A cancer patient’s Ironman competition; Meg Whitman vs. Jerry Brown; a sobering look at military casualties

He keeps fighting

Re “After chemo, the Ironman,” Oct. 5

Thank you for your wonderful story on Marine Staff Sgt. Clayton Treska, who plans to race in the Ford Ironman World Championship in Hawaii while battling stage 4 cancer.

It is extraordinary people like him who inspire all of us to support the people and organizations that stand behind those who are making a difference.

Susan Mullen-Germansky

Studio City

Here is a true hero; a person who knows adversity and is facing it head on. Why can’t we have politicians like Treska?

A true inspiration; I wish him success in beating this insidious disease.

Scott H. Whittle

Los Angeles

The Times’ pick for governor

Re “Brown for governor,” Editorial, Oct. 3

Three topics demand the attention of our candidates for governor: Shall we legalize and tax marijuana, allow offshore drilling for oil, and renegotiate state pensions?

Clearly, Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman would rather argue about domestic help than to touch these issues. But Californians must consider solutions to the immense problems coming at us — otherwise, we might as well continue with Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor.

Bob Andres

Escondido

It is not surprising that The Times has endorsed Brown for governor; what is surprising is the rationale. All of the reasons expressed in the editorial are exactly why he shouldn’t be elected.

Californians are sick of the status quo: budget deadlock, politics as usual, escalating deficits and threats from the unions and special interests.

Brown’s TV ads sound like a chapter out of the conservative book: “No new taxes without voter approval, caps on pensions, tough decisions, getting the decision-making back to the people/out of Sacramento.” Where were those promises when he was governor before?

Walt Puffer

Avalon

Your recommendation for governor is incorrect but pretty much irrelevant.

Only “true believers” vote in primaries, so the poor choices in the general election should come as no surprise.

When compared to other elections, Brown and Whitman are better than the average due to the lack of voter participation.

It is the Legislature, bureaucracy and us — the uninvolved but proposition-happy electorate — that are the core of our state’s problems. Even an Earl Warren, Pat Brown or Ronald Reagan would be stymied.

The only difference that the “piñata” we choose for the next four years will likely make may be to veto the most egregious bills put forth by the legislators. That being the case, Whitman is the better choice.

Chris Daly

Yucaipa

Your endorsement of Brown came as no surprise, and it appears to be well researched, logical and well meaning.

I have a different point of view. A Republican governor can provide the checks and balances that are imperative when we have the left, the progressives, the liberals, the Democrats passing law after law that destroy the state economy and our freedoms.

The Times seems to ignore our high unemployment rate and studies that show us at the bottom in business friendliness and regulation mandates. You also forget what happened the last time we had a Democratic governor.

The last thing we need is a Democratic governor.

Ronald Nelson

Temecula

The Brown/ Whitman contrast to the “real world” is interesting. If you need to fix your car, you look for the most experienced mechanic, not the new guy who never fixed a car before but was a great salesman for a tool-making company.

It seems that in politics, the public often feels obliged to get the inexperienced to govern.

Politics is the art of persuasion, by everything from arm-twisting to sweet-talking. It is knowing which levers to pull and when to swallow your pride or when to lord it over another politician.

If my car is broken, I’m going to take it to the best mechanic in town, even if he is grumpy and elderly. Brown, it seems to me, is that mechanic.

Patrick O’Brien

San Juan Capistrano

Back and forth on Whitman

Re “Whitman ex-maid files wage claim,” Oct. 6, “Whitman cast as hypocrite,” Column, Oct. 4, and “Whitman campaign courts Latinos,” Oct. 2

Meg Whitman blew it. If she had hired an immigration attorney to help her former housekeeper instead of firing her, she would not have been perceived as a pariah among Latino voters.

An act of compassion would have won Whitman more Latino votes than all her money could buy.

Phyllis Landis

Ocean Hills, Calif.

According to Whitman, when her housekeeper tearfully confessed that she was here illegally and begged for help to correct her status, she was immediately fired without warning or severance pay, and Whitman says she has not spoken to her in the last 15 months.

This is the treatment received by the person who Whitman says was “like a member of our family,” someone who was a trusted employee for nine years, who helped care for Whitman’s children?

I wouldn’t treat a stranger with such cold-hearted disinterest. I fear what Whitman has in mind for the rest of us if she wins this election.

Debra Young Krizman

Santa Monica

If, as Whitman says, firing her housekeeper of nine years was the most difficult decision she ever made, then what was she doing all those years as chief executive of EBay?

Harvey Dater

Foothill Ranch, Calif.

All partisan and policy considerations aside, the Nicandra Diaz Santillan brouhaha calls into question Whitman’s suitability for public office.

A smart politician would have identified the discovery of Diaz Santillan’s immigration status as an opportunity to transform a negative situation into a positive one.

Whitman could have said something like “OK, this is an unfortunate situation, but let me help you to correct your mistakes and obtain legal immigrant status.”

Surely Whitman had the resources to help, and afterward Whitman could have come forth with a candid disclosure that might have gained wide approval in the Latino community.

Susan Klenner

Woodland Hills

Our housekeeper has been with us for 24 years, starting with five years as our daughter’s nanny.

We helped her achieve legal status, and she has become a U.S. citizen. We helped with her daughter’s college expenses (she now has a master’s degree in social work).

She has never missed a day of work without giving us advance notice, and we always pay her for those days. She and her family are in our will.

This is what “like a member of the family” means to us. We wonder what it means to Whitman.

Stephanie McIntyre

Northridge

The price of our wars

Re “Military deaths,” Oct. 3

After navigating all the local, national and international news, and reading about business, politics and travel in the weekend paper, I found myself reading in detail the section titled “Military Deaths.”

The realization of these young people suffering and dying a world away, while our lives continue normally with only our everyday cares and concerns, seems unjust, unfair and a sobering distribution of sacrifices.

Albert Glick

West Covina