State court nominations too partisan, ex-Sen. Gardner writes
Regarding the editorial “The injustice of justices ignoring voters’ rights” (June 26) about the Florida Supreme Court’s recent stance on gerrymandering:
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In Martin Dyckman’s book, “A Most Disorderly Court,” he writes, “in March 2006 at a seminar of former Florida governors, Reubin Askew needed no time to answer an impromptu question asking what he wished he had done differently as governor three decades previously. Askew said it would be to write the judicial nominating commission membership formular into the constitution, where only supermajorities of the Legislature and a statewide referendum could change it. It had not occurred to him in 1971 that any successor would be jealous of the power he had ceded to the commission.”
Since the commission’s membership rules were changed in 2001, the governor has appointed, not just three, but all nine members of each commission, a change pushed through by Republican Gov. Jeb Bush to a receptive Republican Legislature. Although the Florida Bar continues to make recommendations, the governor exerts significant influence over those recommendations.
— Winston W. “Bud” Gardner, Orlando
Winston W. “Bud” Gardner served in the Florida Senate (1988-92), the Florida House (1978-88) and as a public member of the Florida Bar Board of Governors.
U.S. a Christian nation? Not to Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States and author of the Declaration of Independence, whose 250th anniversary we celebrate this July 4, had numerous interests. One such interest was the Bible, specifically the Gospels, and whether Jesus was divine. For those proclaiming, long after the fact, that America was founded as a Christian nation — he’s not on your side.
For Jefferson, the teachings of Jesus as set forth in the Gospels were just and good, an exemplary code of ethics for others to follow. But, as a figure of the Enlightenment and thus a believer in reason and science, the former president discounted the miracles associated with Jesus — including his virgin birth and supposed resurrection.
After his presidency, he worked laboriously, often by candlelight, cutting out every section of the New Testament describing Jesus’ miracles and portraying him as divine. This new “Bible,” minus the deletions, was reassembled after Jefferson’s death in a new document — which you can buy online. Figuratively known as “Jefferson’s Bible,” its informative official title, inscribed in his hand, was, “The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, Extracted Textually from the Gospels in Greek, Latin, French & English.”
— Richard Foglesong, Orlando
Richard Foglesong is a professor emeritus of politics at Rollins College and a historian.
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U.S. mail is for all, including ballots
I retired from the U.S. Postal Service after 35 years of service, and I could not be more alarmed at the proposal put forth by the Postmaster General regarding mail-in ballots. Since the Constitution of the United States clearly gives states the power over elections, a federal agency like the post office has no business or authority over that process.
My entire career was spent doing “park and loop” routes, meaning I loaded up my mail satchel from my truck and walked to every house that was on my route. It really gives a mailman insight into the people who live on a route, as opposed to the carriers who reach out of the truck window to put mail in a curbside box. Walking to the front door of 425 houses a day, including Saturdays, when a lot of people were home and wanted to talk and/or vent, I really understood the scope of disagreements among my patrons. Oh, the stories I have to tell.
It was my job to deliver any piece of mail sent to any individual, regardless of what that person believed, or the opinions they held. Teachers, firefighters, police officers and elected officials got every piece of mail sent to them, and so did the people who were accused of DUI, rape, murder and child abuse. That’s how the postal system is supposed to work.
To think that all of that might change, with the Postmaster deciding who they want to deliver a piece of mail to, any piece of mail, must have Benjamin Franklin rolling over in his grave.
— Jeffrey Martin, Orlando
Trump’s fraud claims are projecting
Elections are rigged! Fake voters! Illegal voter registration! Mail-in ballots create fraud! Everybody says Democrats are cheating!
Everything Trump says about past elections is … sorry … wait … as I see it, those statements could be Trump’s plans for FUTURE elections. My bad.
— Jim James, Winter Garden
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