Readers’ comments: February 7, 2025

Thanks for advice on coping with ‘Infant in Chief’
Dear editor:
Thank you for your timely perspective on our new “Infant in Chief’s” barrage of initiatives [“Coping in the age of all-consuming existential dread,” January 31].
I believe, as you seem to, that this is part of a calculated strategy to keep us off balance, reactive and emotionally triggered. More importantly, I appreciate the priceless tidbits of advice you offered.
Thank you for the much needed perspective.
Charles Edwards
Claremont

Kudos to Claremont Optometry
Dear editor:
In these difficult times of inflation and fewer amenities offered to the public, it is great to see one Claremont business that displays generosity.
I broke the frame of my reading glasses and went to Claremont Optometry at the corner of Foothill Boulevard and Colby Circle. The courteous worker provided me with a new frame, installed the lenses, and gave me a new glasses case, all free of charge.
Thanks go to Claremont Optometry for their generosity.
Hal Durian
Claremont

Trump’s Courier critics are lazy
Dear editor:
Was Sidney Pollard’s comment [“Charlottesville a hoax? Um, no,” January 31] a product of being Lazy? Of low information? Is it going to be used to fluff her resume while looking for a job as a used car salesperson or politician pushing to keep the hoax narrative intact? Was it a performance art piece?
It’s hard to tell since his letter had absolutely nothing to do with letters in the previous two Courier editions.
Spending a couple of bucks for a Courier subscription and then doing just a little bit of research before composing a letter will go a long way in expanding her known universe and possibly furthering mankind. Like S. Pollard, a favorite practice of many liberal/progressive writers in this paper is to redefine, mischaracterize, recite opinions and/or facts with no basis in reality (just like the media did for four years pushing the Charlottesville hoax to pretend Trump boosted haters), or obfuscate the original argument — like was also done in her reference to Pam Stevenson’s letter … which was also done by Pam Stevenson in her letter [“Name calling, gas price claims are childish, disingenuous,” January 17] regarding Doug Lyon!
It would behoove writers to go online and find out what was being talked about so as to not be an outsider trying to get their voice heard above the junior-high drama.
As for Kamala Harris, while never calling Trump Hitler, she did liken Trump’s speeches to Hitler and claim he was a threat to democracy, and then on January 6 meekly certified Trump as the next president. Where was her outrage for Trump’s ascendancy?
Leslie Watkins
Claremont

Trump pardons give tacit approval for future political violence
Dear editor:
January 20, 2025 is the day that the U.S. Government “officially” validates the use of insurrection, personal assaults on peace officers, destruction of government property, and overt threats of violence on government officials and other individuals in this country to further political agendas and curry favor among supporters.
A presidential pardon and commutation given to all those convicted of crimes committed at the U.S. Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021 makes the use of the violence in all political arenas not only legitimate but encouraged.
I can only imagine what the courageous Capitol Police officers who were compromised, assaulted, injured and then ridiculed for not joining the insurrection on that day must be feeling now. The “slap in the face,” as some have called it, is more like being beaten down with a giant baseball bat. I believe that the judges and prosecutors involved with those prosecutions must be feeling a similar betrayal of their integrity and hard work on behalf of (mostly) a grateful nation.
The chaos surrounding the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 is well documented on video recordings. The resulting prosecutions for violent acts are more fully documented by evidence brought before the courts. Many of the defendants pled guilty to the charges against them. There remains little doubt that the approximately 1,500 persons charged with crimes are guilty of those crimes. Yet the person with more political power than anyone in the U.S. chose to ignore the reality of the insurrection, the gravity of actual events perpetrated on law enforcement personnel, and the implications his hollow ideology holds on future violent behavior across America.
Simply stated, political violence and retribution are now acceptable and encouraged to a large portion of the American population.
John Hill
Pomona