Letters: Mike Krukow pitches a lesson in love and acceptance

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Broadcaster pitches lesson in acceptance

Re: “Giants broadcaster addresses Pride Night furor” (Page B1, June 18).

When the young ballplayer cites “I grew up Christian” as his reason for not supporting our LGBTQ+ community, I knew I had to write in.

I am a 69-year-old retired teacher. I grew up Christian, too. I go to church every Sunday. Each day I try to follow the precepts of Jesus, particularly the part about loving everybody. So, on Tuesday, when I attend my first Giants game ever, I’ll be wearing my Pride gear and praying for those young players. May their eyes and hearts be opened.

And if they want an example of a wise and loving person to learn from, I suggest they look to Mike Krukow.

Joanna Pace
El Cerrito

US dreams of hegemony end with Iran treaty

Re: “America has assumed the role of aggressor” (Page A6, June 18).

I couldn’t agree more with Mike Caggiano’s letter bemoaning how our country has exchanged its role as the “good guys” in the last “good war” of WWII to become the reviled “bad guys” in the eyes of the world today. Although it took the misrule of our mad king Donald Trump to rip off the last shreds of pretense, the problem can be traced back to Francis Fukuyama’s declaration of the “End of History,” postulating the eternal triumph of American institutions and global dominance.

Although Fukuyama eventually sought to disassociate himself from this fantasy, our Washington power elites loved it so, embracing a tireless ambition to assert global hegemony, undeterred by their failed 20-year occupation of Afghanistan and the relentless destruction of our anti-Russian proxy, Ukraine.

With our naked defeat in Iran, our mad king has finally delivered those dreams of global hegemony to the dustbin of history. Good riddance.

Michael Dunlap
Oakland

State must protect ocean from pollutants

Re: “Algae may have caused whale deaths” (Page A1, June 16).

Two humpback whales dead on Monterey Bay beaches in two days. Scientists point to domoic acid from harmful algal blooms, but researchers say the cause of death is uncertain. What is certain: These blooms are getting worse, fed by warming, nutrient-polluted coastal waters.

Climate change drives marine heat waves — a hard problem. But there’s one driver we can fix. California’s coastal wastewater facilities discharge partially treated effluent into ocean waters every day. Nutrient-rich discharges fuel algal blooms, sickening or killing hundreds of marine animals. Whether or not sewage pollution killed these two whales, it is making our ocean sick. The technology to fix this exists. The political will is what’s missing.

The State Water Resources Control Board has the authority to set enforceable limits on coastal nutrient discharges. The Legislature must fund that process and set a 2028 deadline. A definitive necropsy report isn’t needed to know: stop fouling the water.

Sean Bothwell
Sacramento

Steyer campaign a step toward egalitarian state

Re: “Tom Steyer spent $558 million. What a colossal waste of cash.” (Page A6, June 16).

New York Times editorial observer Michelle Cottle disparages Tom Steyer for self-funding his recent quest for governor of California as a “waste of cash.”

However, Steyer’s significant third-place finish, well ahead of a popular young mayor backed by Silicon Valley, a former L.A. mayor, and a high-profile Congresswoman, seems to have validated his earlier community-minded efforts in creating a nonprofit bank to benefit low-income businesses, grassroots organizing young voters to pursue environmental activism, championing healthcare for all Californians with CNA and CTA and leading on the 2016 tobacco tax increase and Prop. 50 redistricting.

Maybe California is not ready yet for a truly progressive leader envisioning a more thoughtful, equitable, compassionate and principled society, but visionaries like Steyer might help us get there. We sure seem to need someone who can afford to show us the way, guided by his or her principles.

Ruby MacDonald
El Cerrito

After 250 years, fight for democracy continues

Two hundred and fifty years ago, we, the people, did not win a revolution. We did something even more audacious. We told a tyrant that “we hold these truths to be self-evident. that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Then we fought for these rights, and have continued to grow, fight and die to prove we truly believe that all men and women are created equal.

At 250 years, we are in the fight of our lives for our hard-won democracy. Don’t celebrate that we won the Revolution. We won that battle. We are fighting another battle now against internal tyranny. The most viable weapon is our sacred vote. Use it, not a bullet. As history shows, the battle to be a free people is never really finished.

Nancy Thornton
Concord