Thursday's letters: Fascism in America, kudos to School Board, questioning COVID data

U.S. could become authoritarian nation

Historian Jon Meacham has drawn a direct parallel between where our country is today and the late 1850s.

He suggests that while the Civil War that followed changed the laws, it did not change the hearts of many Americans. Sadly, we now live in a polarized (tribal) nation.

On Dec. 7, 1941, this country was attacked by a foreign government. On Sept. 11, 2001, this country was attacked by international terrorists. On Jan. 6, 2021, our Capitol was attacked by domestic terrorists/insurrectionists inspired by a cult political party attempting to orchestrate a treasonous coup to retain power and overturn the will of the people.

Nobel Prize-winning novelist Sinclair Lewis wrote “It Can’t Happen Here” in 1935. Essentially, he warned that when fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross or Bible. Are we paying close attention to what has transpired in Hungary, Poland and Turkey?

Political analysts recently examined the strategy undertaken by Viktor Orban, Hungary’s prime minister, and his party to turn a democratic state into an authoritarian government.

Guess what? One of our major political parties (my former affiliation) is following this game plan to the letter. In my opinion, we now have a two-party system, one democratic and one undemocratic.

Do you really believe that it can’t happen here in the good old USA? Think again.

Bill Elias, Bradenton

School Board on right track with new rules

Kudos to School Board members Shirley Brown, Tom Edwards and Jane Goodwin for their common-sense approach to establishing guidelines for public comments at board meetings (“School Board targets comments,” Jan. 23).

God knows this country has certainly gone the other way over the past several years, and anyone with a lick of sense can see where that behavior has led us. Now it's time to try it the other way – a return to rules and guidelines that must be followed if we are going to see any progress.

I have always said that the best School Board members would be former teachers who ran their classrooms with no doubt as to who was in charge. Where else do the inmates run the asylum, forgiving the metaphor?

If you doubt the validity of this approach, take a good look at other countries’ results in terms of the finished product.

Hang in there Shirley, Tom and Jane. You are on the right track. Stay strong!

Joan Caviness, Venice

Florida’s low COVID death rate suspect

COVID cases here have finally peaked, offering Floridians a glimmer of hope.

For those who’ve recently joined the unfortunate pool of new cases, what’s the prognosis? If we are to believe the data provided by Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration, you have much less to worry about than residents in other nearby states.

But, upon closer examination, this data source is highly suspect.

Simple processing of daily average statistics obtained from state and county health offices, as summarized on the New York Times COVID site, reveals a major anomaly here in Florida: Our deaths stand at 1.4 per 1,000, for new cases reported two weeks prior.

This rate is wildly inconsistent with those of other states.

In three nearby states – Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina – the death rate is tightly clustered at 2.7, 2.7 and 2.6, respectively. Florida’s discrepancy compared with nine other East Coast states, and with the U.S. as a whole, is equally blatant.

The utter inconsistency of Florida's death data points in but one direction: data manipulation. Will this manipulated data become part of the governor’s upcoming gubernatorial campaign run? We as citizens must demand greater data transparency.

Jim Sennott, Sarasota

Solution to state worker shortage: Pay more

I can’t believe what I read Jan. 24 in the Business Weekly section. It can’t be true!

The article, “State leaders struggle with keeping their workers,” stated that there is a national worker shortage and states (like Florida) are struggling to fill vacant positions, especially for workers who care for some of our most vulnerable citizens.

So, why is there a shortage? You guessed it, money.

Department of Management Services Secretary J. Todd Inman stated that state job applications have dropped by nearly 35 percent over the past three years.

Here are the facts: Direct care employees working for the state (such as those in the Agency for Persons with Disabilities) make just $14 an hour. But now, because there is a worker shortage – wait for it – the agency is paying $47 to $67 an hour to private contractors to fill these positions!

Do the math: Where is the common-sense solution to this problem? Pay our local workers a decent wage, with benefits.

Someone needs to stop this madness.

Jill R. Rothenburg, Sarasota

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Fascism can happen here, School Board right to pass comment rules