightweight, Willie Brown displays his real knowledge of political power and how to use it for the public benefit. His wisdom on what term limits have done, and perhaps how campaign finance should be so transparent and therefore easy, is just brilliant.

How about a write-in candidacy for Brown? I’m pretty sure he knows the answers and how to fix California.

Too bad he doesn’t want to be governor of our formerly great state.

Susan L. Taylor

La Mesa

This was a fantastic piece, except that Brown doesn’t explain his basis for deciding what’s in the public’s interest, which he referred to numerous times and is the foundation of his governing and political longevity.

I was amazed at this man’s political clarity, grasp and communication skills. He should use his extraordinary abilities as governor.

Deborah Huber

Agoura Hills

The president and his faith

Re “ White House reminds nation that Obama is a Christian,” Aug. 20

As a nation, I would like to have our citizens become more inclusive, more accepting and valuing of the differences that distinguish one person from another. Religion is certainly one of the significant differences.

I think polls, such as those mentioned in this article — and the resulting media coverage — that match one major religion against another work against people developing an inclusive mind-set.

Whether it is on race, gender, sexual orientation or religion, we citizens need to be working toward becoming more inclusive in our acceptance and valuing of others’ differences.

Karl Strandberg

Long Beach

The mere fact that President Obama had to actually declare himself a Christian, and the fact that so many people believe he is a Muslim, are deplorably illustrative of both the pervading ignorance and the judgmental attitudes in this country.

It’s also sad that he allowed himself to be manipulated by these polls, effectively saying, “I hereby declare that I am not a Muslim, or an atheist, or a Hindu, or a Buddhist.” Uninformed Christianity and the right wing have hijacked this country with their vitriolic divisiveness and ideological demagoguery. Where does that leave the rest of us?

Neither Obama’s religion nor his ethnicity constitute why I voted for him.

However, with this moronic screeching frustrating all his attempts at governing, he is in a no-win situation.

Must you continue giving press to these dogmatists and racists?

Rebecca Hertsgaard

Palm Desert

My wife and I read the articles about the polls showing the increased numbers of those who think that the president is a Muslim, was not born in the United States, doubt his belief in Christianity or other absurdities; it is sad to see how ignorant and mean-spirited so many Americans are.

The difficult times of our recession and the politics of the “tea party” and ultra-conservative Republicans are bringing out the racial, religious and ethnic prejudice that lie just beneath the so-called civilized veneer of our society.

It is good to see that not all Americans apparently fall for the outrageous lies disseminated on the Internet, TV, talk radio and some so-called news organizations.

Unfortunately, too many believe these wild accusations. Too many ignore facts or real news and forgo the use of critical thinking to analyze what they hear.

The talk of the United States overcoming its history of racial intolerance with the election of Barack Obama as president was obviously premature.

Walter Wogee

Skyforest, Calif.

You’ve got to break a few eggs

Re “Second egg recall issued,” Aug. 21

With the expanding list of egg recalls, one cannot help but wonder why the FDA and the USDA haven’t shut down food producers that have long histories of safety violations.

It would surely be in the interest of the industry as a whole, for who in their right mind is not nervous about eating eggs these days? And it certainly would be in the interest of the public, which I thought these agencies were created to protect.

Fines clearly do not work. If the agencies lack enforcement authority, then it’s time for Congress to show us it can do something useful.

Larry W. Cohen

Vista

The very fact that so many hundreds of thousands of eggs are sourced from a single farm business raises a huge red flag to me. This goes right along with the message of the movie “Food, Inc.” about agribusiness in our country.

Cheryl Kohr

Redondo Beach

Half a billion eggs have been recalled because they are potentially tainted, and some of the farmers involved have been cited numerous times for health and safety violations. But as most conservatives would say, we don’t need government regulations; accidents just happen.

Ralph S. Brax

Lancaster

Second-rate public officials

Re “Leaks don’t kill kids,” Editorial, Aug. 21

Your editorial regarding leaks not being the problem with the Department of Children and Family Services is right on point. But the editorial could have gone further.

The capability and competence of the director and the Board of Supervisors are clearly in the spotlight. What kind of executive would use leaks as an excuse for departmental problems instead of delving into why the department did not protect the children? The answer: second-rate executives.

The lack of trust in government is partly due to executives who cannot manage and are defrauding the public in one way or another.

David B. Radden

Venice

The problem of abused children has reached epidemic levels; wouldn’t it be smart to attack the sources of the problem rather than to continue trying, unsuccessfully, to protect against the increasing abuses?

To me, the problem is the sexual revolution, which is lots of fun but also produces lots of unwanted children. The obvious solution is to ensure that no child is born except into a financially and emotionally stable two-parent family that wants the child.

John Hamaker

Laguna Niguel

What about today’s crimes?

Re “A new woman in babies mystery,” Aug. 21

The LAPD could not avoid entrapment with a whodunit mystery from the 1930s more suited to Sherlock Holmes.

Squandering detectives, a team of coroner’s investigators and untold support staff to determine how fetuses died and to piece together the life of a mystery woman who might now be 100 years old is laughable.

The LAPD should turn the investigation over to UCLA for a student research project and get back to serving and protecting citizens living in L.A. today.

Bill Brock

Agoura Hills